CSR Rewarded For Going The Extra Mile
One of the biggest challenges for any client service representative is finding the delicate balance between meeting client needs and representing our employer in the best way possible. This balance can be achieved by utilizing the tools of education, communication and service.
Education means increased knowledge, which equates to greater confidence, which transfers to an improved presence or delivery to our clients.
Knowledge of your product is vital. Knowledge will allow you to explain in terms that are easily understood by your client the benefits of purchasing the coverage you are recommending to them. That greater confidence will improve the effectiveness of the exchange between you and your client.
Effective communication is an essential element of all successful business transactions. Whether it be discussing the viability of insuring a particular risk with your employer, providing accurate and detailed information to your underwriter or asking your client the appropriate "leading" questions that help you obtain the valuable information you need to properly underwrite the account, communication skills are a must.
It is also imperative to establish a network of contacts in a non-competitive environment where a second opinion is always available to you. When you have submitted a risk to your company that you feel is a sure candidate and anticipate no glitches, and the underwriter responds, "This is not something we wish to write," you need to know what options are available to you.
Do you challenge the underwriter? Submit the account to another company that perhaps doesnt do as well with this type of risk? Having contacts in the industry outside of your immediate locale gives you the opportunity to discuss the issues and gain a non-biased second opinion.
Perhaps you missed the real risk in this case, or maybe you have a fairly new underwriter who is being overly cautious. Either way, you can feel better about what you have to tell your client–youre on more solid ground because youve backed up either opinion. It creates a win/win situation for everyone.
The servicing of our clientele without a doubt is what ultimately separates one agency from another or makes one CSR stand out among all the rest. It means going the extra mile to satisfy your clients' perceived needs so you are able to discover and meet their real needs. It means going beyond their expectations and providing them with exceptional assistance. Its remembering their name (a most important issue to many individuals) and recognizing them on the street.
Educating ourselves, communicating with our employer, company personnel and clients, and providing exemplary service will help us find that balance between meeting our clients' needs and representing our employer in the best way possible.
My greatest accomplishment as a CSR occurred with a client who is a large excavation contractor. Like most contractors, he dislikes dealing with paperwork. His workday begins long before I arrive at the office and extends beyond my normal working hours.
Coming in early or staying late to go over his many policies with him has become part of the routine. Filling out his claim reports and being the go-between when the claims adjuster's schedule and my clients work schedule do not mesh helps speed the claims process along so all involved parties are completely satisfied.
Watching over his policies to make sure the company gets the changes done correctly, making sure he has the coverage he needs in both his business and personal life–including life, health, disability and financial planning–gives me a great feeling of satisfaction.
And when, instead of printing off a certificate of insurance and giving it to my client to mail to his potential customer, I offered to fax his business proposal along with the certificate instead, and he was awarded the job that evening, it made his day and mine.
You know when your client sends you flowers just for doing your job, that youre doing something right! And it makes your employer look good as well.
Through the education I have received from the Society of Certified Insurance Service Representatives program, and am continuing through the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors program, I am a better-equipped and more confident individual who can express herself with conviction and an improved presence to all interested parties.
The knowledge that has been gained through these programs has made me more self-confident and given me the desire to be more than just an ordinary CSR. It makes me want to be extraordinary, and to make my employer and my clients feel that way, too.
Ruth E. Goodwin is a commercial lines customer service representative with the Davis Insurance Agency in Ludlow, Vt. This essay was part of her winning entry in the Outstanding CSR of the Year Award, sponsored by the Society of Certified Insurance Service Representatives and the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, November 5, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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