March 31, 2025 • 34 mins
What happens in those crucial moments when customers reach out for help? The difference between frustration and relief often comes down to one simple factor: responsiveness.
Responsiveness in customer service is vital, especially when addressing time-sensitive needs in the insurance sector where a quick, accurate answer can make all the difference. Our Business Engagement Unit was created specifically to redefine traditional admin roles by hiring top talent focused on immediate customer response.
• Responsiveness builds trust, fosters relationships, and enables efficient problem-solving
• Empathy is crucial—putting yourself in others' shoes and providing service you'd expect
• Injured workers experience disruption to their lives and need immediate support
• Lack of response can lead to mistrust, increased costs, and potential litigation
• The Business Engagement Unit answers calls live rather than using automated systems
• Cross-training ensures representatives can answer multiple types of questions
• Multiple communication channels (phone, email, text, chat) meet customers where they are
• Setting clear expectations when immediate answers aren't possible prevents frustration
• Acknowledging mistakes, taking responsibility, and making things right builds stronger relationships
• Leaders must model responsive behavior with their own teams
We encourage you to like, follow, and give us a review—we would love a five-star review to help others find this podcast. Do right, think differently, and don't forget to care.
Season 9 is brought to you by Berkley Industrial Comp. This episode is hosted by Greg Hamlin.
Visit the Berkley Industrial Comp blog for more!
Got questions? Send them to marketing@berkleyindustrial.com
For music inquiries, contact Cameron Runyan at camrunyan9@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hello everybody and welcome to Adjusted.
What would happen if, any timeyou needed a service, you didn't
have to struggle for a response.
You immediately received whatyou needed.
Today, I'm excited to talkabout responsiveness and
especially responsiveness in theinsurance sector.
So glad to have my guest withme.
I'm, of course, Greg Hamlin atBerkeley Industrial Comp and
(00:34):
Senior Vice President here inbeautiful Birmingham, Alabama,
and with me are two of myfavorite people on my team.
I have with me Luella, if you'dlike to introduce yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Hi there, luella Alcorn.
I'm a Senior BusinessOperations Manager here at
Berkeley Industrial Company.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And she is in one of my favorite places in the world
Lexington, kentucky, so close tomy mama.
She lives there and we livedthere for a bit, so I love, love
Kentucky.
Yes, I do too.
And then my next guest, chris,would you like to introduce
yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, chris Drake, I'm a claims manager here in the
Indianapolis area.
I will make a plug real quickthat Indiana basketball is far
superior to Alabama and Kentuckybasketball.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I love what you're saying there and I want to agree
because I am a Hoosier.
But it's been a rough ride, butI think better days are coming,
so I can only hope.
But if I'm betting in Vegasthis year, I probably would put
it on UK or Alabama, but I'mthere with you.
Basketball is king.
And Chris does come fromIndianapolis, where I lived for
(01:37):
almost 20 years, so it'sdefinitely a special place for
me.
So, excited for today's topicbecause one I'm getting to deal
with, two of my team members andtwo, this is something that I
feel really passionate about andI think we've all been there at
different times.
I can remember when my fatherpassed away.
He had an account foraudiobooks with a company and my
(02:03):
mom.
A year had passed and my momrecognized that they had been
charging him for a year, everymonth, for these audio books and
she couldn't figure out how tostop it.
And here my mom, a recent widow, is struggling with this and
I'm trying to figure out well,how do I solve this for her.
And so I called that companyand I was put on hold.
(02:25):
I was transferred, I was put onhold again, I was switched over
, I talked to somebody, then Ihad to talk to somebody else.
It took me about an hour to getit not only taken off but also
refunded, because I said youknow, my father's been passed
away, you've been charging adead man for this, and they
ended up solving that.
But the anger I felt goingthrough that and part of it was
(02:47):
it reminded me of my own lossand my dad reminded me of my mom
who's struggling with trying tosolve this, and it was so
frustrating that I had to gothrough all that and eventually
it was resolved.
But that hour obviously thatwas years ago stands out in my
head so brightly, brightlybecause of all the things I felt
going through that.
So I want to talk about theopposite end of that today, as
(03:10):
we go into responsiveness, and Iwant to start with you, luella.
Why do you think responsivenessmatters?
For our policyholders or for anagent?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Well, a lot of the things that they're contacting
us for are time sensitive.
So if you had a month you knowto wait to get the answer, then
you might feel comfortablesending an email and waiting for
that response.
But if your payment is due, oryou're wondering about a quote
or you're wondering if there'ssomething that you know is
within our appetite, then youneed to just talk with someone
about that.
Really, you know, quicklyanswer the question and then you
(03:41):
can move on.
So again, some of the thingsjust can't wait and you need a
live answer.
You need to talk to someonelive.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I think that's huge.
Chris thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, I think she hit it hard when I think about it.
Responsiveness what does it do?
It's going to build trust, it'sgoing to help foster
relationships and it's going toenable us to efficiently solve
problems, right?
So I'm really really passionateabout this.
There's a negative perceptionout there at times of the
(04:11):
insurance industry, so there's alot for me to unpack.
I think when you think ofresponsiveness, there's two
things come to mind.
One, is there a timely response?
Two, is there effectivecommunication?
And I think, if you look at it,responsiveness in itself really
really ties well with empathyand this is a shameless plug for
one of the podcasts that werecently had on empathy, right,
like, I think you cannotoverstate that.
It's one of the most simpleconcepts of trying on another
(04:33):
person's perspective, right?
It's so underappreciated and sounderutilized because it's so
basic Just put yourself insomebody else's shoes, treating
others with the way that youwant to be treated and just
provide the overall level ofservice that you would want and
expect from others, right?
So I think that goes a reallyreally long way.
If you think of it from a claimsperspective, you're an injured
worker.
You get up that morning or gointo work that night.
(04:55):
You're not expecting to beinjured, right.
This is an absolute disruptionto their daily lives, whether
it's medical or from a financialstandpoint.
They're probably not related orfamiliar with the work comp
process, so that's where we comein.
We're there to help shepherdthem through the entire process.
That comes down to timelyresponding to their calls,
effectively communicating whatthe expectations are, what their
(05:17):
benefits are, and justshepherding them through the
process.
Or, if you have ourcatastrophic claims, there's
going to be an immediate need.
Do we need to be able to deployresources out there to the
hospital?
Are we going to be able tocoach them on the discharge
process to their normal dailylives?
And then you have, like, theoverall effective communication
piece.
(05:37):
That's where the relationshipbuilding, the trust, comes in.
It allows us to field theirrequests, to assess their needs,
and then we can make informeddecisions at that point in time
and then, if their needs changein the future, we can use that
agility right.
We can respond to their needsand adapt as we move forward.
So I think those really hone inon the fact that you know we're
(05:59):
trying to build that trust,we're trying to build these
relationships and we're tryingto help people with their needs
to bring it to resolution.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I love that, chris, and what you said there about
empathy, I think is reallyimportant, because in the
example that I gave at thebeginning, you know, I think the
reason I felt that way not onlywas the waste of time, but, you
know, if somebody had justtaken that step and said I'm so
sorry to hear that that must bereally hard, it would have meant
a lot to me in that moment.
(06:28):
Obviously, mistakes get made byevery organization.
I don't think they wereintentionally trying to take
money from my mom, so we makemistakes on our end too, but
owning those mistakes andshowing empathy goes a really
long way.
Luella, I know you talked aboutthe need for urgency and the
need to be able to get answerswhen you need them.
Several years ago and we did anepisode on this we created a
whole new unit called theBusiness Engagement Unit, and
(06:50):
the concept behind that is howdo we redefine traditional admin
roles and change that up sothat we're hiring top talent and
we're standing out withresponsiveness?
Well, can you talk a little bitabout that journey of creating
business engagement and how itout with responsiveness?
Well, can you talk a little bitabout that journey of creating
business engagement and how it'saddressed?
Responsiveness?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Happy to.
So.
Years ago we used to have acall tree where someone called
our 800 number and it was avoice recording that would say
if your question is related towhatever the topic is, press one
and it would go through a groupof individuals and then it
would see if someone wouldanswer and then go to voicemail.
(07:30):
And so I asked the questionpretty quickly saying why don't
we answer the phone calls live?
And so the main thing is thateveryone had their area of
expertise, and so if I'm infinance, I only know answers to
the finance questions.
If I'm in claims, I only knowanswers to the finance questions
.
If I'm in claims, I only knowthe answer to claims questions.
If I'm in underwriting, I onlyknow the answer to underwriting
(07:50):
questions.
So what we needed to do to beable to answer the phone calls
live is do a lot ofcross-training to make sure that
the individuals that would beanswering our phones would know
the answers pretty basic butthen sometimes into extensive
questions so that when thatindividual calls us whether
that's a claimant, whetherthat's an agent, whether that's
a policyholder that they wouldbe able to get the majority of
(08:13):
their questions answered talkingto one person.
That really doesn't exist mostplaces.
So of course it was hey, let'sdo this.
We created the team, we didagain have to train a lot and
cross-train and make sure thatwe had materials available to
those individuals that sometimesthings come up every day that
you know the answers to, andsometimes it's something that
(08:35):
only comes up once a month oronce a year.
We have to have that materialavailable to those individuals
so that they have access to getthe answers, and then only in
certain situations that it isextremely specific would we then
have to transfer that call toanother, more specific person in
that department to get theanswer.
And the feedback that we'vereceived is wonderful.
(08:59):
They are surprised when weanswer the phone and I actually
just answered the phone rightbefore this call, I was on our
monitoring system, I took a turnand so it was like, oh hello,
you know kind of surprised thatit's a live answer and I was
able to answer every singlequestion that she had.
We resolved the issue.
She said thank you so much.
You know, have a wonderful day.
(09:19):
So that is the change.
You know where she had aconcern, she had an issue that
she needed and we're able toanswer all of those questions.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
We have new people that are coming in the
marketplace now that so manypeople have gone to automation,
and I think there certainly is ahuge place for automation, but
(09:53):
when we're dealing with peoplewho have feelings and questions,
having those answered in a waythat's effective and creates
relationships is reallyimportant.
I can think of a call that Ihad just in the last couple of
weeks.
There was a new account that anagent wanted to write with us
and they called me for whateverreason the underwriter didn't
even know.
They called me Later, when Italked to the underwriter,
(10:13):
they're like oh my gosh, I'm sosorry.
They called you directly.
I said no, it's great.
So the agent calls me directlyto talk about this account, if
we should write it and what kindof service the claims team can
offer.
And I'm going over all of thatwith her and she's really
impressed.
And then she said well, do youhave like a designated person
who can be our relationshipmanager for this account?
(10:34):
And I said well, you justcalled the chief claims officer
of the company and I answeredthe phone and she kind of paused
and I said so, if we answer ourphones, do you really need that
?
And she kind of stopped for aminute.
She goes you're right, this isunusual.
I said we're going to answerour phones and if that isn't
happening, you need to let meknow, because our goal is to get
(10:56):
you what you need and if youcall me and you need me, we're
going to be available.
And we ended up finding thataccount.
Chris did the onboarding forthat account, so I think there's
a real opportunity in our spaceto stand out with exactly what
you're talking about, ofanswering our phones phone call
(11:26):
live.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
So business engagement that we monitor those
voicemails and we log them allas well so that we have track of
who has left the voicemail andwe call them back same day.
So that's another piece of thisright is.
It isn't possible to everysingle time your phone rings,
answer that phone call live, butthat voicemail is just as
important as the live call to us, where we have them log so we
can keep track of that and thenmake sure that then we're making
(11:46):
the note that we did return thecall, who we spoke with, that
it's resolved to its completionand then we're done with that
particular voicemail.
So even voicemails areimportant to call that person
back.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
I love that.
Are there any other initiativesthat you've done as a team to
improve response time?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Sure, not only do we answer phones and log the
voicemails and call those back,we receive emails, countless
emails every single day with thesame type of questions or
concerns.
So we have the same rules foremails that we'd like to return
that within 24 hours.
Some, of course, are a littlebit more extensive, but we'll
respond to them and say we'vereceived your email, we're gonna
(12:23):
work on this and then we'll letyou know when it's done so that
we can acknowledge and many ofour email addresses that
individuals will use for us.
They receive an auto replysaying thank you for your email
and we kind of had somedirectional arrows like, let's
say, they're checking a medicalbill status.
In that auto reply we give someof the most common answers and
many times in those auto-repliesthe answer is there and then we
(12:47):
follow up with another emailjust making sure that they have
that.
But we've learned from some ofthe common questions that we get
that if we can just feed themthat information when they send
that email and that auto-reply,that has been a success as well.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I love that.
I know you're always trying toteach people how to fish as well
, so I love that about you.
I really believe that theresponsive piece is important
and there are so many differentways we tackle it and one of the
benefits that we've seen in thebusiness engagement team is
we've hired a lot of recentcollege grads to step into that
(13:20):
role and they get exposure toall the departments in the
company.
Step into that role and theyget exposure to all the
departments in the company andthey really get an idea where
they think they fit best so thatwhen those roles open up in
claims or underwriting finance,they already know the culture,
they already know the claimsystems, they already know a lot
of the basics, which makestheir spin up time so much
(13:41):
faster and has really helped uskind of create a conduit to the
future as we think about thenext generation of insurance
professionals.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Totally agree, it has .
Speaker 1 (13:50):
So we've got folks in every department now.
That started out underLlewala's team there.
So super exciting, very proudof that.
So, chris, on the claim side,why do you think responsiveness
matters when we start talkingabout claims?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
So from the very first conversation you're really
kind of setting the tone right.
So when a claim comes in thedoor, you may not have had a
relationship with that customerbefore the insured Right there
you're building thatrelationship, you're building
that trust, you're communicatingwith them to see, I mean, do
they have light dutyavailability, just what does
their program look like and howcan we think big picture and
work ahead right.
(14:25):
And then, once we're moving tothe conversations that are
injured workers, they may nothave a knowledge of the work
comp system right, as Imentioned earlier.
They're probably frustrated atthat point in time.
They're injured, their life iscompletely disrupted.
So how can we intervene in thatperiod of time and help give
them the reassurance?
It comes down to the effectivecommunication piece.
We just want to be able to hearthem, to explain to them, and
(14:49):
you're really setting up acadence for future communication
with them.
They know that they can contactus and Luella made a really
good point on this about beingthere, being present as soon as
they call.
They can get you on the otherend and if they're not, if we're
on the phone, call somebodyelse quickly getting back to
them and continually keepingthat open line of communication.
So if they go to an appointmentthey can provide us an update.
(15:11):
If there's a need foradditional treatment
authorization, we can authorizethat right on the spot or review
it to get it authorized sothere's least disruptions
possible.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I think you both hit on something that sometimes gets
forgotten about, and that'ssetting expectations.
Both hit on something thatsometimes gets forgotten about
and that's setting expectations.
So, when you get that response,if it is going to take some
time to work on setting thoseexpectations, that I need to do
some research and I need to dosome work on this and I will get
back to you within X amount oftime but I think that really
(15:40):
helps because when you feel likesomething's fallen into a black
hole, the result is frustrationand anger.
Like something's fallen into ablack hole, the result is
frustration and anger.
And it could be.
We're working on that verything right now, but it's
complicated and it takes alittle more time.
So I think you both hit on thatand those are.
Those are really big deals.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Well, the other thing , too, that I'll add Greg to
that is that if you're notacknowledging it, then that
could potentially result in asecond email saying did you get
my first email?
And then a third email sayingdid you get my second email?
So to your point is if we canquickly and early on, set that
expectation of what we need todo to be able to properly
(16:16):
respond to you with the actualanswer that you're needing, if
you can just acknowledge thatyou received it, then they know
that you've seen it, they knowthat you're working on it, and
then they can be patient.
It makes them nervous if theydon't hear anything like well,
it's falling on deaf ears, and Inow need to escalate this.
So it makes more work for us ifwe don't just acknowledge it
from the beginning.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Well, and I think, unfortunately, the default
setting for most people now isto jump to.
It got lost, it wasn't heard,nothing happened with it,
because that's happened so manytimes to everybody in their
personal life that they'reactually a little bit surprised
when we do that.
And that's what we want to do.
We want to surprise ourinsureds, our injured workers,
with our ability to handle theirproblems and listen and work
(17:00):
through them.
Chris, in your perspective,what are some of the negative
consequences when we fail torespond?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I think one you're starting off.
You're ruining your trust.
The trust is there, thecredibility is ruined and you're
going to fracture some of thoserelationships.
I think, if you take it from aclaims context, if you're
waiting, if an insured iswaiting to hear what a work
status is from us and just to goover the accommodation piece to
see if they can bring somebodyback to work, the longer we
(17:28):
delay it, the more it couldcause delay in that injured
worker getting back to work,which has increased TDD cost.
That doesn't only impact theinsured but that impacts the
injured worker.
That's money too.
If they're a max wage earnerthey're tied to that amount and
for every day that passes thatcould be additional money that's
out of their pocket.
So it really comes down to theresponsiveness there.
(17:49):
Then, also from an injuredworker standpoint, if they're
not hearing from an adjuster,they may want to litigate.
They feel like they have noother option to go to an
attorney who will be the voicefor them to connect with us.
So that lack of response intothis, you know it could really
impact not only from the insurerbut in the injured workers
(18:10):
perspective.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I agree.
I think that it, you know, itcan definitely drive the cost of
the claim up in so manydifferent ways and hurt our
reputation.
So there's a lot there in ourtrust.
You know.
I think it's interesting.
I heard this on a book I read,if you think about it.
In high school most of us hadto go to speech class.
We always talk about that part,like the message,
(18:34):
communications, all the speechpart.
There's a self-help booksection in the bookstore but
there aren't really listeningclasses and there aren't really
help others sections of thebookstore and a lot of what
we're talking about is puttingother people first and when we
do that, that creates trust.
It creates a partnership thatcan result in a much better
(18:57):
result than when we only focuson us, which is, I think, the
default setting that we have tofight us, which is, I think, the
default setting that we have tofight Lolo.
From your perspective, what aresome more negative consequences
that can happen if we don'trespond?
You've hit on some.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Well, yeah, and it's also like, if we can think about
those that we partner with, youknow we have bills that we pay,
or you know people that we haverelationships with, you know,
and I know the ones that aregoing to answer the phone when I
call them and the ones thataren't Right, you just have that
reputation about that companyin your mind, right?
So it's very hard to thenrebuild trust.
(19:34):
It could be great, great, great, great, great, okay.
And then one bad experiencecompletely wipes out all the
good experiences, and so thenthey feel that now, okay, so it
takes a long time to then getback to.
Oh, they're back to great again.
And additionally, who do theyturn to?
A coworker or anotherrelationship that they have and
(19:57):
then give their take on who weare because of their bad
experience?
And now someone that didn'teven have the bad experience is
convinced they're going to havea bad experience with us.
So it's so important, right?
But the other piece of this is,let's say, we did not handle
something accurately.
If we're made aware of it,we're going to dig into that,
(20:20):
we're going to find out whatwent wrong and we're then going
to come back to you and say thisis where we went wrong.
We apologize for this situation, right, and then say now we're
going to start rebuilding trust.
So, addressing the things thatmight not go perfectly,
acknowledging them, apologizingfor them and then continuing to
move forward, that goes a longway, rather than.
(20:41):
You know it's not a big deal.
Oh, you know, I don't need toresearch this, we do.
And those that I've spoken withand you've apologized for, and
then they really, really respectthat, that you acknowledge
what's happened, takeresponsibility and say I will
assure that this doesn't happenin the future.
That goes a long way as well.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Those are such good points and I think we often
forget.
We live in an industry wherethings go wrong.
We're an insurance company.
Things go wrong.
That's why we exist.
So when they go wrong, if weseize those opportunities and we
own them and we acknowledgethem, like you talked about it
can actually be an opportunityto stand out.
Going back to that situation Ishared at the beginning, if
(21:20):
there was some ownership andempathy, I'd probably remember
it positively for years laterand I would be grateful that,
hey, there was a mistake thathappened.
You didn't know it, I didn'tknow it, but we made it right
together and everybody steppedup.
Instead, I have a differentfeeling that came from it.
A lot of it is our feelingsthat we get in these
communications.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Sure, well, and some of the things, greg, that we're
doing now are because of thefeedback that we've received.
We weren't always logging ourvoicemails.
We started logging them becauseof the information that we
learned along the way.
We then started answering ourphone calls live because we
would get the feedback that,like no one's answering their
phone, I've left voicemailsright.
So if we didn't hear orexperience some of those
(22:04):
hardships, we wouldn't be makingthe changes that we have today.
So even the negative feedbackis something that we can learn
from and then change ourprocedures to make sure that we
are better moving forward.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Well, I think that's a great example of our
innovation culture is alwayslooking at those challenges as
opportunities and trying tofigure out how do we get better
from it.
That's huge, Chris.
What are some of the benefits?
That you've seen with makingsure we communicate responsibly.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Well, just going back to what we said before, you're
going to have better overalltrust with all parties and
that's going to lead to betteroutcomes and lower claim costs
at the end of the day.
But with the change intechnology, you think about what
Luella's group has changed.
Something else that we'vechanged in the claims end is and
they've been a big part of thistoo is helping with texting
(22:53):
using the high Marley system,right?
So not everybody actually wantsto communicate on the phone.
I always think it's weird whensomeone will call us and say I'm
surprised I got a live person.
That to me is like an oxymoron,right, like that should be the
expectations.
You pick up the phone, you'regoing to get somebody, and I
think that's something that wedo very, very well.
But there are some people whojust don't want to chat on the
(23:13):
phone.
I mean, if we get a text fromsomeone named Greg Hamlin or a
call, I mean Luella can talkabout this with me we're going
to hit ignore, right?
Maybe you just want to textthat guy instead.
But I mean there are peoplelike they're busy.
You know they may be out in thefield, they may be in an
appointment If you look aroundjust in the general public,
everybody's got a phone in theirhand right, like even the old
(23:35):
school people with the flipphones.
They still have a phone.
Their heads are buried in thephone.
That's just kind of where ourculture is at.
So just having that flexibilityto be able to text them and
converse with them back andforth, it's a convenience factor
and that's something wherewe're really able to flex our
agility muscles.
They can communicate to usduring an appointment, after an
appointment or just any time inspecific and we can get right
(23:58):
back to them.
And that's not limited just totranslation pieces.
I mean, there are some peoplethat may not be as fluent in
English and we can bridge thatgap by using the translation
service in a text.
So that's some of those thingswhere we're just trying to
listen to the needs of ourinsureds and our injured workers
and thinking about how we canget ahead of the curve to
(24:20):
provide the most possible andthe best outcomes for people.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I agree with where you're going with that.
I sometimes kid about this.
I lived in Cincinnati for onlytwo years.
It was a very short window andso I really didn't ever set down
roots or get to know too manypeople, and that's when I
changed my phone number to 513area code, which is Cincinnati
people, and that's when Ichanged my phone number to 513
area code, which is Cincinnati.
And now that I live here inAlabama and I've lived in
(24:47):
Kentucky, I know that if someonecalls me from 513, they do not
know me in any way, shape orform, so I am going to put them
to my voicemail and if I knowthem, they'll be from around
here or from Indianapolis, whereI lived, or Kentucky.
I think we live in a day and agewhere most people have cell
phones and they see thosenumbers come in and if it's not
a name that's programmed intheir phone, it's probably going
to voicemail.
And that's a challenge thatwe're facing that we didn't even
(25:09):
10 years ago to the extent wehave it now, and the ability to
set up texting and be able totalk, to chat with an injured
worker or a policyholder hasbeen a game changer and
something that brings us closerto the people that we're trying
to help, and I can't tell youhow many things we've been able
to resolve in real time throughtexting, because that's just how
(25:31):
people are communicating now,so you got to be mindful of that
.
Also still being available forthose in-person calls, which is
a challenge to meet thedifferent needs of what people
have.
Luella thoughts on some of thepositive benefits of
responsiveness.
I know you've hit on some.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Sure, one of the things that we have learned as
we answer the phone calls liveand are able to talk directly to
our customers, is they mighthave one question which
generated the reason for theircall.
But while we're on the call,something else comes up and we
have a chance to educate whilewe've got their attention.
Or we can then say hey, youknow this.
(26:09):
Moving forward, this is whereyou can go to find the answer.
We're telling them about itemsthat are available on our
website.
Some sign directly into theportal and don't realize some of
the tools and the resourcesthat we have on our website.
Some sign directly into theportal and don't realize some of
the tools and the resourcesthat we have on our website
directly, and so we're able topoint them there, or we're able
to give them email addresses,and so not only are we answering
that question, we're educatingthem on any other types of
(26:31):
issues that might come up in thefuture, so that they know what
to do.
Moving forward, we have somepolicyholders where, at the
beginning of their policy,there's the one contact right,
and we've given them thatinformation, but that contact is
left, and now they have a newperson and so they don't know
this information, so they'recalling us to ask the questions
that they aren't aware of, andwe can answer that question and
(26:53):
then also direct them to theresources that they have
available to them in the future.
One other thing I wanted tomention here, greg, is that
we're talking about phone calls,we're talking about emails, etc
.
We also have on our website avirtual attendant, and so, if
remember how you're talkingabout different ways of
(27:13):
communicating, where we can nowtext, we also have a chat option
for our customers.
If they do want to go to ourwebsite and initiate a chat
because they don't want to callor they don't want to send an
email, that is another option.
So we're giving another waythat they can communicate with
us easily and get theirquestions answered there as well
, and that's newer as well.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I think what you hit on is really important is our
goal is to meet people wherethey're at, instead of force
them through a channel.
That is the way we've decidedfor them.
They're going to reach us, andthat takes a little bit more
agility, but the option toaccess our portal and get your
information yourself.
If you prefer that, text us ifyou want that avenue.
Email.
If you want that avenue.
(27:53):
Talk to a real person.
If you prefer that, text us ifyou want that avenue Email if
you want that avenue.
Talk to a real person if youwant that avenue.
Our goal is to meet peoplewhere they're at, and I think
that really stands out in themarketplace right now.
Chris, one last thing that Iwanted to kind of circle back on
.
You've been a team manager fora long time.
You've had people report to youand you've probably been on
teams as you started your careerout.
(28:14):
Where does this fit when youstart thinking about the
internal dynamics between yourown team, your manager, those
that you might report to otherdepartments?
How does that fit in the biggerpicture?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Well, I think the big picture it's absolutely huge.
I mean, this is an integralpart of what we do, and I think
what we tell the claims folks isyou know the try-on perspective
.
If you were to call in or youwere to do something that was
not related to the claim, right,like, what is the expectation
from your end, what would youexpect to receive from somebody
(28:47):
else?
And I think that goes a longway, not only with our external
partners, but also internallywithin the team.
You've got your teammates thatare going to be on the phone
calls too, so how you know, ifyou get a transfer call, can you
step up and assist that injuredworker or that insured at that
point in time, so not having allthat back and forth, but then
you can relay that to theadjuster.
(29:08):
So everybody's consistentlymoving forward.
But the big thing is you reallygot to put yourself in somebody
else's shoes to deliver forthem.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
And I think when you start thinking about teams and
people, you hit on some reallyimportant things.
If we don't model that behaviorin our own teams as leaders,
how do we expect our frontlineemployees to do that with our
customers?
Are we moving our one-on-ones,are we making ourselves
available for the people whoneed our help?
Because if we're not doing that, how can we then expect them to
(29:38):
go do those things with thepeople, our customers, our
injured workers, our agents, allthe people we touch through our
communications?
I think that that's really,really important.
So I wanted to just thank bothof you for this episode.
This is something I know bothof you feel passionate about.
I do too.
I could talk about this forseveral hours, but we won't do
(30:00):
that to our listeners, but I dowant to, as I do every episode,
end talking about gratitude.
This is something I'll neverstop doing.
I think those little things arereally important.
I was just thinking the otherday it's been a little bit cold
how nice it is to have a hotshower, and you know that's
something like we take forgranted.
It's a very simple thing, butI'll tell you what for hundreds
(30:22):
and hundreds of years, therewere no showers and they weren't
hot.
So indoor plumbing is a prettyawesome thing, and I'm really
glad that I have a water heater.
So that's a small thing, butcould each of you share
something that you're gratefulwith, and let's start with you,
lala.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Sure, I am in a stage of my life where I have more
grandchildren than I havechildren and as I transition to
getting closer and closer tohaving no more children at home,
which makes me sad, it's alsomaking me hopeful and enjoy the
being a grandparent stage of mylife, which still seems so
(30:57):
strange for me to say that I am.
But I have four kids and sixgrandchildren, who are amazing,
and I didn't think that I wasgoing to, you know, love the
role.
In the beginning, it justseemed like I was too young to
be able to do that.
But I am loving this stage ofmy life.
It's so exciting, it's so fun.
I just my heart bursts, youknow, when I see my
(31:18):
grandchildren, just like it didwhen I saw my kids.
So I'm just loving this stageof my life right now.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I love that.
Well, you need to talk to mywife because she the other day
she was looking at baby picturesand, like, sweetie, you got to
wait.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
We're going to have six kids they're coming.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Yeah, that's exactly right, it won't be that long.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
It's pretty great.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
So, chris, how about you Something you're?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
grateful, for I get to list more than one right.
This is my first ever podcast.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
So, like I feel, like I get to right.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
So we'll start off with my walk with God.
We'll talk about my family.
I've got a little one.
I am absolutely loving that.
Being an old dad is a new thing, but, man, I love.
It Keeps me young, my friends,my health.
And you know, I really, reallylove working for Berkeley.
I love what this company standsfor WR Berkeley, but then also
Berkeley Industrial Comp, thecore values, the way this
(32:04):
culture operates and just theoverall love and respect that we
have for our insureds, for theinjured workers.
It's not what you see oncommercials, right Like we
actually want to problem solve,we want to help people from an
insurance perspective and wewant to make a difference for
the end of workers.
And my final thing is it'sMarch.
Iu has not been great this year, but we are still depending on
(32:28):
who the analysts are.
I think we're in the dance.
So if we win this weekend, I'mgoing to be thankful that IU can
be in the tournament this year,because every year my wife,
who's a Purdue alum, gets theboilers in the tournament.
I want some consistency withour Hoosiers.
So I'm thankful that,manifesting this, we're going to
be in.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
I love it.
I'm there for it.
I know we're going to have anew coach this year, but March
is not fun when my Hoosiersaren't in it, so I'm right there
with you.
I'm in football country now inAlabama, so I'm trying to teach
these folks down here how toreally love basketball, because
they got the football thing down, but we're working on that
still.
So I couldn't agree more withboth of you guys.
(33:11):
There are so many good thingsin this world that I'm grateful
for, and I think my team's ahuge part of it.
Berkeley Industrial Com is abig part of it.
Of course, my family is too,but grateful to work with you
guys and I am excited for thefuture and I would encourage our
listeners, as always, to doright, think differently and
(33:31):
don't forget to care.
And that's this episode ofAdjusted.
We hope that you will continueto join us as we release
episodes every two weeks.
Also, we would encourage you tolike and follow the podcast, as
well as give us a review.
We would love a five-starreview.
I'm sure my mom's given us one,but I could use a few others.
So if you're out there andyou're listening, please put in
(33:55):
a five-star review and somecomments in there to help others
find this podcast.
And again, appreciate you forlistening.
We'll catch you next time.
Thanks everybody, thank you.
Hello everybody and welcome to Adjusted.
What would happen if, any timeyou needed a service, you didn't
have to struggle for a response.
You immediately received whatyou needed.
Today, I'm excited to talkabout responsiveness and
especially responsiveness in theinsurance sector.
So glad to have my guest withme.
I'm, of course, Greg Hamlin atBerkeley Industrial Comp and
(00:34):
Senior Vice President here inbeautiful Birmingham, Alabama,
and with me are two of myfavorite people on my team.
I have with me Luella, if you'dlike to introduce yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Hi there, luella Alcorn.
I'm a Senior BusinessOperations Manager here at
Berkeley Industrial Company.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And she is in one of my favorite places in the world
Lexington, kentucky, so close tomy mama.
She lives there and we livedthere for a bit, so I love, love
Kentucky.
Yes, I do too.
And then my next guest, chris,would you like to introduce
yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, chris Drake, I'm a claims manager here in the
Indianapolis area.
I will make a plug real quickthat Indiana basketball is far
superior to Alabama and Kentuckybasketball.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I love what you're saying there and I want to agree
because I am a Hoosier.
But it's been a rough ride, butI think better days are coming,
so I can only hope.
But if I'm betting in Vegasthis year, I probably would put
it on UK or Alabama, but I'mthere with you.
Basketball is king.
And Chris does come fromIndianapolis, where I lived for
(01:37):
almost 20 years, so it'sdefinitely a special place for
me.
So, excited for today's topicbecause one I'm getting to deal
with, two of my team members andtwo, this is something that I
feel really passionate about andI think we've all been there at
different times.
I can remember when my fatherpassed away.
He had an account foraudiobooks with a company and my
(02:03):
mom.
A year had passed and my momrecognized that they had been
charging him for a year, everymonth, for these audio books and
she couldn't figure out how tostop it.
And here my mom, a recent widow, is struggling with this and
I'm trying to figure out well,how do I solve this for her.
And so I called that companyand I was put on hold.
(02:25):
I was transferred, I was put onhold again, I was switched over
, I talked to somebody, then Ihad to talk to somebody else.
It took me about an hour to getit not only taken off but also
refunded, because I said youknow, my father's been passed
away, you've been charging adead man for this, and they
ended up solving that.
But the anger I felt goingthrough that and part of it was
(02:47):
it reminded me of my own lossand my dad reminded me of my mom
who's struggling with trying tosolve this, and it was so
frustrating that I had to gothrough all that and eventually
it was resolved.
But that hour obviously thatwas years ago stands out in my
head so brightly, brightlybecause of all the things I felt
going through that.
So I want to talk about theopposite end of that today, as
(03:10):
we go into responsiveness, and Iwant to start with you, luella.
Why do you think responsivenessmatters?
For our policyholders or for anagent?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Well, a lot of the things that they're contacting
us for are time sensitive.
So if you had a month you knowto wait to get the answer, then
you might feel comfortablesending an email and waiting for
that response.
But if your payment is due, oryou're wondering about a quote
or you're wondering if there'ssomething that you know is
within our appetite, then youneed to just talk with someone
about that.
Really, you know, quicklyanswer the question and then you
(03:41):
can move on.
So again, some of the thingsjust can't wait and you need a
live answer.
You need to talk to someonelive.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I think that's huge.
Chris thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, I think she hit it hard when I think about it.
Responsiveness what does it do?
It's going to build trust, it'sgoing to help foster
relationships and it's going toenable us to efficiently solve
problems, right?
So I'm really really passionateabout this.
There's a negative perceptionout there at times of the
(04:11):
insurance industry, so there's alot for me to unpack.
I think when you think ofresponsiveness, there's two
things come to mind.
One, is there a timely response?
Two, is there effectivecommunication?
And I think, if you look at it,responsiveness in itself really
really ties well with empathyand this is a shameless plug for
one of the podcasts that werecently had on empathy, right,
like, I think you cannotoverstate that.
It's one of the most simpleconcepts of trying on another
(04:33):
person's perspective, right?
It's so underappreciated and sounderutilized because it's so
basic Just put yourself insomebody else's shoes, treating
others with the way that youwant to be treated and just
provide the overall level ofservice that you would want and
expect from others, right?
So I think that goes a reallyreally long way.
If you think of it from a claimsperspective, you're an injured
worker.
You get up that morning or gointo work that night.
(04:55):
You're not expecting to beinjured, right.
This is an absolute disruptionto their daily lives, whether
it's medical or from a financialstandpoint.
They're probably not related orfamiliar with the work comp
process, so that's where we comein.
We're there to help shepherdthem through the entire process.
That comes down to timelyresponding to their calls,
effectively communicating whatthe expectations are, what their
(05:17):
benefits are, and justshepherding them through the
process.
Or, if you have ourcatastrophic claims, there's
going to be an immediate need.
Do we need to be able to deployresources out there to the
hospital?
Are we going to be able tocoach them on the discharge
process to their normal dailylives?
And then you have, like, theoverall effective communication
piece.
(05:37):
That's where the relationshipbuilding, the trust, comes in.
It allows us to field theirrequests, to assess their needs,
and then we can make informeddecisions at that point in time
and then, if their needs changein the future, we can use that
agility right.
We can respond to their needsand adapt as we move forward.
So I think those really hone inon the fact that you know we're
(05:59):
trying to build that trust,we're trying to build these
relationships and we're tryingto help people with their needs
to bring it to resolution.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I love that, chris, and what you said there about
empathy, I think is reallyimportant, because in the
example that I gave at thebeginning, you know, I think the
reason I felt that way not onlywas the waste of time, but, you
know, if somebody had justtaken that step and said I'm so
sorry to hear that that must bereally hard, it would have meant
a lot to me in that moment.
(06:28):
Obviously, mistakes get made byevery organization.
I don't think they wereintentionally trying to take
money from my mom, so we makemistakes on our end too, but
owning those mistakes andshowing empathy goes a really
long way.
Luella, I know you talked aboutthe need for urgency and the
need to be able to get answerswhen you need them.
Several years ago and we did anepisode on this we created a
whole new unit called theBusiness Engagement Unit, and
(06:50):
the concept behind that is howdo we redefine traditional admin
roles and change that up sothat we're hiring top talent and
we're standing out withresponsiveness?
Well, can you talk a little bitabout that journey of creating
business engagement and how itout with responsiveness?
Well, can you talk a little bitabout that journey of creating
business engagement and how it'saddressed?
Responsiveness?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Happy to.
So.
Years ago we used to have acall tree where someone called
our 800 number and it was avoice recording that would say
if your question is related towhatever the topic is, press one
and it would go through a groupof individuals and then it
would see if someone wouldanswer and then go to voicemail.
(07:30):
And so I asked the questionpretty quickly saying why don't
we answer the phone calls live?
And so the main thing is thateveryone had their area of
expertise, and so if I'm infinance, I only know answers to
the finance questions.
If I'm in claims, I only knowanswers to the finance questions
.
If I'm in claims, I only knowthe answer to claims questions.
If I'm in underwriting, I onlyknow the answer to underwriting
(07:50):
questions.
So what we needed to do to beable to answer the phone calls
live is do a lot ofcross-training to make sure that
the individuals that would beanswering our phones would know
the answers pretty basic butthen sometimes into extensive
questions so that when thatindividual calls us whether
that's a claimant, whetherthat's an agent, whether that's
a policyholder that they wouldbe able to get the majority of
(08:13):
their questions answered talkingto one person.
That really doesn't exist mostplaces.
So of course it was hey, let'sdo this.
We created the team, we didagain have to train a lot and
cross-train and make sure thatwe had materials available to
those individuals that sometimesthings come up every day that
you know the answers to, andsometimes it's something that
(08:35):
only comes up once a month oronce a year.
We have to have that materialavailable to those individuals
so that they have access to getthe answers, and then only in
certain situations that it isextremely specific would we then
have to transfer that call toanother, more specific person in
that department to get theanswer.
And the feedback that we'vereceived is wonderful.
(08:59):
They are surprised when weanswer the phone and I actually
just answered the phone rightbefore this call, I was on our
monitoring system, I took a turnand so it was like, oh hello,
you know kind of surprised thatit's a live answer and I was
able to answer every singlequestion that she had.
We resolved the issue.
She said thank you so much.
You know, have a wonderful day.
(09:19):
So that is the change.
You know where she had aconcern, she had an issue that
she needed and we're able toanswer all of those questions.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
We have new people that are coming in the
marketplace now that so manypeople have gone to automation,
and I think there certainly is ahuge place for automation, but
(09:53):
when we're dealing with peoplewho have feelings and questions,
having those answered in a waythat's effective and creates
relationships is reallyimportant.
I can think of a call that Ihad just in the last couple of
weeks.
There was a new account that anagent wanted to write with us
and they called me for whateverreason the underwriter didn't
even know.
They called me Later, when Italked to the underwriter,
(10:13):
they're like oh my gosh, I'm sosorry.
They called you directly.
I said no, it's great.
So the agent calls me directlyto talk about this account, if
we should write it and what kindof service the claims team can
offer.
And I'm going over all of thatwith her and she's really
impressed.
And then she said well, do youhave like a designated person
who can be our relationshipmanager for this account?
(10:34):
And I said well, you justcalled the chief claims officer
of the company and I answeredthe phone and she kind of paused
and I said so, if we answer ourphones, do you really need that
?
And she kind of stopped for aminute.
She goes you're right, this isunusual.
I said we're going to answerour phones and if that isn't
happening, you need to let meknow, because our goal is to get
(10:56):
you what you need and if youcall me and you need me, we're
going to be available.
And we ended up finding thataccount.
Chris did the onboarding forthat account, so I think there's
a real opportunity in our spaceto stand out with exactly what
you're talking about, ofanswering our phones phone call
(11:26):
live.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
So business engagement that we monitor those
voicemails and we log them allas well so that we have track of
who has left the voicemail andwe call them back same day.
So that's another piece of thisright is.
It isn't possible to everysingle time your phone rings,
answer that phone call live, butthat voicemail is just as
important as the live call to us, where we have them log so we
can keep track of that and thenmake sure that then we're making
(11:46):
the note that we did return thecall, who we spoke with, that
it's resolved to its completionand then we're done with that
particular voicemail.
So even voicemails areimportant to call that person
back.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
I love that.
Are there any other initiativesthat you've done as a team to
improve response time?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Sure, not only do we answer phones and log the
voicemails and call those back,we receive emails, countless
emails every single day with thesame type of questions or
concerns.
So we have the same rules foremails that we'd like to return
that within 24 hours.
Some, of course, are a littlebit more extensive, but we'll
respond to them and say we'vereceived your email, we're gonna
(12:23):
work on this and then we'll letyou know when it's done so that
we can acknowledge and many ofour email addresses that
individuals will use for us.
They receive an auto replysaying thank you for your email
and we kind of had somedirectional arrows like, let's
say, they're checking a medicalbill status.
In that auto reply we give someof the most common answers and
many times in those auto-repliesthe answer is there and then we
(12:47):
follow up with another emailjust making sure that they have
that.
But we've learned from some ofthe common questions that we get
that if we can just feed themthat information when they send
that email and that auto-reply,that has been a success as well.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I love that.
I know you're always trying toteach people how to fish as well
, so I love that about you.
I really believe that theresponsive piece is important
and there are so many differentways we tackle it and one of the
benefits that we've seen in thebusiness engagement team is
we've hired a lot of recentcollege grads to step into that
(13:20):
role and they get exposure toall the departments in the
company.
Step into that role and theyget exposure to all the
departments in the company andthey really get an idea where
they think they fit best so thatwhen those roles open up in
claims or underwriting finance,they already know the culture,
they already know the claimsystems, they already know a lot
of the basics, which makestheir spin up time so much
(13:41):
faster and has really helped uskind of create a conduit to the
future as we think about thenext generation of insurance
professionals.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Totally agree, it has .
Speaker 1 (13:50):
So we've got folks in every department now.
That started out underLlewala's team there.
So super exciting, very proudof that.
So, chris, on the claim side,why do you think responsiveness
matters when we start talkingabout claims?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
So from the very first conversation you're really
kind of setting the tone right.
So when a claim comes in thedoor, you may not have had a
relationship with that customerbefore the insured Right there
you're building thatrelationship, you're building
that trust, you're communicatingwith them to see, I mean, do
they have light dutyavailability, just what does
their program look like and howcan we think big picture and
work ahead right.
(14:25):
And then, once we're moving tothe conversations that are
injured workers, they may nothave a knowledge of the work
comp system right, as Imentioned earlier.
They're probably frustrated atthat point in time.
They're injured, their life iscompletely disrupted.
So how can we intervene in thatperiod of time and help give
them the reassurance?
It comes down to the effectivecommunication piece.
We just want to be able to hearthem, to explain to them, and
(14:49):
you're really setting up acadence for future communication
with them.
They know that they can contactus and Luella made a really
good point on this about beingthere, being present as soon as
they call.
They can get you on the otherend and if they're not, if we're
on the phone, call somebodyelse quickly getting back to
them and continually keepingthat open line of communication.
So if they go to an appointmentthey can provide us an update.
(15:11):
If there's a need foradditional treatment
authorization, we can authorizethat right on the spot or review
it to get it authorized sothere's least disruptions
possible.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I think you both hit on something that sometimes gets
forgotten about, and that'ssetting expectations.
Both hit on something thatsometimes gets forgotten about
and that's setting expectations.
So, when you get that response,if it is going to take some
time to work on setting thoseexpectations, that I need to do
some research and I need to dosome work on this and I will get
back to you within X amount oftime but I think that really
(15:40):
helps because when you feel likesomething's fallen into a black
hole, the result is frustrationand anger.
Like something's fallen into ablack hole, the result is
frustration and anger.
And it could be.
We're working on that verything right now, but it's
complicated and it takes alittle more time.
So I think you both hit on thatand those are.
Those are really big deals.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Well, the other thing , too, that I'll add Greg to
that is that if you're notacknowledging it, then that
could potentially result in asecond email saying did you get
my first email?
And then a third email sayingdid you get my second email?
So to your point is if we canquickly and early on, set that
expectation of what we need todo to be able to properly
(16:16):
respond to you with the actualanswer that you're needing, if
you can just acknowledge thatyou received it, then they know
that you've seen it, they knowthat you're working on it, and
then they can be patient.
It makes them nervous if theydon't hear anything like well,
it's falling on deaf ears, and Inow need to escalate this.
So it makes more work for us ifwe don't just acknowledge it
from the beginning.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Well, and I think, unfortunately, the default
setting for most people now isto jump to.
It got lost, it wasn't heard,nothing happened with it,
because that's happened so manytimes to everybody in their
personal life that they'reactually a little bit surprised
when we do that.
And that's what we want to do.
We want to surprise ourinsureds, our injured workers,
with our ability to handle theirproblems and listen and work
(17:00):
through them.
Chris, in your perspective,what are some of the negative
consequences when we fail torespond?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I think one you're starting off.
You're ruining your trust.
The trust is there, thecredibility is ruined and you're
going to fracture some of thoserelationships.
I think, if you take it from aclaims context, if you're
waiting, if an insured iswaiting to hear what a work
status is from us and just to goover the accommodation piece to
see if they can bring somebodyback to work, the longer we
(17:28):
delay it, the more it couldcause delay in that injured
worker getting back to work,which has increased TDD cost.
That doesn't only impact theinsured but that impacts the
injured worker.
That's money too.
If they're a max wage earnerthey're tied to that amount and
for every day that passes thatcould be additional money that's
out of their pocket.
So it really comes down to theresponsiveness there.
(17:49):
Then, also from an injuredworker standpoint, if they're
not hearing from an adjuster,they may want to litigate.
They feel like they have noother option to go to an
attorney who will be the voicefor them to connect with us.
So that lack of response intothis, you know it could really
impact not only from the insurerbut in the injured workers
(18:10):
perspective.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I agree.
I think that it, you know, itcan definitely drive the cost of
the claim up in so manydifferent ways and hurt our
reputation.
So there's a lot there in ourtrust.
You know.
I think it's interesting.
I heard this on a book I read,if you think about it.
In high school most of us hadto go to speech class.
We always talk about that part,like the message,
(18:34):
communications, all the speechpart.
There's a self-help booksection in the bookstore but
there aren't really listeningclasses and there aren't really
help others sections of thebookstore and a lot of what
we're talking about is puttingother people first and when we
do that, that creates trust.
It creates a partnership thatcan result in a much better
(18:57):
result than when we only focuson us, which is, I think, the
default setting that we have tofight us, which is, I think, the
default setting that we have tofight Lolo.
From your perspective, what aresome more negative consequences
that can happen if we don'trespond?
You've hit on some.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Well, yeah, and it's also like, if we can think about
those that we partner with, youknow we have bills that we pay,
or you know people that we haverelationships with, you know,
and I know the ones that aregoing to answer the phone when I
call them and the ones thataren't Right, you just have that
reputation about that companyin your mind, right?
So it's very hard to thenrebuild trust.
(19:34):
It could be great, great, great, great, great, okay.
And then one bad experiencecompletely wipes out all the
good experiences, and so thenthey feel that now, okay, so it
takes a long time to then getback to.
Oh, they're back to great again.
And additionally, who do theyturn to?
A coworker or anotherrelationship that they have and
(19:57):
then give their take on who weare because of their bad
experience?
And now someone that didn'teven have the bad experience is
convinced they're going to havea bad experience with us.
So it's so important, right?
But the other piece of this is,let's say, we did not handle
something accurately.
If we're made aware of it,we're going to dig into that,
(20:20):
we're going to find out whatwent wrong and we're then going
to come back to you and say thisis where we went wrong.
We apologize for this situation, right, and then say now we're
going to start rebuilding trust.
So, addressing the things thatmight not go perfectly,
acknowledging them, apologizingfor them and then continuing to
move forward, that goes a longway, rather than.
(20:41):
You know it's not a big deal.
Oh, you know, I don't need toresearch this, we do.
And those that I've spoken withand you've apologized for, and
then they really, really respectthat, that you acknowledge
what's happened, takeresponsibility and say I will
assure that this doesn't happenin the future.
That goes a long way as well.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Those are such good points and I think we often
forget.
We live in an industry wherethings go wrong.
We're an insurance company.
Things go wrong.
That's why we exist.
So when they go wrong, if weseize those opportunities and we
own them and we acknowledgethem, like you talked about it
can actually be an opportunityto stand out.
Going back to that situation Ishared at the beginning, if
(21:20):
there was some ownership andempathy, I'd probably remember
it positively for years laterand I would be grateful that,
hey, there was a mistake thathappened.
You didn't know it, I didn'tknow it, but we made it right
together and everybody steppedup.
Instead, I have a differentfeeling that came from it.
A lot of it is our feelingsthat we get in these
communications.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Sure, well, and some of the things, greg, that we're
doing now are because of thefeedback that we've received.
We weren't always logging ourvoicemails.
We started logging them becauseof the information that we
learned along the way.
We then started answering ourphone calls live because we
would get the feedback that,like no one's answering their
phone, I've left voicemailsright.
So if we didn't hear orexperience some of those
(22:04):
hardships, we wouldn't be makingthe changes that we have today.
So even the negative feedbackis something that we can learn
from and then change ourprocedures to make sure that we
are better moving forward.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Well, I think that's a great example of our
innovation culture is alwayslooking at those challenges as
opportunities and trying tofigure out how do we get better
from it.
That's huge, Chris.
What are some of the benefits?
That you've seen with makingsure we communicate responsibly.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Well, just going back to what we said before, you're
going to have better overalltrust with all parties and
that's going to lead to betteroutcomes and lower claim costs
at the end of the day.
But with the change intechnology, you think about what
Luella's group has changed.
Something else that we'vechanged in the claims end is and
they've been a big part of thistoo is helping with texting
(22:53):
using the high Marley system,right?
So not everybody actually wantsto communicate on the phone.
I always think it's weird whensomeone will call us and say I'm
surprised I got a live person.
That to me is like an oxymoron,right, like that should be the
expectations.
You pick up the phone, you'regoing to get somebody, and I
think that's something that wedo very, very well.
But there are some people whojust don't want to chat on the
(23:13):
phone.
I mean, if we get a text fromsomeone named Greg Hamlin or a
call, I mean Luella can talkabout this with me we're going
to hit ignore, right?
Maybe you just want to textthat guy instead.
But I mean there are peoplelike they're busy.
You know they may be out in thefield, they may be in an
appointment If you look aroundjust in the general public,
everybody's got a phone in theirhand right, like even the old
(23:35):
school people with the flipphones.
They still have a phone.
Their heads are buried in thephone.
That's just kind of where ourculture is at.
So just having that flexibilityto be able to text them and
converse with them back andforth, it's a convenience factor
and that's something wherewe're really able to flex our
agility muscles.
They can communicate to usduring an appointment, after an
appointment or just any time inspecific and we can get right
(23:58):
back to them.
And that's not limited just totranslation pieces.
I mean, there are some peoplethat may not be as fluent in
English and we can bridge thatgap by using the translation
service in a text.
So that's some of those thingswhere we're just trying to
listen to the needs of ourinsureds and our injured workers
and thinking about how we canget ahead of the curve to
(24:20):
provide the most possible andthe best outcomes for people.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I agree with where you're going with that.
I sometimes kid about this.
I lived in Cincinnati for onlytwo years.
It was a very short window andso I really didn't ever set down
roots or get to know too manypeople, and that's when I
changed my phone number to 513area code, which is Cincinnati
people, and that's when Ichanged my phone number to 513
area code, which is Cincinnati.
And now that I live here inAlabama and I've lived in
(24:47):
Kentucky, I know that if someonecalls me from 513, they do not
know me in any way, shape orform, so I am going to put them
to my voicemail and if I knowthem, they'll be from around
here or from Indianapolis, whereI lived, or Kentucky.
I think we live in a day and agewhere most people have cell
phones and they see thosenumbers come in and if it's not
a name that's programmed intheir phone, it's probably going
to voicemail.
And that's a challenge thatwe're facing that we didn't even
(25:09):
10 years ago to the extent wehave it now, and the ability to
set up texting and be able totalk, to chat with an injured
worker or a policyholder hasbeen a game changer and
something that brings us closerto the people that we're trying
to help, and I can't tell youhow many things we've been able
to resolve in real time throughtexting, because that's just how
(25:31):
people are communicating now,so you got to be mindful of that
.
Also still being available forthose in-person calls, which is
a challenge to meet thedifferent needs of what people
have.
Luella thoughts on some of thepositive benefits of
responsiveness.
I know you've hit on some.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Sure, one of the things that we have learned as
we answer the phone calls liveand are able to talk directly to
our customers, is they mighthave one question which
generated the reason for theircall.
But while we're on the call,something else comes up and we
have a chance to educate whilewe've got their attention.
Or we can then say hey, youknow this.
(26:09):
Moving forward, this is whereyou can go to find the answer.
We're telling them about itemsthat are available on our
website.
Some sign directly into theportal and don't realize some of
the tools and the resourcesthat we have on our website.
Some sign directly into theportal and don't realize some of
the tools and the resourcesthat we have on our website
directly, and so we're able topoint them there, or we're able
to give them email addresses,and so not only are we answering
that question, we're educatingthem on any other types of
(26:31):
issues that might come up in thefuture, so that they know what
to do.
Moving forward, we have somepolicyholders where, at the
beginning of their policy,there's the one contact right,
and we've given them thatinformation, but that contact is
left, and now they have a newperson and so they don't know
this information, so they'recalling us to ask the questions
that they aren't aware of, andwe can answer that question and
(26:53):
then also direct them to theresources that they have
available to them in the future.
One other thing I wanted tomention here, greg, is that
we're talking about phone calls,we're talking about emails, etc
.
We also have on our website avirtual attendant, and so, if
remember how you're talkingabout different ways of
(27:13):
communicating, where we can nowtext, we also have a chat option
for our customers.
If they do want to go to ourwebsite and initiate a chat
because they don't want to callor they don't want to send an
email, that is another option.
So we're giving another waythat they can communicate with
us easily and get theirquestions answered there as well
, and that's newer as well.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I think what you hit on is really important is our
goal is to meet people wherethey're at, instead of force
them through a channel.
That is the way we've decidedfor them.
They're going to reach us, andthat takes a little bit more
agility, but the option toaccess our portal and get your
information yourself.
If you prefer that, text us ifyou want that avenue.
Email.
If you want that avenue.
(27:53):
Talk to a real person.
If you prefer that, text us ifyou want that avenue Email if
you want that avenue.
Talk to a real person if youwant that avenue.
Our goal is to meet peoplewhere they're at, and I think
that really stands out in themarketplace right now.
Chris, one last thing that Iwanted to kind of circle back on
.
You've been a team manager fora long time.
You've had people report to youand you've probably been on
teams as you started your careerout.
(28:14):
Where does this fit when youstart thinking about the
internal dynamics between yourown team, your manager, those
that you might report to otherdepartments?
How does that fit in the biggerpicture?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Well, I think the big picture it's absolutely huge.
I mean, this is an integralpart of what we do, and I think
what we tell the claims folks isyou know the try-on perspective
.
If you were to call in or youwere to do something that was
not related to the claim, right,like, what is the expectation
from your end, what would youexpect to receive from somebody
(28:47):
else?
And I think that goes a longway, not only with our external
partners, but also internallywithin the team.
You've got your teammates thatare going to be on the phone
calls too, so how you know, ifyou get a transfer call, can you
step up and assist that injuredworker or that insured at that
point in time, so not having allthat back and forth, but then
you can relay that to theadjuster.
(29:08):
So everybody's consistentlymoving forward.
But the big thing is you reallygot to put yourself in somebody
else's shoes to deliver forthem.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
And I think when you start thinking about teams and
people, you hit on some reallyimportant things.
If we don't model that behaviorin our own teams as leaders,
how do we expect our frontlineemployees to do that with our
customers?
Are we moving our one-on-ones,are we making ourselves
available for the people whoneed our help?
Because if we're not doing that, how can we then expect them to
(29:38):
go do those things with thepeople, our customers, our
injured workers, our agents, allthe people we touch through our
communications?
I think that that's really,really important.
So I wanted to just thank bothof you for this episode.
This is something I know bothof you feel passionate about.
I do too.
I could talk about this forseveral hours, but we won't do
(30:00):
that to our listeners, but I dowant to, as I do every episode,
end talking about gratitude.
This is something I'll neverstop doing.
I think those little things arereally important.
I was just thinking the otherday it's been a little bit cold
how nice it is to have a hotshower, and you know that's
something like we take forgranted.
It's a very simple thing, butI'll tell you what for hundreds
(30:22):
and hundreds of years, therewere no showers and they weren't
hot.
So indoor plumbing is a prettyawesome thing, and I'm really
glad that I have a water heater.
So that's a small thing, butcould each of you share
something that you're gratefulwith, and let's start with you,
lala.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Sure, I am in a stage of my life where I have more
grandchildren than I havechildren and as I transition to
getting closer and closer tohaving no more children at home,
which makes me sad, it's alsomaking me hopeful and enjoy the
being a grandparent stage of mylife, which still seems so
(30:57):
strange for me to say that I am.
But I have four kids and sixgrandchildren, who are amazing,
and I didn't think that I wasgoing to, you know, love the
role.
In the beginning, it justseemed like I was too young to
be able to do that.
But I am loving this stage ofmy life.
It's so exciting, it's so fun.
I just my heart bursts, youknow, when I see my
(31:18):
grandchildren, just like it didwhen I saw my kids.
So I'm just loving this stageof my life right now.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I love that.
Well, you need to talk to mywife because she the other day
she was looking at baby picturesand, like, sweetie, you got to
wait.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
We're going to have six kids they're coming.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Yeah, that's exactly right, it won't be that long.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
It's pretty great.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
So, chris, how about you Something you're?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
grateful, for I get to list more than one right.
This is my first ever podcast.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
So, like I feel, like I get to right.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
So we'll start off with my walk with God.
We'll talk about my family.
I've got a little one.
I am absolutely loving that.
Being an old dad is a new thing, but, man, I love.
It Keeps me young, my friends,my health.
And you know, I really, reallylove working for Berkeley.
I love what this company standsfor WR Berkeley, but then also
Berkeley Industrial Comp, thecore values, the way this
(32:04):
culture operates and just theoverall love and respect that we
have for our insureds, for theinjured workers.
It's not what you see oncommercials, right Like we
actually want to problem solve,we want to help people from an
insurance perspective and wewant to make a difference for
the end of workers.
And my final thing is it'sMarch.
Iu has not been great this year, but we are still depending on
(32:28):
who the analysts are.
I think we're in the dance.
So if we win this weekend, I'mgoing to be thankful that IU can
be in the tournament this year,because every year my wife,
who's a Purdue alum, gets theboilers in the tournament.
I want some consistency withour Hoosiers.
So I'm thankful that,manifesting this, we're going to
be in.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
I love it.
I'm there for it.
I know we're going to have anew coach this year, but March
is not fun when my Hoosiersaren't in it, so I'm right there
with you.
I'm in football country now inAlabama, so I'm trying to teach
these folks down here how toreally love basketball, because
they got the football thing down, but we're working on that
still.
So I couldn't agree more withboth of you guys.
(33:11):
There are so many good thingsin this world that I'm grateful
for, and I think my team's ahuge part of it.
Berkeley Industrial Com is abig part of it.
Of course, my family is too,but grateful to work with you
guys and I am excited for thefuture and I would encourage our
listeners, as always, to doright, think differently and
(33:31):
don't forget to care.
And that's this episode ofAdjusted.
We hope that you will continueto join us as we release
episodes every two weeks.
Also, we would encourage you tolike and follow the podcast, as
well as give us a review.
We would love a five-starreview.
I'm sure my mom's given us one,but I could use a few others.
So if you're out there andyou're listening, please put in
(33:55):
a five-star review and somecomments in there to help others
find this podcast.
And again, appreciate you forlistening.
We'll catch you next time.
Thanks everybody, thank you.
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