Our people, training key to high customer satisfaction

It was recently reported that Unum’s disability claims practices earned strong customer satisfaction, scoring significantly higher ratings than the industry average for its long term disability claims process in a survey conducted by Gen Re.

In fact, customers gave Unum significantly higher ratings than the industry average for 20 out of 26 measures for our long term disability claims process, including the overall handling of the claim.

Diane Garofalo, senior vice president of Unum’s Benefits Center, said the company consistently and continually seeks customer feedback through satisfaction surveys like this one. “We take this feedback seriously. The findings allow us to continue to review and adjust our claim processes and to enhance the quality of our customer interactions to ensure industry leading service,” she added.

So what sets our LTD claims process apart from the rest of the industry?

According to Greg Breter, vice president of LTD Regional & Special Benefits Operations, our strong LTD customer satisfaction is directly connected to our Vision Statement and commitment to being the absolute best at building meaningful and lasting connections between employers, their employees and the benefits Unum provides. He cited other factors too, including:

• Hiring effective communicators who demonstrate strong interpersonal skills.
• Investing in initiatives like the Consumerism and Hispanic Initiatives that help us create clearer and more understandable communications/letters.
• Having a customer focused claims process that ensures a high level of service with a personal touch.
• Building a strong relationship and sense of trust with each customer throughout the duration of each claim.

But Greg pointed to one program in particular that he feels clearly sets us apart: the Building Claimant Connections training program for our claims specialists.

“It is very important that our claims specialists understand that a disability can create emotional, physical and financial challenges for our customers,” said Greg. “So we teach them how to communicate each claims decision with care and sensitivity, which is crucial to developing strong and trusting relationships with customers.”

This program focuses on the following key components: Enhancing listening skills and improving information gathering; taking time to develop relationships with customers; helping customers determine what is important to them; assisting customers in seeing what is possible and what they are able to accomplish and helping them achieve desired goals.

“It starts with the training, but it really ends with our employees,” said Greg. “They do a wonderful job helping our customers in their time of need, and these survey results show that.”