Customer Service and the Claims Professional

"Yes," he said, "and you said we should be patient with customers and show them you care about helping them."

"You disagree with that?!" I asked again.

"Yes," he said, even more emphatically.

When I asked him why he would disagree with my point about being nice to customers, he said, "Because you're talking about the enemy."

Now I'm not saying that adjuster was wrong. People are entitled to their feelings. This poor adjuster has had a rough time, and he is entitled to feel however he wants to. That said, if this adjuster's attitude deems the customer the enemy, then there is a very good chance he is going to treat them as such.

That particular conversation stuck with me, and I began to incorporate it into my speeches. In fact, Sam Friedman, former editor-in-chief for National Underwriter, wrote an excellent article titled, "WC Claimants 'Not the Enemy,' Trainer Says" for the National Underwriter in November of 2001. Sam and I had been sharing some stories about how the claim business can make people a little cynical. So for Sam's sake, I'd like to share a more positive interaction I had with someone not so long ago.

My Life's Work

I was teaching a class about customer service and had one student, Kenny, who seemed to be extremely enthusiastic. He was quite the opposite of the guy who saw the customer as the enemy.

In fact, when we began talking about customer relations; making customers feel important; making sure we answer all of their questions; and so on, Kenny came to life. He started going out of his way to help his teammates in the class, asking questions, and taking extensive notes.

About halfway through the class, I pulled him aside and said, "Kenny, I've got to tell you that I am so impressed with how involved you are. You seem to be really enthusiastic, and you are taking this seriously. You appear to be serious about putting this to good use, and I am just really pleased."

He gave me a puzzled look and said, "Well, why wouldn't I? This is my life's work."

His reply took me by surprise. I have been teaching customer service classes for a long time, and I have never heard anyone say that to me.

At first I thought, "Look buddy you're not curing cancer, you know?" But then I pondered what he had said a little further, and I realized that Kenny was right. He had the right attitude. This is his life's work. He is in the customer service business, and he takes the fact that he is going to help people seriously.

Although all of us can't be working to cure cancer, it is funny how some of us can work our entire lives in an industry and yet not consider that to be our life's work. If we are in a customer service business, then shouldn't dealing with customers, helping them with their complaints, and solving their problems be considered our "life's work?"

I don't know if most people would consider handling claims as their life's work. I am not suggesting that everyone should. Instead, I am suggesting that if Kenny's attitude is that helping people is his life's work, then there is a better chance that he is going to treat people well. There is also a higher likelihood that he will be more empathetic when someone needs a little understanding, or that he may do something to help solve someone's problem, even when most people wouldn't perceive that as part of the job. If he sees this as his life's work, then he will probably treat people well on a consistent basis.

The funny thing about the situation is that his job satisfaction could be higher than most because he realizes that he is working to help others. As a result, he might also experience considerably less stress than most of us. Rather than feeling he is always going out of his way for people, he believes that this is his life's accomplishment. You know what? That is not a bad way to live.

It can be hard for us to separate what we do for a living from the people that we actually are. Most of us tend to pride ourselves on who we are in our work as well as our personal lives. So for Kenny to see what he does in his job as his life's work isn't so out of line. His attitude is definitely going to drive his performance. I am certain of that, because for years I have been touting my own version of the Pareto Principle.

A Primer: The Pareto Principle

Vilfedo Pareto was an Italian economist who, in 1906, observed that 80 percent of the land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. Pareto developed the concept of the "Pareto efficiency" in the context of the distribution of income and wealth amongst the population, which spawned the rule of thumb known as the 80/20 rule in business. That rule was suggested by business management expert Joseph Juran, who named it after Vilfedo Pareto.

The 80-20 rule (the Pareto Principle) basically states that for many events, roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. Marketing experts say that "80 percent of your sales come from 20 percent of your clients." Criminologists tell us that "80 percent of the crime is caused by 20 percent of the people." In time management classes we teach that "80 percent of the results you produce will take only 20 percent of your time." Heck, I've even heard fashionistas say "You wear 20 percent of your clothes 80 percent of the time."

It seems that almost everyone has an 80/20 rule, and here is mine: People's performance is 80 percent attitude and 20 percent ability. Of course, I'm not sure if I made that up, or if I heard it somewhere–maybe it is merely a variation of the old saying, "Success is 80 percent attitude and 20 percent aptitude." Nevertheless, the core meaning still applies.

In his book, The Psychology of Selling, Joe Love says, "80 percent of the success of top salespeople is due to their winning attitude. Only 20 percent is aptitude. Since sales performance is 80 percent mental attitude, this winning edge is psychological." So maybe he should get the credit. Or, I know that Brian Tracey certainly talks about it a lot in his book, The Psychology of Achievement. Okay, so maybe I didn't invent it, but I sure do preach it.

Until Oprah hauls me in and confronts me with the fact that it has been said by at least 173 people before me, I'm calling it, "The Carl Van attitude-performance-ability super incredible correlation principle ratio effect." Let's call it "The Van Principle" for short. I would have called it "The Van Factor," but I already invented that years ago. Never heard of it? Sure. Basically it says that when you are teaching a class or giving a speech, you take a look around the room. You divide the number of people with their legs crossed by the total number of people in the room. When that number hits 30 percent, you'd better take a break.

Back to the issue at hand: how can we all learn from Kenny? Well, an attitude change can start with one step. The first step can be as simple as making yourself a promise to be more patient with frustrated customers, even when they are yelling and throwing insults. Instead of calling them names while venting to coworkers after the call, take a step to actively improve your attitude toward customers by forgiving their behavior.

Once you realize you have the opportunity to make a difference in a customer's life by excelling at your job, which is to help people, you are on your way to making your life's work mean something.

Carl Van is President & CEO of International Insurance Institute, Inc. and has worked with over 130 insurance companies in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. providing training to help them improve all aspects of their claims operations. He may be reached at 504-393-4570 or CarlVan@InsuranceInstitute.com