You are right - that's one of the feedback pointers from a Customer Survey conducted by JDIC (John Doe Insurance Company)
Impact of right "Communication" on Customer Experiences, & FourCE role in this, is something that we touched up on previously (https://www.manomay.biz/insights/power-of-communication).
Same topic again - from a different context!
For over 12 years now, we have worked with multiple Insurance Companies on varied engagements around Business Process Review & Re/Designs, Transformation Roadmaps, Model Office Definitions, Legacy Replacements, Process Optimization & Automation landscape etc.....
In all of these, we have repeatedly seen Companies talking about the problems around negative customer feedback, employees working overtime, higher operating costs, issues with business scalability and seeking help for resolution through Technology.
And the story starts here - the story of solutioning through addressing the "CAUSES", rather than the "EFFECTS"!
JDIC Insurance Co. wanted to optimize their Underwriting & Claims functions. They were experiencing similar effects and wanted to correct these first, so they become more efficient & effective as an organization and focus on their goals of
- enhancing their market presence/position in the current market and expanding into new ones
- increasing their customer retention
- increasing their bottom line etc.
They attempted a couple of corrections, the band-aid fixes, but that didn't solve the problems for them. So, they brought us on board - their 'external' pair of eyes to help them nail down the actual cause of the problems and resolve them. We did what we always do first, mapped out how an average day looks like for each of the team members in the hierarchy. We had very interesting findings.
The Problem/s - A quick peek into few of the key problems we have identified,
- Overlapping responsibilities, across teams
- Lack of complexity-based process segregation and work distribution
- Manual and Repetitive processes
- Redundancies in the work executed
- Mismatch in skill vs work executed etc.
On a deep dive, one of the causes of these problems, was that the team (across functions) on a day-to-day basis, spends more than 4 Hrs. on and off on phone calls. We found that most of the calls were inbound inquiries from the customers - querying on Renewal/premium due dates, changes to the policies, coverages applicable, claim status updates, point of contact details, claim payment updates etc. There was no defined communication protocol.
This is one of the ideal examples for 'Quick wins', when corrected, JDIC will be able to realize immediate benefits. The results from which will ensure the team embraces the other complex corrections/improvements. JDIC was excited and was immediately on board to initiate their optimization journey with this initiative - easy and implementable.
The Solution - We had solutions from three contexts -
- Business (People & Process) - Designed a holistic communication methodology focusing on "Proactive" communication for high-volume inquiries first & low volume inquiries next - What should be communicated, to whom, why, when, how and how many times.
- Data - Analysis on the data availability & quality, and determination of the potential preferred communication channels.
- Technology - Implemented automatic communication protocol off of FourCE through SMS & Email to start with.
The value (tangible & in-tangible) - Post implementation of the changes we went on to measure the actual value/returns on investment for the solutions implemented. And you would not believe, the results were spell bounding. Few of the key returns noted were,
- Enhanced customer satisfaction there by customer base increased by 10% and customer ramped up by 15%.
- Freed up employee time there by enhanced focus on better servicing the customers - reduced time spent on inquiries from 4 hrs. a day to 0.5 Hr. a day and that too between the Jr & Sr team members and not across the hierarchy.
- Improved efficiencies on account of better use of employee time, reduced operating costs and increased revenue.
- Enhanced market reputation & ramped market positioning etc.
JDIC was more than charged up to implement the entire road map designed for change/transformation - and the drive, this time was from their team, not just from the top management.
Isn't this a revelation?! Identifying the CAUSE - for that one right simple correction in the eco system- can yield results, in multiples, across the value chain....
So, let's stop reacting to the effects and start working on the causes!
Many more to share but only a small dose for now..
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