Improving Quality through Service Process Redesign
Industry & Client Situation
One of the world’s largest insurance brokers was experiencing a 15 percent year over year increase in the number of customer claims citing broker error. The cost of settling these claims was growing at an annual rate of 58 percent.
Within the client’s network of sales and service offices, there were a number of locations that appeared immune to these trends while others consistently displayed dismal quality levels.
Bridge was engaged to help the organization assess whether or not the rising claim count was simply a cost of doing business in a litigious world or a preventable trend that might be mitigated through a quality improvement program.
Approach
Bridge first worked with the client to identify the root causes of client claims and existing best practices.
- Reviewed every client claim to identify the root causes of the client claims and assessed whether a true servicing error occurred
- Analyzed best and worst practices evident among high-and low-performing brokerage offices
- Reviewed the current enterprise-wide quality standards, the training system used to instill those standards, and supporting compliance mechanisms
- Looked at systemic defect enablers including the general lack of quality incentives, management reporting processes, and defect detection processes
- Evaluated how client claims are remedied
Once the facts had been gathered and consensus existed among management that the claims were indeed avoidable, Bridge Strategy Group worked with management to establish a comprehensive quality program.
- Enhanced service standards
- Compliance processes focused on the root causes of poor quality and constant monitoring of the associated processes
- A chargeback system that forced both offenders and their management to feel the pain resulting from poor quality
- Management communications systems that allows management and legal teams to collaborate with the field staff closest to the problem
- Implementation and communications support that established a burning platform forchange, conveyed executive support for the program, and armed local programcoordinators with appropriate messaging.
