17th Annual ACE Sneak Peek
Customer Service and Claims Management
By Christina Bramlet, PropertyCasualty360.com
In a couple of weeks, the 17th annual ACE America’s Claims Event will take Aus- tin, Texas by storm. From June 19-21, 2013, attendees will hear from leading industry experts and connect with their claims comrades about the latest tech- nologies and strategies. Below we caught up with the speakers of two highly anticipated presentations for a glimpse of what’s in store.
Session: The Three Driving Factors
for Improving Claims Employee
Performance
When: June 19, 2013, from 12: 45 pm
to 1: 25 pm
Claims professionals are responsible
for a lot of things, from staggering caseloads to complex investigations. We’re in
the business of resolution, of helping restore a sense of normalcy to policyholders who have suffered tremendous loss.
This involves using
various hard skills,
technologies and
resources; however,
one too often forgets
that it also involves
refining “soft skills,”
such as empathetic
listening and customer service.
Carl Van, ITP, president and CEO, International Insurance Institute, Inc., realizes the crucial role that soft skills play
in the claims process. He is the author
of more than 75 technical and soft skill
workshops being taught throughout the
U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Above all else, he is an enthusiastic educator, one who knows how to help managers inspire their staff to achieve optimal
results. When asked about the scope of his
ACE presentation, Van stressed the attributes of exceptional claims professionals
and the fact that claims is, and has always
been, “a customer service business.”
she is supposed to be accomplishing. This
person cares about doing an excellent job,
and has the job knowledge and skills to do
it well. Exceptional performers question the
status quo but don’t waste time waging war
on company policy or procedures. They are
“givers” rather than “takers.”
How does this definition apply to claims
professionals?
In claims, we have an issue with the “big
picture” part of that definition. Usually,
in our claims customer service courses,
we ask claims professionals to use words
or phrases to describe their jobs. They
will say things like: “investigate,” “nego-
tiate,” “answer the phone,” “handle mail,”
and “complete diary tasks.” They may
also relay that they “write estimates” and
about a thousand other things. What is
almost never uttered, however, is provid-
ing “customer service.”
Claims is a 100-percent customer ser-
vice business. We don’t build anything.
We don’t make anything. We don’t fix
cars; someone else does that. We don’t
mend wounds; someone else does that.
We don’t rebuild houses. We arrange for
those things to happen, and that is the
customer service component. Sometimes
we pay people, and other times we don’t
pay them but at least explain why. Even
doing that is part of the customer service
we provide.
The very best claims professionals are
those who are technically sound, but it the
end, understand we are here to help people.
An adjuster who doesn’t understand this
will say, “If you don’t sign this form, we can’t
pay you.” An adjuster who does understand
this will say, “If you can sign this form, we
can begin paying you.” An adjuster who
doesn’t understand that will say, “It sounds
like you’re confused.” An adjuster who gets
it, however, will say, “Maybe I didn’t ex-
plain things clearly, let me try again.” This
same adjuster will say, “let me help explain
why we take depreciation” instead of “we’re
going to take depreciation.”
What are the ‘three driving factors
for improving claims employee per-
formance’ that you will discuss at the
ACE conference?
Performance is made up of two things:
attitude and ability. Attitude represents
80 percent, and ability is 20 percent. It’s
the Pareto Principal; the old 80-20 rule.
Driving up that performance can have
many avenues. I will be speaking on these
three areas: Creating a culture of customer service awareness; setting a standard
that improvement is part of the job; and
providing the training and support for
people to reach their potential.
Many claims organizations will say
they do all this already, when in truth it is
their greatest weakness.
In what tangible ways can these ideas be
implemented back at the office?
Every interaction in a claims office is
a potential training opportunity. Office
meetings, break room conversations, and
even casual conversations about procedure changes are all perfect times to create a culture. Declarations in newsletters,
e-mails, memos, wall signs, and the like
are very weak methods to garner support
for a cultural improvement compared to
an open discussion in an office meeting.
What is your definition of a truly excep-
tional performer?
A truly exceptional performer is one who
understands the big picture of what he or
What is one key takeaway for audience
members?
That improvement is possible, available, and much less expensive than not
doing anything. You can hire all of the
talented people you want, but in the end,
