Besides following insurance call center best practices, BPO providers specializing in the insurance industry will strengthen their client relationships and deliver on their promise to implement effective customer relationship strategies by applying these five best practices for optimizing an insurance contact center:
Strengthen security protocols to prevent fraud
According to the FBI, the insurance industry takes in $1 trillion in premium payments each year. However, it is plagued by $40 billion in insurance fraud annually. The massive size of the industry, combined with the misuse of outdated caller authentication solutions and policyholders infrequently accessing their accounts, contributes to a wide range of schemes. Insurance call centers must have stringent security protocols in place.
To prevent scammers from falsely filing claims or liquidating accounts. Software is now available to help contact centers intelligently analyze voices, behaviors, noises, and metadata to flag potential fraudsters. It is also critical that insurance contact centers strengthen their online and onsite security. This is by employing the latest authentication and anti-fraud solutions to prevent jeopardizing clients’ reputations and policyholders’ financial futures.
Focus on the customer journey
There are over 7,000 companies involved in the insurance industry. With the proliferation of online reviews, Americans have an abundance of options and tools for choosing reputable agents. They also have higher expectations for service delivery. With customer experience (CX) becoming the key competitive differentiator between insurance companies, the frontline call center must set the expectation for service quality. Insurance call centers can improve the customer journey by frequently assessing every touchpoint to ensure overall satisfaction with the interaction.
Build trust with the accuracy
In the insurance industry, quick resolutions are essential, but not at the expense of accuracy. The data that agents collect and the information that policyholders receive, particularly during times of crisis, can literally affect the course of customers’ lives. As a result, insurance call centers must pay particular attention to balancing traditional KPIs with modern metrics that value the customer experience. A focus on continually streamlining processes will reduce the confusion, redundancies, and delayed claims processing times. These increase operational costs and damage customer trust. Call centers employing intelligent data entry software experience higher first-call resolution rates, eliminate omission errors, and reduce customer frustrations.
Invest in developing agents’ EQ
Agents often encounter stressed, frightened, and angry customers. These callers are checking on benefits coverage or reporting the first notice of loss (FNOL). Insurance call centers that are successful at guiding the customer experience and decreasing employee burnout invest in helping their agents develop high emotional intelligence. Skill development should focus on techniques for a variety of situations. Such as de-escalating high-tension situations, calmly guiding policyholders through complex processes, and compassionately connecting with customers through empathy. Agents also need training on how to sensitively collect data about an incident when the caller is agitated or in shock.
Know your compliance regulations
Depending on the specific focus of the client, federal laws that protect the privacy of policyholders’ sensitive data may regulate insurance call centers. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act along with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards govern how calls are recorded, data is collected, records are transmitted and payment information is stored.
Compliance with these standards requires a high level of security. Encrypting all online transactions, securely storing records, hiring vetted professionals, and implementing plans for security breaches. Insurance call centers should also have a formal privacy policy in place. It should be more stringent than federal regulations as well as regularly evaluate compliance and keep employees updated on regulatory changes.
How Ansafone can help your business?
Ansafone Contact Centers is an award-winning BPO provider with 50 years of world-class customer experience and brand care. We are a national call center with omnichannel services, fully equipped to help you with your business and with any special circumstances.
Please request a quote or call 800-510-0514 to learn more about how you can benefit from outsourcing a call center and how we can improve your business. We’re happy to offer insight into what your customers seek from your company’s language offerings and tailored customer solutions.