Delivering Value and Individualized Customer Service
By: Ray Whitehouse, Co-Owner & Agent at Johnson-Pohlmann Insurance
When it comes to delivering the best customer service and value for your customers, you always want to put your best foot forward. Every interaction you have with a customer gives them an impression of your company. Are your customers happy with their decision to give you their business? Are they having some regrets? Check in from time to time to see how clients are doing and gauge how satisfied they are with your agency.
At Johnson Pohlmann, we try to ensure that our customer service representatives know as much information as possible about the customers that are calling to ask about their policy. Many of our local Kentucky residents will call in with questions about their policy. We believe that our CSRs should be able to answer any questions our clients may have regarding their Kentucky auto insurance, home owners, boat, life or any other policy that a customer may have.
If you are not already, you should be using these tactics to improve the service you are offering your customers.
Take the Temperature of Your Customers:
Say Ahh! When you have established a relationship with your customers ask them to fill out a customer survey to give you direct feedback on how they perceive their individual level of customer service. Take the information and find out where you can improve. As an independent insurance agency, your customers do business with you because you can offer them a better customer service experience than large carriers. Make sure you are delivering what your customers are looking for on your end. A short survey with numerical values rating your performance is a simple way to get some informative feedback.
Use Metrics to Drive Your Service:
You are spending time gathering information from your customers so why not use it to improve your overall customer service strategies? Collecting data is an aimless task if you do not ultimately apply it to improving your business. Keep statistical data on everything from the average time spent with a customer on the phone, common questions and concerns, and the overall customer satisfaction numbers. How many customers gave you high service ratings?
Try Harder to Understand Your Customers:
Many times it can be easy to forget where a customer is coming from when they call you to ask a question regarding their policy. Typically when someone calls customer service they are looking for a brief to the point answer to their question. The last thing they want to do is sit on hold for 10 minutes to get a simple answer to their question. Ask yourself, how can you streamline this process? Do you notice any bottlenecks in the process? If several customers contact your CSRs with very similar questions, maybe you should add something to your Facebook page, or website answering the question on a Frequently Asked Questions page.
Rebuilding your Credit After the Bankruptcy
You have gone through bankruptcy and should not nobody. Now is the perfect time to buy that house you’ve always wanted – right? Wrong! Yes, you can probably find a mortgage lender real estate, because you can not declare bankruptcy again for at least six years.
The bankruptcy will appear on all three credit reports for seven to ten years, which will make a greater risk to lenders of real estate. You can not do something about it, however, can show real estate lenders are handling credit much better now by rebuilding it. This can reduce the risk factor, to obtain a mortgage of real estate. Improvements using the following steps, you can actually rebuild your credit in a relatively short time.
First, get copies of your credit report from credit bureaus, and clean. You have the right to a free report from all three agencies annually.
Make sure your creditors listed in your bankruptcy, have cleared your credit report information. Otherwise, it appears as if you still owe money and are not paying.
Ensure any creditors not listed in the bankruptcy process and you are paying regularly have been reporting your good credit at three agencies. Any contact is not reporting this and ask them to do so. This will increase your chances of getting a loan for your property.
If there was a specific event or cause of your bankruptcy, you can add up to a 100-word explanation of your credit report from each agency. The real estate lender will get this explanation as part of your credit report.
Will be particularly good for real estate lenders if you have received credit counseling or help will help in several ways. A credit counseling agency will help you create good budget and I advise you to use and stick to it. They offer advice on the use of credit in the future, and how to restore your credit. They can help you move toward your goal of buying real estate. Once you have successfully completed credit counseling, ask for something in writing to that effect. You can help the real estate loan request
The problem is finding a reputable agency. Some are downright questionable. Here are some ideas to help you find a reputable agency:
- They should be a member of either the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Both are national trade associations.
- Agencies approved by the U.S. office Administration (part of the Department of Justice) are good agencies.
- Interview the agencies, asking what they offer and the cost of each service. Good agencies should meet with you for 60-to-90 minutes, reviewing your financial situation and advice offered by the budget before making any credit repair.
- Ask for costs in writing from the agency you choose. It should collect about $ 50 or less, with budget counseling sessions for under $ 20 each.
- Stay away from those who push their program of debt management, where they want to pay all other creditors, through them.
The use of credit counseling agencies to help rebuild your credit properly. It can take less than a year to achieve, however, make a big difference when you get that mortgage of real estate.
