During his presidency, Bill Clinton once said, “The White House: I don't know whether it's the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the prison system.” No doubt at times it was a prison of his own making, but like many insureds who face the prospect of living in an unfamiliar place for an extended period of time, Clinton was, in his own unique way, expressing a certain amount of uneasiness about surroundings that weren't his own.

The White House, after all, is the ultimate example of temporary housing. Hopefully, its new residents will find the place more to their liking next January, a goal all temporary housing specialists in the insurance world strive to achieve on a daily basis for their clients and adjusting partners. But while there are many temporary housing professionals ready to take the reins after a pipe burst or fire, it is customer service that can really differentiate between those who simply get the job done and those who excel at making people feel consoled and at home even in residences that aren't their own.

The Golden Rule

The first opportunity for temporary housing agencies to differentiate themselves not only from their competition, but also from their insurance adjusting partners begins at first notice of loss. While it might sound obvious, temporary housing providers must make sure their customer service representatives are trained and ready to deal with all different types of situations. That means practicing the golden rule: Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

“You're not ever going to call one of our employees and witness them having a bad day,” said Karen Schuster, a national sales manager for temporary housing provider Klein & Company, which is based in Golden, Colo. “We understand that some of these families have lost a loved one or cherished memories; they're going through a traumatic experience and stressful time. These families need patience, they need understanding, and they need time to make up their minds.”

A similar approach to staffing takes place at Atlanta, Ga.-based Temporary Accommodations, a company whose founder believes that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

“If we don't give a client a good first impression, the claim doesn't go as smoothly as it should,” said Aaron Wilson, who in addition to founding the company also serves as its president. “We hire our housing coordinators according to a caring-and-compassionate profile; many of our employees have gone through disasters, so they have an understanding of what the clients are going through.”

In order to ensure employees who are caring and compassionate, Wilson said he and his staff make it clear during the interview process that the company's clients could be dealing with anything from the loss of a home to the death of a loved one. “You have to be a special sort of person to deal with that and understand,” he said. “If we don't see that characteristic during interviews, we don't hire them.”

Schuster said her company's new employees go through an extensive training period when they are first hired to ensure the needs of policyholders are met. Many of Klein & Company's employees come from insurance backgrounds, but to shake off any rust, each one goes through insurance policy brush-ups. After that, new employees enter into what could be described as a mentoring program.

“After new hires have gone through the initial training, they start to listen to our seasoned employees while they are on the phone, focusing on how they speak,” said Schuster. “It's almost like a sensitivity training. There's a certain way to speak to an adjuster and a certain way to speak to a policyholder, which could be someone who just lost their home.”

Klein & Company's employees — and all other temporary housing providers' employees — must be able to express sympathy through their voices and listen carefully to policyholders. Sometimes that means just letting the policyholder talk for as long as they need to. But they must be careful about their tone, because if any edge is detected in the representative's voice, it could destroy what is often a fragile relationship. “You want to make sure you are in an understanding role,” said Schuster. “You want to let them talk because a lot of times they need to talk, they need to get it out, and they need someone to hear them before they can begin dealing with the loss.”

Once the initial call is completed, the fledgling temp-housing representative reviews what occurred with the seasoned representative to learn what the hot button issues were and how they were addressed. The process is repeated with other experienced temp-housing representatives in order to demonstrate how different techniques and styles can be employed. After that, the trainee begins to take calls, but monitoring remains in place until all parties feel 100 percent comfortable with the process.

A Sense of Urgency

While it's important to focus on listening and understanding, the same strategy isn't necessarily appropriate when speaking and working with an adjuster. Speed and accuracy are crucial in this relationship, so it's important that temporary housing providers establish a rapport with the insurers so they can act quickly when called upon.

“We work very closely with insurance companies to learn their internal processes and get to know the adjusters in an effort to turn things around quickly,” said Bob Barnett, senior vice president of sales for BridgeStreet Worldwide, a temporary housing provider headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. “That way, when we receive a call from an adjuster, we can quickly understand the situation, their timing schedule, and any special needs. We try to communicate quickly because we find that there is typically a very short window from the time a claim is made and when the adjuster wants to get someone into housing. Having an established relationship helps speed that up.”

Schuster said Klein & Company employs a similar strategy. “We establish a lot of relationships with adjusters,” she said. “We have a very good rapport with them; they can tell us something and we'll know what they are going to say before they even finish the thought. It helps speed up the process. Often, I can ask six questions, fill in the blanks, and keep the phone call down to two minutes. That makes the adjusters very happy.”

Temporary Accommodations takes it a step further with a program they call Elite Adjuster. When an adjuster first calls the company, he is asked about his housing preferences, such as how he would like to be contacted, his company's typical ceiling budget for housing, and other information such as if he should be contacted before an insured goes out to see a property. “Once this information is collected, it is saved in our system and the adjuster is assigned a housing coordinator so that they can build a rapport as opposed to calling in and talking with five different people in a month's time,” said Wilson.

Paving Over the Speed Bumps

But what happens when the train trips the tracks? It's impossible to keep 100 percent of the people happy 100 percent of the time, so to monitor guest satisfaction, BridgeStreet and other temporary housing providers employ different technologies that enable them to respond swiftly to issues that crop up once a policyholder is placed.

“One formal process we use is to call each guest a day or so after they check in to see how things are going and to answer any questions. It helps make sure they're not running into any issues,” said Barnett. “We also send them an electronic survey to see what their experiences have been like, and we host a web-based portal, which helps us respond quickly to any problems.”

In the short term, Barnett said all completed surveys are routed immediately to regional general managers and vice presidents, ensuring that everyone has a high sense of urgency when it comes to taking care of an emerging issue. To solve long-term issues that continue to crop up, BridgeStreet categorizes all complaints and problems in a database to pinpoint common issues, helping them proactively prevent the problems from occurring again in the future. The company also implemented a company-wide program called “BridgeCare” to differentiate itself from the competition.

“BridgeCare is the single thing that makes us stand out,” said Barnett. “The program encourages all of our employees to go above and beyond to take care of guests. We have a formal system of tracking and sharing stories, and we have incentives and rewards to recognize those who participate. There's a whole culture in our company to go above the norm and do something out of the ordinary to make guests feel comfortable.”

Temporary Accommodations solves two problems at once with one solution. It assigns policyholders one point of contact for all of their customer service needs, which gives its housing coordinators the ability to handle incoming emergencies. For instance, if a policyholder needs additional cookware, he would speak with his designated customer service representative instead of a housing coordinator, who could be dealing with a client whose roof just collapsed.

“I think this makes it a lot easier for [policyholders] to know who to ask for when they call in as opposed to talking to an operator, explaining their story over and over and not knowing who to ask for,” said Wilson. “We give them a direct line along with a toll-free number and extension. There is one point of contact to handle all landlord and furniture situations. Furthermore, this approach enables our housing coordinators on the front end to continue to work with their clients who have immediate needs without interference.”

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton said that the goal of a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary. While that's easier said than done, providers are proving that when it comes to temporary housing, the bar can never be set too high.

Special Reports /

Temporary Housing, Full-Time Service

Related Stories

Recommended For You