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Insurance company's customer orientation. Customer-centric approach to claims handling. Before the conflict

Posted on the site 13.09.2007

The organization of the payment of insurance indemnities and provisions can both attract policyholders and repel them. Of course, not all unpleasant events that occur in life are insured events, which is why the insurer has the task of explaining this to a respectable insured, so that the latter does not have an opinion about the fraudulent position of the insurance company at the moment when he receives a denial of an insurance payment. .

Any person is a consumer of various services. There are services, the quality of which can be assessed fairly quickly (whether the clothes were cleaned well in the dry cleaner, the watches handed over for repair were repaired, etc.). But there are other types of services, the quality of which cannot be assessed immediately. This mainly applies to various types financial services. For example, it is impossible to immediately determine whether the bank has paid the due interest on a deposit in full or how much income can be received from shares.

In addition, there are such services, the main quality indicators of which cannot always be assessed even after the expiration of the contract: the money was paid, the service was provided to the consumer, and it is impossible to determine whether it is of high quality or not. It's about insurance.

Indeed, if the client did not have an insured event, then how can he understand whether the insurance company did a good job, whether it reliably protected his life, health, car, apartment? Another thing is if an insured event has occurred.

Unfortunately, many insurance companies pay little attention to customer-centricity in claims settlement. For some reason, many of them like to talk about how great their products are, how reliable they are. However, the consumer is much more interested in the question of how they pay. Exactly how they pay, although the question of the size of the insurance payment, of course, is also important. But if the employees of the Claims Settlement Departments (hereinafter referred to as the GMO) do not deceive and do not cheat, artificially reducing the amount of the payment, then any, even very insignificant, amount of the insurance payment can always be justified and proved to the insured. But the question of how the payment procedure itself takes place is almost always hushed up, although the client's opinion about the company depends on how the insurer pays and how satisfied the client is with the service in the PMO. For him, the emotional component is even more important at the time of payment, and not the dry figures of insurance compensation calculations. Only those insurers that start answering the question “How do you pay?” will be able to fully handle claims, and not turn this specialized unit into a payments department, in which employees are more “additions” to the calculator and cash register.

So, it's time to answer the question "How do you pay?" and find a way out of a hypothetical situation when a client comes to you with a scandal and a conflict is brewing.

Before the conflict

An insured event has occurred - a "black" day for the insured has come. And now he's on legal grounds wants to receive an insurance payment. At the same time, he needs certain period(as stated in the insurance contract):

notify the company about the occurrence of an insured event;
present documents confirming its actual occurrence;
present documents that characterize the amount of loss (the so-called degree of severity).

After performing these actions, the policyholder must wait for the decision of the insurer on the insurance payment or refusal to pay it.

Knowing about all the actions that need to be performed, any policyholder, having come to the insurance company after the occurrence of an insured event, is set up aggressively in advance. This aggressiveness is exacerbated by his stressful state, as well as those many stories about insurance companies that do nothing but take money for policies, and then very rarely pay for them.

What should PMO staff do? In the article, we will only touch upon the psychological component of the situation that arises after the insured has an insured event, and will not analyze in detail the entire settlement procedure, which any specialist of an insurance company has an idea of.

Employees of the PMO, after applying for an insurance payment from the insured, must:

reduce the level of aggressiveness of the insured, reassure him;
verify the occurrence of an insured event;
check the quantity and quality of all submitted documents;
make a decision on payment, having clearly thought through the reasoning of the decision made (any claim should be settled);
in case of payment (if the insured is satisfied with the reasoning for its size), offer to extend the insurance contract (if its expiration date is close), offer to expand protection (policies for other types of insurance);
motivate the consumer to bring their colleagues, friends and relatives to conclude insurance contracts with your insurance company.

Let's look at a few points of contact between the insured and the employees of the PMO.

The client came to report an insured event

Each of the company's clients has their own ideas about the work of insurance companies, including the procedure for settling insured events. Often these ideas are not based on real knowledge. That is why it is important for PMO representatives to understand the psychology of clients. This is especially true of the stereotypes of the client's perception of the insurance company and its employees. Knowing them, PMO employees will be able to prevent the emergence of a conflict situation.

Stereotypes in the mind of the insured:

“It is unprofitable for the insurance company to pay me insurance…”;
“Not only did the person suffer, they are also pestering him with the collection of documents. What is this running around in all instances worth!
“Now I am an enemy for the insurance company, but I used to be a favorite client…”;
“There is such a bureaucracy in this insurance company that I won’t wait for the payment ...”;
“This insurance company is a mess, and I turned out to be extreme ...”;
“They can’t pay without first getting on my nerves…”;
“I will not be paid very soon, if at all…”;
“When they took money from me, promised mountains of gold and spoke more affably…”;
“They want to pay me much less than it should be…”;
“They use my words and collected documents against me…”;
“I’m afraid that I won’t be able to prove the occurrence of an insured event…”;
“They promise me a payment within three days (weeks, months, etc.) ... All nerves will be exhausted!”;
“You could fill out all the paperwork yourself and collect all the documents for me. If I had known about such red tape, I would never have insured myself! I will never be afraid again ... ";
“Until you intimidate them (employees), nothing will happen…”.

What needs to be done by the PMO officer at this stage in order not to bring the situation to a conflict or even confrontation? First, he should be informed about the rules of work for the payment of insurance compensation and the algorithm of the insured's actions. Secondly, he should name the list of documents that need to be collected, as well as provide the necessary forms to fill out and assist in filling them out.

At the stage of collecting documents, the client requires a decision on payment

In rushing things, the client wants the decision to pay or refuse to pay as soon as possible, although the representatives of the PMO did not even have time to check all the documents submitted by the insured.

The client says this:

“The procedure is deliberately delayed so that I get tired and give up my money…”;
“The insurance company has no money, so the procedure is delayed…”;
“Is it really that important? They would have said that they do not want to pay!”.

What should the employee do at this stage? First, check the availability and correctness of filling in all required documents. Secondly, explain to the insured his further actions until the decision on payment is made.

The insured comes to find out about the decision on payment

If the client is patient enough, he waits for the appointed day and comes to learn about the decision on the payment of insurance compensation within the specified period.

The PMO officer needs to:

inform the decision on payment or non-payment;
in the event of a positive decision on payment, explain to the policyholder where, when and how he can receive the compensation due to him;
in case of refusal, reasonably and calmly give exhaustive explanations of the reasons for the refusal.

Upon learning of a payment denial, a customer may think the following:

"Deceived!";
“The whole procedure is structured so as not to pay anything…”;
“They don’t pay anyone here…”;
“I was wrapped around my finger. It was foolish to hope for payment ... ";
“The policy is drawn up so as not to pay…”;
"When I was buying insurance, an employee of the insurance company misled me...".

This, too, must be taken into account in order to be prepared for all kinds of claims.

In addition, the negative attitude of the consumer towards the insurance company may arise or intensify in the following situations:

when, at the stage of concluding the contract, the policyholder was not explained the procedure for settling claims and was not given any reminder (in this case, the consumer himself thought something up, for example, that payment should be made in full immediately after submitting the application);
when the selling divisions did not work well with the consumer. For example, the insurance agent did not bother to warn the client that the existence of an insured event and its severity must be confirmed by the relevant documents, or did not explain that the insurance company could investigate the insured event, etc.;
in case of poor quality work of PMO employees.

What can be done (in terms of psychological aspects working with a client) to correct the situation?

It is necessary to start solving these problems from the moment the insurance policy is sold. Much can be predicted in advance. It is necessary to talk about all possible aspects at the stage of selling the policy and, backing up with examples, explain them to the client. We suggest as one of the options to perform the following necessary actions.

1. Publish the list of stereotypes (thoughts) of insurers listed above in direct sales departments. The consumer, having seen this list, will certainly measure it with his stereotypes and thoughts and begin to doubt their correctness. It is possible that reading such a list will cause positive emotions, which in the future will be associated specifically with your insurance company.

2. Publish an absurd or playful list of stereotypes (thoughts) given above, for example, according to the following algorithm: enumeration of stereotypes - objections to stereotypes. Such memos can be attached to the purchased policy along with a description of the algorithm for implementing the insurance payment procedure.

3. At the time of the sale, a front office employee is advised to pay attention to the relevant memo and say out loud something like “We already know that even to receive the Nobel Prize, you need to collect some documents ...”. It is possible that this will calm the client, and you will achieve his location.

4. Relevant memos should be posted in the premises of the insurance company where the client visits (reception, sales department, PMO) in the form of posters. The first poster is a list of stereotypes that the client has at the time of payment, with the text “Sometimes people think this way ...”; the second - with thanks to your specific clients (it is desirable to have their written consent to post their feedback) who received payments; the third - with a description of cases in which the money was not paid (here it is better to focus on all kinds of fraudulent activities by insurers).

Documents that must be filled out upon the occurrence of an insured event (especially for expensive insurance), in a partially completed form (in the form finished sample) with a list of addresses and telephone numbers of the relevant authorities should be issued to the policyholder in advance (at the time of conclusion of the insurance contract). At the same time, the agent must explain: “We will fill out these forms together with you, and you will get rid of unnecessary trouble in the event of an insured event.”

After that, it will be much more difficult for the policyholder to enter into a conflict at the stage of compensation, since he, quite likely, will subconsciously be afraid to voice one of the stereotypes named on the posters.

In a situation where an insured event requires a significant time to conduct an investigation, and the policyholder expects immediate compensation, a breakdown of the payment into two parts is introduced.

The entire amount of insurance compensation is divided into two parts (for example, 5 and 95% or 10 and 90%). The first part is paid to the insured immediately after the submission of documents confirming the insured event (that is, not yet verified), and the second, as expected, after the completion of the insurance investigation (the amount of the first part of the compensation may coincide with the cost of the insurance itself). As a result, your consumer will be convinced that the payment of compensation really begins from the moment the documents are submitted to the insurance company.

Splitting the payment into two parts does not increase the risk of the insurer. If the policyholder himself organized the insurance event (that is, turned out to be a fraudster), then it turns out that he himself provided the information necessary to hold him accountable (paid 5 or 10% in such a case must be returned to the insurer). Because of the 5% insurance indemnity, a rare consumer of insurance services will "substitute" himself under the article of the Criminal Code. Thus, there should be fewer unscrupulous clients, which will significantly simplify the payment procedure (and, presumably, reduce the complexity of the investigation).

In addition, the payout breakdown will allow you to:

reassure the conscientious insured, since the payment procedure has already begun;
gain a competitive advantage by providing an additional service to the insured;
get an additional information reason for placing material in the media;
improve the relationship and interaction between the sales department and the PMO, since the agent in the sale of the policy can guarantee an almost instant start of payment from the moment all necessary documents are submitted.

Example of a consumer memo

Let us give an example of a memo for the consumer, which he should be given at the stage of concluding an insurance contract.

“Even before the occurrence of an insured event, you need to find out how the insurance indemnity is paid. When concluding a contract with an insurance company, ask its representative about the procedure for payment.

If you wish, you can get acquainted with the statistics of paid indemnities. The representative of the insurance company will show you a list of payments for the last six months and give the necessary explanations.

If an insured event occurs, report it to the insurance company, to the claims settlement department. The agreement provides maximum term filing an application for reimbursement, which is indicated on reverse side insurance policy. Please don't miss this deadline.

Ask a Claims Officer to provide you with a list of documents for which an insurance claim is paid. This will make it easier to collect the necessary documents. You can use this list as a guide when making them.

You can get samples of payment documents from the Claims Department, as well as instructions on how to fill them out correctly. This will greatly speed up the preparation of the necessary documents.

Unfortunately, even a small mistake in execution can deprive the document for the payment of legal force, and you - the payment itself. To prevent this from happening, please follow the correct execution of your documents in the relevant authorities.

The review of your documents begins as soon as you submit them to the Claims Department. Under the insurance contract, no more than ___ days are allotted for consideration of documents, but usually it takes less time, after which a decision on payment is made.

The emergence of a conflict situation

If the conflict nevertheless occurred, the PMO employee should, without entering into an argument with the client on the merits of the dispute, turn to several psychological techniques, including:

localization;
telling a story that distracts attention (the story is a “magnet”);
fixing claims on paper;
shifting attention outward.

An emotional client who is trying to start a scandal must be removed from the zone where other insurers are or may appear, that is, they must be localized. Regardless of what the client says, one of the employees should say: “Don't worry, we can easily solve this issue with the help of ... (named position). Come with me, I'll help you."

It is important to understand that the PMO employee in this situation does not work for the client who has entered into a conflict, but for the environment. That is, the employee must constantly translate harm into favor - a conflict situation into a situation of demonstrating loyalty to the company.

After the dissatisfied client leaves the conflict zone, it is necessary that one of the remaining employees tell a story to relieve tension. For example, he can say: “Once one of our clients came with a hunting rifle and opened it like this (shows) ... And he puts the cartridge ... Then he was offended a little by the guards ... We tried, of course, to be more delicate ... ".

A vivid image from such a story usually completely displaces the previous conflict situation from thoughts, turns attention to itself and gives emotional release.

Of course, such stories are prepared in advance. Moreover, it is not necessary to compose fables.

Having localized a conflicting client, it is important to transfer all his negativity to paper. That is, no matter what he says, it is necessary to sympathetically answer: “Please write about it, we will definitely figure it out.” Experience shows that a person in this situation calms down very quickly, thinking about what to write. Often a person never finds what to write.

Then the PMO officer calmly and reasonably explains to the insured what needs to be done to receive the payment, and explains when and how the insurance company will help him, and how he will not be able to help under any circumstances.

In the case of using the method of splitting the payment, you can pay a smaller part of it.

The procedure for switching attention outward assumes that during a conversation with a conflicting client, the PMO employee can refer to external objects. For example, on information system: “My computer shows that you were sent an invoice then and then it was withdrawn. This is not true? Write, please, I will immediately enter it into the database. This will be transferred to the accounting department tomorrow and checked ... Is that right? Then write what your problem is, I will immediately convey it ... ".

Of course, all the methods and ways of working with a client in the settlement of claims given in the article do not pretend to be full coverage, because to provide for each particular situation impossible. Nevertheless, understanding the psychology of the client when dealing with the issues of compensation for losses by the employees of the insurance company's PMO will undoubtedly help solve a number of problems in this complex and very responsible division of the insurance company.

S.V. Knyazev
Head of Marketing Department of the Middle Volga Directorate of SK NASTA LLC

Introduction

I am sure that the principle of focusing on customers in the conditions prevailing in the modern insurance market has not been fully implemented. Many companies proclaiming a customer-oriented approach change the content of the ideas of this approach, which is associated with an erroneous idea about it and a lack of experience in the development of this promising direction.

Signs of a customer-oriented insurance company in marketing

What is customer centricity?

Let's look at customers and relationships with them as a resource that allows you to earn. You take into account the interests of customers, and customers, in turn, buy from you more, more often and for longer, and even recommend to others.

Customer centricity is the ability of a company to create additional customer flow and additional profit through a deep understanding and satisfaction of customer needs.

Signs of customer focus:

· Leadership commitment. Top management must believe in the possibility of an individual approach to each client and quality service.
· Sufficient funding. Funds are needed for the professional development and implementation of the service strategy.
· Significant improvement in the quality of service. Service improves so much that customers notice it and, as a result, believe that the quality of the product has also improved. Service culture standards and regulations for the actions of all employees of the company will help here!
· Education. Companies typically neglect to train their employees in customer service techniques, even though this approach could have more impact on their bottom line than all other efforts.
Relationships within the company. Understanding the "internal customer" in the company. Different divisions help each other, and do not pull the blanket over themselves.
· Participation of all employees. Each employee must understand that their work affects the customer's perception of the quality of service and even the quality of the product - no matter how far they are from the "line of direct communication with the client."

Service professionals are not born. The business as a whole spends very little time training and motivating front-line employees. A professional is a person who works hard and strives for excellence. The professional is defined in trifles. Professionalism requires experience. Moreover, a competent and thoughtful experience, one that helps to see important little things that allow you to satisfy the requests and needs of customers as much as possible.

What is the difference between a professional and an "amateur"? First of all, by the values that he is guided by while working in his company and with clients. In addition, the level of training in high service skills, how ready he is to apply this knowledge and skills in his daily work.

The transition to the third stage and the transformation of the company into a “customer service center” will remain a pipe dream for many!

We have already discussed above that changes in a long time ago existing organization- an operation on a living, complex and fraught with consequences. Often no one manages to jump above their heads. Therefore, the fate of most "old companies" - the first two steps of our ladder.

Building a company as a "customer service center" requires creating an organization, its structures, standards, team, and even buildings and premises from scratch!

In such a “service center”, absolutely all the efforts of all services and employees are aimed at achieving IDEAL forms of service that do not allow even the slightest dissatisfaction of customers.

The main criterion for an ideal service is a combination of speed and convenience for customers. Rhythm of life modern people has become very fast, and saving time gives people more opportunities to achieve personal goals. We all appreciate it!

But few companies can afford it. Few organizations are built from the outset to accommodate the slightest whims of all categories of their clients. For example, a bank in the city center. You can build all the customer service business processes perfectly, but you can’t solve the problem of parking in the city center. And customers will not think your service is perfect.

Conclusion

And, in conclusion, I want to note one factor for this discussion, for the sake of which, today we are starting to think about the client, his needs, his interest. We stop putting our product and the interests of our company above the interests of our customers.

Today, with increased competition, if your business does not think about the loyalty of its customers, customers begin to think about competitors. Only high service and additional profit obtained through the service can increase the competitiveness of your business. They give small businesses a chance to fight big companies, and big companies a chance to hold the market!

“The customer is always right” is a phrase that business owners use as an example for their employees to teach them good service.

“The customer is always right” – this is the phrase that employees hate, believing that they provide good service, and the customer is just “borzeet”. The thin line between good and bad is called customer focus.

Looking ahead, I can say that if you have just decided to postpone reading an article with the words: “My company has good service, which means customer focus is at its best,” then I will immediately advise you not to rush.

Your service may be good compared to competitors or the market average.

However, after traveling around the world, I realized that Russia has room to grow. But the conversation is about you.

Therefore, even if the customer focus in your company is high, I insist that you read this material to the end.

Usefulness, chips and practical experience for the development of customer focus - everything will be. Without it in our blog in any way.

Tomorrow, today will be yesterday

In principle, this is all you need to know about the concept itself before moving on to specific tools to increase customer focus.

Small business - no service needed

The only thing I want to pay attention to is who is customer-oriented.

That is, which company needs to purposefully deal with it, and who better to postpone it for later and start attracting customers.

The answer is simple to disgrace - everyone. Yes, there are a lot of rumors now that this is only necessary for those who work in highly competitive niches.

But small companies, monopolists and innovative start-ups do not need this. But this is a delusion, or rather an excuse not to do this business.

Monopolists can "score" on a good service only for the time being, until a new competitor appears.

Then dissatisfied customers immediately go to him. A startup is much more likely to “start powerfully” due to good service, external and internal customer orientation.

And a small business should value each client as the apple of its eye, so as not to make ends meet in sales endlessly, and start word of mouth.

Therefore, everyone needs it. Only one question - "To what extent?". Everything is more flexible here.

It makes no sense to kill only over one service. Only one service people will not go. Therefore, it is like in, you need to do well, but not perfectly. After all, work on the ideal is endless.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
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Two types of approach

You could say we started talking about practice. And for its basis, we need in our head to divide customer focus into two types, which many do not know about.

Conventionally, they can be described as external and internal customer focus.

Customer oriented employee (internal)

The customer focus is a huge plus. These are very valuable employees who are quite expensive in the labor market.

They differ not only in that they comply with all the regulations for communicating with the client, but also in the fact that they put not the company and management, but the client at the forefront.

Although it sounds strange. The example is as old as the world, but it reflects the idea most fully.

Customer oriented internal

It is they who follow the saying - "The client pays you money, not the manager."

It is quite difficult to evaluate and see such employees, but, as a rule, they are good sales managers who sell much more than their colleagues. They have the most loyal and regular customers.

Customer-oriented company (external)

This is a company that primarily focuses on long-term work and long-term stay in business.

To do this, the company develops whole rules, regulations and employees with customers. Where it is written even what temperature to pour tea to the client.

But papers are papers, it is impossible to foresee all situations. Therefore, the company's management must initially determine the strategy, not only create rules, but also nurture this attitude in each employee.

Unfortunately, this is the main problem, because companies are more focused on money and customers, and not on working with employees.

Examples of successful implementations

Example 1 Dom.ru Internet provider. After connecting the Internet, the master at the door, scratching his hands, asks the question: “Mistress, do you still need to do something around the house?”.

Most, as a rule, refuse, but there are people who ask to fix the faucet or throw out the garbage. The loyalty of the client after such an act of the master, of course, rolls over.

Example 2 Zappos online store. The company takes care of the domestic problems of employees.

The company has a “Good Deeds Department” that helps employees with family tasks (for example, taking their mother to the hospital).

Thus, employees become more focused on work, which means they treat the client better, because they see a good example.

Example 3 Clothing store. In the event that a client needs a different size in the locker room, all he needs to do is press a button, at the signal of which the seller will come and bring the required size.

Usually the client has to scream or worse, dress in their clothes and repeat the lap of honor.

Example 4 Center child development. The administrators of the company give out tablets with the Internet and games for those parents who are waiting for their child during the lesson.

Thus, time flies by unnoticed, besides, all this is supported by comfortable and large chairs.

Example 5 Starbucks coffee shop. On each ordered glass of coffee they write your name.

This helps them not only in finding the owner of the drink, but also makes it possible to communicate all the time with the client by name. And as you know, we are ready to listen to our name forever.

Customer Focus at Starbucks

Example 6 Our company. To all customers who have not called us (for example, in working time) we always call back and give a bonus for the current situation.

On the one hand, we are not obliged to give anything, because it is normal that there is non-working time.

But on the other hand, the client made an appeal to our company, and this is important for us.

Example 7 Jewelry "Cartier". When buying a ring in Europe, I was prepared for the fact that they would speak to me in English language, but no.

For all popular countries (including Russia), native speakers are provided on site. And for rare countries, you can be provided with an interpreter for a few hours.

Example 8 Bank Alfa-Bank. In the winter season, the bank wrapped all its metal handles with soft, velvet material, so that when the client opens the door, he would feel not the cold, but the warm love of each person from this company.

Customer focus in Alfa-Bank

Example 9 Pizza restaurant. Since the restaurant is very famous, with the influx of the season there are queues for tables that go along the street.

The wait can be up to 1 hour. So that during this time you are not tired, you are provided with chairs and free water, which is constantly replenished by the waiter in this area.

Example 10 Taxi service. When ordering a car, you can choose the “Silent driver” option.

Such an order will make it clear to the taxi driver that you need to drive in silence, and not tell how much he already drives this car and how the last passenger deceived him by 10 rubles.

Concrete steps

It is impossible to give a list of required actions to become a customer-oriented company.

Because if you read carefully, all criteria are based on the needs of the client.

In one business, it is important for the consumer to have soft chairs in line, and in another, they don’t give a damn about these chairs, the main thing is to be able to fill out all the documents on their own, even while standing.

In the example above, you can start to object and say: “We need both chairs and self-filling.” It's right.

True, if we are talking about small and medium-sized businesses, then there are no resources and time for everything.

Therefore, you need to move by priority and start with the most important. One to one, as in the use of advertising channels (see the video below).

But in order not to let you go with bare hands and a stuffed head, I will give you some theoretical and practical advice that will help you form the right actions to lay the foundations of customer focus.

Determine direction. To a greater extent you are aimed at the client or at money. This is important because, for example, customers are often dissatisfied with a product and demand an exchange, a gift, and a return.
Under the law, in some cases, you can refuse them. But the fact of the matter is that customer focus is not a law, so you need to decide on the shore what to do.
Count customer churn. Customers leave (below are interesting statistics) and this cannot be avoided. But if all customers leave, then something urgently needs to be changed.
After all, the outflow of customers is one of the indicators of your service. Tracking losses is easiest with .
Exceed customer expectations.“Easy to say but hard to do,” you think. But actually it is not.
For example, all you need retail store, is to invest a chocolate bar in a customer's purchase. This will surprise him, and ruin you for mere pennies.
Do not collect feedback using questionnaires. Never! Listen, never!
Questionnaires do not work, because even a positive client is too lazy to fill it out, and if he fills it out, he writes only good things so as not to offend.
Deal with angry/gone customers. Be ready to talk to a lost client at any time.
A particularly powerful effect is achieved if the issue is resolved not just by the employee, but by his manager. And this will brighten up the negative if the issue has not been resolved positively.
Change the staff. Implement bonuses for the best customer-oriented employees, this will be an additional incentive for them.
The prize can be both material and non-material, the main thing is that the employee wants to receive it.

Calculation formula

Everyone knows a lot about customer focus, but how to measure it - there is no single formula that takes into account all factors.

But I liked the Ovum research (it's a big research center).

They developed their own formula and decided to test different companies to see which one was how much customer-focused. Ready for results?

Even such large companies how Apple, IBM, General Electric failed to rise above 80%. The absolute majority of companies did not overcome the bar above 55%.

This perfectly shows that most companies in America "do not bother" with the quality of work. What can we say about Russia, where the situation is much worse.

Only by focusing on service and quality of service in order to avoid lowering the coefficient due to the product and other technical issues that are not directly related to customer focus.

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PC: Survive in a crisis, gain market advantages and raise business to a new level - these are the tasks for the modern management of insurance companies, for the implementation of which there is no universal recipe. But many experts agree that building a customer-centric business can be the panacea.

Nikolai NIKOLENKO, Chairman of the Board of Directors of IC Rosinkor Reserve LLC, shared his vision of creating a client-oriented insurance business based on competent market management. economic sciences, Associate Professor, Certified International Business Coach.

What is a client-oriented insurance company?

Two types of definitions can be given: ordinary and scientific. I want to tell dear readers right away that I will express my opinion the way I have it. Your right to agree with it or disagree. But any definition should reflect the essence of the phenomenon. You do not understand the essence - it is difficult to move on.

Lately, I've begun to gravitate towards my own aphorisms. One of them is as follows: genius lies in making complex things simple. On the contrary, idiocy consists in making simple things complicated.

By no means claiming to be a genius, I will try to give an ordinary definition of a customer-oriented company. A customer-oriented company is a company in which management and staff are tense so that the client is not tense.

And vice versa: a non-customer-oriented company is one in which

client, because management and staff do not strain.

If we speak methodologically with a practical eye, then a customer-oriented company is three “KPs”: Customer-oriented Products, Customer-oriented Processes, Customer-oriented Personnel. In other words, it is a certain system of relations with the client, in which his interests are primary.

I divide the business processes of an insurance company into two types: operational and non-operational. Operational activities include underwriting, actuarial activities, sales, claims handling, reinsurance and maintenance of insurance contracts. Non-operational business processes include: finance, information technology, business administration. Two business processes stand apart - marketing and personnel, although to be a scientific beech, the first should be attributed to sales, and the second to non-operational business processes. All these business processes in a client-oriented company should be built from the client, and not from what is convenient, for example, to the head of the claims settlement service, who sets himself the functions and the algorithm for their implementation, so as not to strain.

The example is simple: in a client-oriented company, you will not be asked every time for a passport to conclude a new insurance contract, since it is in the database available to all employees working with this client. And these are management competencies plus Information Technology. In the event of an insured event, you will also not be required to have a passport and a policy, since not only sellers have it, but it is also automatically available to losers. But all business processes are dead until they are touched by the intellectual and emotional energy of the people who drive a particular business process. Therefore, customer-oriented staff and management - key factor customer orientation.

I also want to note that all processes, structures, technologies and personnel must move and work from the client under the guidance of a special center for professional work with clients. Such a think tank is the company's marketing service, which builds relationships between the company and customers, and also sets the standards for these relationships based on the strategy for working with customers of a particular company. And management in this area is called market management, or in our opinion - customer relationship management.

How would you rate the overall level of marketing management in Russian insurance companies?

It is always easy to criticize, especially others. I will try to avoid this and raise a problem that, in my opinion, is no less significant than the state of the assets of insurance companies and the OSAGO problem. Moreover, in my deep conviction, the problem of assets and the problem of OSAGO, oddly enough, is directly related to customers. The purpose of this interview is to ensure that we once again carefully look at the area of interaction between insurers and policyholders, which is quite problematic.

First, it must be honestly said that the level of marketing management in insurance companies, to put it mildly, is not very high, and to be even more honest, it is extremely low. It is clear at the same time that we take the general trend and the “average temperature in the hospital”. And this is the problem with many companies. In order not to be unfounded and not to discuss the problem at the level of emotions, but at the level of content, let's look at the numbers and facts.

A recent sociological survey conducted in Russia showed that banks are trusted by more than two thirds of the population - 76 percent, and slightly more than one third - 36 percent trust insurance companies.

The level of penetration of insurance in our country does not exceed 15-20 percent for both enterprises and the population. Also, according to various estimates, from 20 to 60 percent of clients leave insurance companies in the second year. It is clear that the reasons are different. However, the lion's share of customers leave due to poor service. Clients leave the company, and with them insurance premiums and profits of insurance companies leave as the basis for the formation and maintenance of the company's assets. Yes, for opponents I’ll say right away that sometimes losses also go away.

Secondly, today only a few companies have fully functional marketing services, the management of which understands their necessity. There is good examples. Just the other day I was in an insurance company, probably the only one in Russia, where I found a market management division. Well done! Another 30-40 companies have organizational structures marketing, but they do everything but attract and retain customers. But these are structures and employees who should professionally deal with clients.

Clients are the most important intangible asset of the company, which is the foundation of all other assets: financial, human, information. financial services and IT services are available to everyone, HR services are available to many. And not many companies have marketing services. Marketing in most companies on a voluntary basis is done by salespeople, because it is easy to ask them for sales volumes, that is, measurable indicators. Therefore, they have to create customer databases, develop sales channels, etc.

The marketing function has two main functions - to attract and retain customers, and to maintain feedback with them. Let me give you a simple example of customer feedback.

I drive a BMW car. Immediately after buying the car, the official dealer thanked me in writing and by phone for purchasing the car from them. After my visit to the service, for any reason, a specialist always calls me and checks how satisfied I am with the service. At the same time, this is done informally and not for show.

I bought policies in different insurance companies and now I buy, because our company does not have all the products. But not once did anyone ever call me and ask about how, for example, I was served when buying a policy or settling a loss. I'm not blaming anyone now, as I myself work for an insurance company. I want to say that we still have a lot of work and improvement in the area of customer relations.

Thirdly, you need to understand that, all other things being equal, the aggregate indicator of a company's success is the growth in sales volumes. And in sales there are simple three "K": Clients, Contacts, Contracts. This formula was developed and gained through my more than 20 years of experience in various insurance companies: large, medium and small in various positions from the head of the sales department to the general director and chairman of the board of directors. How many companies do you think today have such a key indicator as the number of customers, customer retention rate, average premium per customer, number of policies per customer? But this is the basis for calculating the volume of insurance premiums for the year at certain rates.

Fourth, customers are different. I distinguish two main types of clients: Regular Clients and Potential Clients. And regular customers are divided into three categories: Renewal Customers, Key Consumers and Cross-Consumers. By attachment to the company, customers are one-time, permanent and loyal. And clients are profitable and unprofitable. Some readers of this interview may accuse me of being too academic and mentoring. But understanding what I'm talking about is very important for management, because for different types and categories of customers will have different forms, methods and technologies of working with them. And the development and implementation of these technologies is a function of marketing.

Today, in companies with clients, everyone works - and rightly so. But the company must have a professional body for working with clients, which determines the ideology, strategy and tactics of this work. It is the misunderstanding or unwillingness of management to understand this simple thing that causes poor organization of work with clients. Today, managers of insurance companies, wittingly or unwittingly, are simply obsessed with the internal processes and problems of the company. This is important, but no less important is the desire and ability to look not only inside, but also outside.

Does the reason for poor marketing organization lie in the minds of specific managers?

Of course. But not only in the head, but also in the heart. I often hear from colleagues complaints about the crisis, sanctions and other external causes. Since the external environment for all insurance companies is the same and crisis, then with this approach, all companies must be unsuccessful and all managers must also be unsuccessful. But there are successful managers, and there are successful companies. At the same time, ask any manager about whether he is successful, and you will get an affirmative answer. I repeat that I have worked in different companies and I am convinced that all the causes of success, as well as defeats and failures, lie within us.

The formula for success in management is very simple: Y = V ppr, that is, success is equal to the speed of making the right decisions. And the speed of making the right decisions is directly proportional to the coefficient of management competence and inversely proportional to the number of decision-making levels, which can also be expressed by the formula: V ppr = Kk / Ku. The more levels of decision-making and the less competent management, the decisions are made more slowly and incorrectly. Everything is very simple: I think clearly, I state clearly, I act clearly. If the manager speaks floridly, then he does not understand the essence of the phenomenon. If he does not understand the essence, then he will not build a system of work.

It's no secret that I conduct business trainings on open market. Often I ask listeners a simple question: what is marketing? The answers are very diverse and about segmentation, and about the Boston matrix, and about sales channels, etc. However, these definitions are instrumental in nature, not essential. If the manager understands the essence of the phenomenon, then he will give it a definition, as I say, in the top ten. It doesn't matter if it's your own or taken from a book. The main thing is that it should reflect the essence. And the essence lies in the relationship. You can argue methodologically and theoretically as much as you like about what marketing is, since there are hundreds of definitions of this phenomenon. The manager, on the other hand, needs a subject-practical definition, since, understanding it, he will build a marketing system in the company.

Marketing is the relationship between a company and customers. Marketing is all about attracting and retaining customers. Advertising, public relations, customer matrices, needs research, product requirements definition, sales channels and technologies, databases, CRM, contact centers, customer lifetime value - these are all tools for realizing the essence of marketing. Managers, unfortunately, focus on tools rather than substance. In this case, you can grab a separate tool without understanding the system. It does not lead to success.

But it is not enough to know, you need to build a marketing system based on knowledge. In addition to knowledge and skills, you need to put into practice everything that is in your head. What I do is the content of the activity. How I do it is the technology of activity. "What" and "how" are in the head. But how I feel about what I do - is in the heart. Alloy of strong intellect as well positive emotions and will give excellent results.

The presence of common sense, the ability to penetrate deeply into the essence of phenomena is an innate natural ability along with physiological and emotional genetic codes. In addition to the level of natural abilities, there is also a level of acquired ones: the more a person works on himself, learns, trains and develops, the more he can compensate for the limitations of natural abilities.

I will say something that many may not like: not everyone is given successful management, but everyone tries. Probably because in short term the consequences of managerial errors are not as obvious as in the work of a surgeon or an architect. In management, the result may be delayed in a very long term (and our insurance service itself is also delayed). Even the profit received is not an indicator, because it may not be the result of proper management, but the monopoly position of the company, the disposal of natural resources, and so on. In general, any person can come into management, but only a person with developed natural intellectual and emotional inclinations can become a talented manager - an intellectual-volitional person who has necessary system values and motives. After all, no one argues that a talented composer or architect needs to be born, although success still needs a lot of work. But if there are no outstanding natural abilities, then you can only become a good manager rather than outstanding.

First, these activities can be divided into two levels: strategic and operational. At the first level, the company must clearly define the business ideology, marketing strategy or customer relationship strategy and the company's competitive advantages.

The client-oriented ideology of the company will be reflected in the mission, vision and values of the company. This is the spiritual basis of the company, and therefore - of management and personnel, from which the customer-oriented approach of employees begins. Again, there are many opinions on this subject. Some managers believe that the mission and vision are abstract things and absolutely not working tools. But it's not the tool itself, but the attitude towards it. I repeat: the essence lies in the relation. The mission is needed only as much as management and staff believe in it. Does not believe - do not develop it and do not apply, as it will remain an empty phrase.

The working mission and vision will permeate all the operational activities of the company. This will find its place in recruitment, where, among other corporate competencies, customer focus will be key. The ability and desire to work with clients will also be reflected in job descriptions and competency profiles of all employees of the company, up to the cashier and the cleaner. The system of motivation of the company's employees will necessarily take into account the quality of customer service. It is not enough to proclaim a client-oriented ideology, it must be implemented. Therefore, it is necessary to form a marketing strategy for such an ideology.

Marketing strategy answers five simple questions: to whom, what, how, where and at what price to sell? Speaking in marketing language, the company needs to determine: target customer segments (CCS) with which it is going to work; insurance products for these target client segments; channels and technologies for selling insurance products to specific CCUs; regions of the company's operation; product prices for specific channels and CFBs.

All this will be reflected in the marketing section of the company's strategic plan. All these things are countable. Therefore, the key indicators of this section will be the following: the number of customers, the number of products and sales channels, the number of regions, and the forecast volumes of insurance premiums by strategy years. I had to develop such plans more than once. And there is also a successful experience of their implementation. However, to be honest, not all strategies were fully implemented. And the reason that strategies are not always implemented is again in the heads and hearts of top managers. Either there is not enough will and desire, or the management “forgets” about the content of the strategy and goes into products and segments that generate cash flows and cause losses, since the company lacks the competencies and competitive advantages to work in these market segments. I didn't go through this with just one company. And history has repeated itself over and over again.

In your opinion, what is the essence of competitive advantages?

Competitive advantages are also a marketing tool, and a strategic one at that. This is something that few companies have compared to others. If only you have this competitive advantage, then it is called unique. Competitive advantages, of course, need to be formed and developed. But here, too, there are a number of features that management does not always take into account in its activities.

First, competitive advantage cannot be abstract. For example, many companies write about an individual approach to customers. But such an approach must be confirmed by special flexible products, customer service technologies and dedicated customer-oriented employees of the company who lead the customer in everything. life cycle insurance service. Again, I will give an example of the above-mentioned company, where there is a technology and a turnkey customer service system - private insurance.

In addition, every competitive advantage of the company must be supported by arguments and facts. If you say that your competitive advantage is that you pay, then this must be confirmed by the completeness and quick payment terms and the absence of claims from customers.

Secondly, building competitive advantage means constantly monitoring the market and competitors, their products, prices, etc.

Thirdly, and most importantly, one must clearly understand the location of the company's competitive advantages. Many managers will say that they are on the site or in the corporate sales book. But this is a formal approach. The bottom line is that the competitive advantages of the company are in the heads and hearts of the staff: he knows them and he believes in them. If they are not there, then the company has no competitive advantages, because the company's personnel conveys competitive advantages to customers.

What are the key activities at the operational level to achieve a customer-oriented company needs to be implemented?

Indeed, in order to implement the client-oriented ideology and strategy of the company, its management needs to implement an extensive system of measures. First. You need to create a full-fledged marketing service. The main functions of such a service will be: creating matrices and customer databases in accordance with the company's strategy, developing and implementing the company's product policy, sales channels and technologies, advertising, public relations, and working with customers in terms of the quality of their service in the company. In other words, the key task of such a division is to create a system for attracting customers for the selling divisions of the company.

Second. The company needs to create a marketing system to support sales. The bottom line is that the system exists when the seller does not run around the market with cold sales on the bases that he himself creates. The marketing service is created in order to turn cold customers into warm ones, and even cooler - into warm ones. It is the marketing service that creates customer matrices and customer databases, and also organizes a systemic impact on these databases to attract customers. The processed databases are transferred to sellers for further work. The marketing service also develops requirements for insurance products and sales technologies, which are also provided to the company's sellers. We sell three incarnations: Competitive Advantage, Seller Competence and Quality Product. O competitive advantages was said above. By selling the skills of a salesperson, we sell ourselves as a competent professional capable of solving customer problems with the help of insurance. By selling a product, we are selling the company and ourselves. Moreover, if you have not sold yourself, then there is no need to talk about selling the company and the product. Thus, marketing has a significant responsibility for the company's sales in terms of customers.

Third. I especially want to dwell on the insurance product. In many companies, this is a synonym for the type of insurance. But this is far from true. Of course, each individual company will have its own understanding of the insurance product. I will share my experience.

Our company has an understanding of the product in the broad sense of the word and in the narrow one. In the broad sense of the word, an insurance product includes the following blocks: insurance license and rules, product underwriting, product claims settlement, marketing, training of sales personnel, IT support of the product. All this is posted on the portal in the corporate sales book. The seller, having entered the portal and clicking on the relevant product, will see all the company's documents and materials on this product in the corresponding blocks. In the "Underwriting" block, he will see all the instructions and standards for a specific product (for example, cargo insurance), tariffs and calculators, all forms of applications and questionnaires, as well as other documents related to underwriting in cargo insurance. In the marketing block, the salesperson can view cargo insurance sales technologies, potential customer databases, all leaflets and booklets on this product, standard presentations and letters to cargo insurance customers. The training block presents teaching materials on a product for self-study and tests for passing a test on a product.

Now about the product in the narrow sense of the word. I often ask managers a question: “What are we actually selling to the client?” The answers are interesting: protection, calmness, confidence. Maybe that's why we sell our services poorly, because we don't understand their essence.

You may or may not like my opinion, but I think we're selling insurance benefits. Insurance management needs to understand this simple truth. You can call it in many ways, but we sell financial compensation, money. Moreover, for little money we sell big ones in the event of an insured event. Yes, compensation is probabilistic, but that is why our service costs tenths and hundredths of a percent. The bank sells its loan for 100,000 for 120,000, and we sell 100,000 rubles of liability for a thousand rubles. And understanding this gives a paradigm shift for the seller, because then he begins to tell the client something completely different - to explain in what cases the payment is due, what is the procedure for receiving it, etc., and not to “sell” the policy.

There is another popular objection: if the client realizes that he “bought money”, he will immediately go to beat cars for compensation, etc. But I don’t think that everyone is thieves and crooks, and if someone thinks so trusts the client - why did he even come to work in this market? It is also a matter of customer relationship. According to an analysis carried out in Eastern European countries, cases of clear fraudulent, criminal acts in payouts account for less than 1 percent of total payouts.

Fourth. Creation of customer service standards and a feedback system with customers on compliance with these standards. Whose function is this? Also a marketing division, more precisely that part of it, which is called "Customer Service" or "Service Quality Service". The meaning of her activity is that the client does not run around the company from employee to employee with his problem, who kick him off, but knows where to turn. This service should monitor the percentage of clients leaving, including leaving after a poorly regulated insured event, and also be an arbiter between the client and all other services of the insurance company. This service also maintains constant communication with customers, especially key and loyal ones.

I'm not talking about the endless kicking off of those who applied for a legitimate payment, but about something completely different. About, for example, how Western companies send a letter of gratitude to a client for purchasing an insurance policy, congratulate them on holidays, and so on. And I'm not saying that this should be done for all clients, but mainly for profitable ones.

In general, employees of the marketing service must also have certain financial and economic competencies. Working with a client requires knowing the client, feeling the client, and measuring the client. Measure not only premiums, but also profitability, service life in the company, underwriting results for clients, keep profitable ones, and get rid of unprofitable ones. Evaluate the profitability of a client to see exactly how much profit the company will lose if the client leaves.

The client in the company is kept by four conditions. Firstly, a high-quality product, and the quality of a product is determined by a well-made insurance payment, with the obligatory observance of such conditions as speed, completeness and lack of bureaucracy. Secondly, high-quality service at all stages of the conclusion and operation of the contract. Thirdly, of course, the price parameter. Fourth, the system of relations with the insurance company. And finally, we must understand that the client needs to deliver the policy to a convenient place for him and in a convenient way for him.

Where to find competent marketers?

So far, the demand for this profession is extremely limited. And it is limited due to the objective state of the market. But I would be inconsistent if I blamed everything on external environment. This is what distinguishes a talented manager from a mediocre one in that he can see the essence of a phenomenon, its components as systems, and can notice or feel trends in order to build a company not on the fact of the occurrence of something, but in accordance with these future trends.

And the trend is such that the further, the more it will be necessary to take into account the opinion of the client, if you want the language of the imperative, then build for the client. This means that there should be a service that sets the priority in the company's work with clients. And this is a marketing service that is inextricably linked with sales. All other services of the company should be built from the client, and not from how convenient it is for employees. It is no coincidence that in Western companies there are positions of top managers in marketing and sales. That is, the head of the sales system has the tools to attract customers and increase sales.

There are three ways to build a professional marketing service. The first is to attract graduates majoring in marketing. I do not want to offend the youth, but Steve Jobs said that MBA graduates know how to manage, but do not know how to do it. I mean, you need to look not only at the diploma, but more at the person, his intellectual and creative abilities, as well as the desire to work. The second is to attract marketers from another industry. Will have to teach insurance specifics. The third is the formation of marketers from creative and smart sellers of their company. But I will say right away: all three options will work successfully only when the top manager who manages this service understands the essence of marketing himself, constantly develops and sets the bar for the development of the entire marketing service.

In conclusion, I want to say that the crisis is not eternal and will definitely end, economic growth will begin, followed by a qualitative and quantitative growth of customers. Where they will go tomorrow is quite obvious: where they are well served and sell good insurance services. Get ready for this today or die.

(According to the materials of the media information group "Insurance Today")

A serious aggravation of competition and the conditions prevailing in the insurance market under the influence of the domestic economic situation are forcing Ukrainian insurance companies to adjust their marketing strategies, putting the client at the forefront with his needs, desires and requirements. Boris Viktorovich RATANOV, marketing director of IC VUSO, spoke about the importance of customer orientation in the development strategy of a modern insurance company to the Bankir magazine.

The marketing strategy within the framework of this approach implies a completely different view of the relationship between the insurance company and the client, when the primary attention is paid not to the product itself, but to the person - with his needs and interests.

This important element of work is also characteristic of our company, which speaks of the ability to build the "right" relationship with customers - both external and internal.

We are moving into this direction not so long ago, so we still have a lot of work to do. But we already know that one of the most important elements of customer orientation is service, a high level of customer service of IC VUSO, and we are actively developing this area.

For example, as part of a client-oriented approach, we opened the first simple and affordable online store selling insurance services and implemented the possibility of online insurance for everyone. The online insurance service from IC "VUSO" makes the relationship between the insurance company and the client easier, because ordering an OSAGO policy, a policy for traveling abroad (VZR), a CASCO agreement or another type of insurance has become much faster - in just five minutes, more convenient - without leaving home, and cheaper, because there are no intermediaries between the client and the insurer.

The next step to improve the operation of the online insurance service will be the introduction of the possibility of choosing a payment option; among them, payment by means of payment cards will be obligatory. Improving the system of paying for the purchase of an insurance policy online makes this service even more comfortable and accessible, because the buyer will be able to complete all the necessary steps to purchase insurance without leaving the computer.

Simultaneously with the improvement of the payment system, by the end of 2013 we plan to optimize the delivery of policies to customers. Buyers of the vuso.ua online store will be able to order the delivery of insurance by courier or pick it up at the nearest representative office.

We try to simplify the process of online insurance for the client as much as possible, but, unfortunately, until the mechanism of functioning is introduced at the legislative level electronic signature for individuals, we will not be able to save consumers of our services from having to deal with a certain amount of paper documents. And if the client had an electronic signature, we - after payment - would send him an electronic policy, the buyer would sign it, and he would have a valid policy within 10-15 minutes from the moment of ordering on the site. But, while the aspect of delivery is mandatory when purchasing an insurance policy, IC "VUSO" makes delivery easier and more varied so that the client has the opportunity to receive his insurance policy in a way that is more convenient for him; the shipping costs are covered by the company.

In the future, we believe for the customer the most an important factor will save your own time and the opportunity to buy insurance directly from the insurance company, and not through an intermediary, because in the event of an insured event, the intermediary simply shrugged his shoulders - and the "extreme" as a result remains the insurance company.

It is precisely the increase in the level of responsibility of the insurance company to the client that is one of the main signs of customer orientation, which makes it clear that our main goal is not to sell a product, but to provide a high-quality level of insurance service. Because we understand very well that the main thing is to achieve the goal of the client, and in the field of insurance it consists in guaranteed receipt of payment in the event of an insured event with best level service. This is the key to the success of a customer-oriented company.

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