Winn Group’s head of business development, Mark Pallas, examines why the use of 24/7 services has increased exponentially in both the accident management and insurance industries in recent years.
With a realistic client demand for access to files, support and a voice on the end of the phone to guide them at any time of the day and night, never has a 24-hour support network been more appreciated and more important.
When a firm is always available, the risks of mounting client frustration are mitigated and any adverse reaction to an issue in a claim is dealt with swiftly and effectively. After all, a client’s patience will only be strained if they are made to wait for answers, leading to the genuine possibility of escalation.
For too long, there has been an unflinching view from firms in the sector that clients must bend to a rigid 9am to 5pm opening hours stance - and if those times aren’t convenient, they don’t get the service.
This is fundamentally wrong on all levels - it is outdated and not aligned with the needs of the target demographic, nor the times that we live in.
Nowadays, people don’t have the time during the working day to ring through and wait for their service provider to eventually come to them. A busy lifestyle, with ever increasing task lists, often results in the need for flexibility from services.
If it’s 6pm, midnight or 4am, everyone has a different set of circumstances putting pressure on their time, so the need to accommodate individuals has become increasingly important in an ultracompetitive marketplace where choice is plentiful and the need to stand out is hugely important.
Out of hours offerings vary from ‘call back tomorrow’ automated voices, to message taking services. However, those solutions don’t cater for the needs of a client who has a range of options and the power to choose the best alternative.
Clients should be the key focus of any good business strategy. That’s why our team provides a voice and immediate action on files to deliver the best possible client care.
This is not an unreasonable demand from the individual, the business partner or the industry as a whole. It’s more an awakening that the client can have the best possible access and care during the claim journey.
If the client is not getting that, you - as a business - will get left behind in a fiercely competitive market.
To find out more about what a truly 24/7 operation looks like for clients and how it is implemented, click here.
