News: Telephone and Writing Skills
Telephone skills development needed for insurance sector 'lifeblood'
14 August 2008
Telephone skills training and customer care improvements are needed to bolster the services provided by many insurance broking firms, a new study suggests.
Callstream, a telecommunications specialist, carried out preliminary tests involving 25 intermediaries in the sector and found that potential customers are often not given the option to reach a claims department out of hours.
Approximately 16 per cent of calls the organisation monitored presented individuals with a ringing or engaged tone during peak trading hours.
"With ever-increasing costs of enquiries and associated conversion costs, efficient customer-focussed call management is critical to the broking market - telephone calls are the lifeblood of the industry," Martin Verity, Callstream's associate director, tells Insurance Age.
"That's why it is so important to undertake an in-depth analysis of current call handling to ensure that brokers are making the most of their calls," he added.
According to the industry publication, a quarterly survey service by the telecommunications firm is being rolled out to 50 select brokers to ascertain where further development in telephone skills could prove beneficial. 
