About
Creation of a claims service counter at the same location as insurance sales, improving customer service and relationships
Innovation presentation
In Brazil, the provision of services to consumers for insured consumer goods (electronics, furniture and the like) is traditionally performed following a standard model: when a product damage is identified, the customer contacts the insurer through voice or digital channels, and then there is direct face-to-face contact, in which the insurer and/or technical assistance aligns the terms and performs the repair service. Some repair services are centralized, involving mail shipment to a repair center, others have service centers throughout the country. This service model poses challenges to make the various participants in the process (call center, digital channels, technical assistance, insurer, logistics, parts distribution) work in a coordinated manner for a timely, high-quality solution that brings customer satisfaction.
This is the context in which the Claims Counter project was created, aiming at bringing more convenience and timeliness to customer service. It consists of a service counter set up at the retailer’s brick-and-mortar facilities, close to the consumer and with face-to-face service, which concentrates most of the claim handling steps, such as claim notification, regulation and approval, delivery of a defective product to the technical assistance, generation of a product exchange voucher, compensation, handling complaints, among other conveniences.
The work of the specialized professionals who operate in this model also advances towards qualified information about insurance at the time of sale, which increases customer confidence and provides more safety buying insurance, since the solution to any possible problem the customer may experience is materialized there, at the same place where they purchase insurance. The initiative centralizes all those processes, usually performed by different teams along different channels in the traditional model, to deliver the solution to the customer’s problem in a single contact – a process called One & Done at Zurich. The efficiency and unparalleled timeliness compared to the traditional processes have generated extremely high levels of customer satisfaction for the new model, even exceeding its creators’ expectations.
Therefore, the essence of the project is to be close to the customer at the two most important touchpoints with the insurance – the moment of sale and the moment of reporting a claim –, and provide the best possible customer experience in both moments.
Uniqueness of the project
The Claims Counter project is extremely disruptive, as the insurer presents itself face-to-face to the customer at the time of their greatest pain, the claim, which is not usual in the market, and is committed to solving the problem in a single contact.
The process to come to this model is also disruptive, since it is not possible to find professionals in the market with the profile and knowledge required to perform different customer service activities, and the insurer needs to train its associates to this unique, but effective, role. Based directly at the business partner’s point of sale, 7 days a week, those professionals can also clarify questions in the customer’s purchasing journey, creating trust and corroborating the promises made at product purchase.
In an industry where high use of technology in complex solutions is essential, the Claims Counter demonstrates that customers still value personal contact. As such, innovative solutions can go beyond, with intelligent processes supported by technology to offer quick and convenient solutions, aligned with customers’ needs.
