Originally Published on The Standard Magazine
It’s no secret that the professional landscape has undergone a massive transformation in 2020. A majority of us have transitioned from working in the office to working from home, and such a massive physical change translates to a change in how we work. With the right guidance, a remote workforce can function just as well (if not better) as an in-person team.
John Bachmann, Insurance Expert at Experience.com, wrote about this in The Standard Magazine, a staple-read for the Insurance Industry. His piece, titled “Engaging Agents in a Remote Environment” captures the top four ways to ensure that agents are performing at the highest level, no matter where they’re sitting.
Capture Engagement
Agent engagement directly impacts the customer experience, and without face-to-face interaction, gauging these levels of engagement can be a challenge. Bachmann suggests the following tips to prevent internal siloing and ensure consistently great customer experiences:
- Create a daily check in schedule
- Offer Emotional Support
- Provide opportunities for non work talk
- Vary communication channels
Share Tools and Knowledge
We sometimes forget how much information is shared in the physical office environment. With everyone working so close to each other, important info is spread quicker and without much thought. With a fully remote team, it’s easy for agents to feel ‘out of the loop’ with information or tools. With an ever changing market, insurance leaders should survey their employees to ensure they have all of the knowledge to succeed in their role. Even an anonymous survey will reveal the top areas where agents have knowledge gaps.
Map your Customer Journey
Building a customer journey map is the best way to identify the most important interactions between your employees and customers. As a team, collaborate to list out all customer touch points, from marketing and sales to customer retention. Think through the following questions:
1. When does your team interact with your clients?
2. What are the key touch points for your team?
3. Where are there interactions you can improve?
Collect Experience Data from Customers (and Employees!)
The absolute best way to learn how your customers feel at each touchpoint is to simply ask them! Don’t rely on agents to tell you how they think the interaction went, go straight to the source. Bachmann emphasizes that agents should steer away from only surveying customers at the very end of the transaction, because that doesn’t capture the full customer experience. To start, think about these touchpoint questions:
- How was the application process?
- Did the customer feel satisfied after your initial policy consultation?
- Does the customer understand their coverages better following the consultations?
- How was the communication during the process of binding their policy?
Gamify Employee Experience
To bring it full circle, use this powerful customer data to motivate agents through gamification. Did you know 90% of employees are more productive when they use gamification, and 72% believe it inspires them to work harder? Reward agents for amazing customer experiences, or coach agents on poor customer experiences and encourage some healthy competition!
Click below to read the full article in the latest edition of The Standard.
