NBS N-SURE!Line, a company in the BOE group, has installed a R2,5 million call centre, supplied by ATIO Corporation, to build customer relationships in the domestic short-term insurance market. NBS N-SURE!Line finds this the best way to communicate directly with its burgeoning customer base.
ATIO, the Infotel company, was contracted to supply NBS N-SURE!Line, a provider of risk management solutions, with a complete call centre to enable it to have faster, closer relationships with its customers and reduce costs. This meant the replacement of middlemen in the form of insurance agents and brokers.
N-SURE!Line`s customers are benefiting from the call centre as each customer is dealt with individually. "This is where the importance of customer relationships come in," says Robert Swart, the insurance company`s operations executive.
N-SURE!Line executive director Joseph Daly says a new breed of domestic short-term insurance customers is emerging, and they are changing the face of the industry.
"This customer is better educated, more discerning and demands the total satisfaction of individual needs; this is driving a growing trend towards niche marketing of domestic short-term insurance," says Daly. "The major characteristic of this changing market is the creation of a direct channel between the insurer and customer. Intermediaries are being replaced by processes and technology, driven by people who are focused on satisfying very specific market needs in a cost-effective manner.
"NBS N-SURE!Line brings to the short-term insurance market a potent blend of smart people, processes and technology, backed by the newly formed BOE financial services group. We have assembled a hand-picked team of highly experienced professionals and have created processes that can best use telephony at the forefront of the shift to direct distribution. However, we do not solely rely on telecommunications to build our customer relationship."
While the pursuit of mass customisation is challenging from an insurance perspective, NBS N-SURE!Line will address the needs of the BOE group`s base of more than 1 million customers. Most of these customers have bought multiple products within the group and NBS N-SURE!Line`s approach to them is a logical extension to the practice of adding value within the group.
More than R25 million has been invested in establishing NBS N-SURE!Line`s head office in Victory Park, Johannesburg, says Daly.
NBS N-SURE!Line`s strategy is to increase its market share, and fulfil the needs and requirements of its customers who want a one-stop insurance company. Going into short-term insurance was also seen as a good business opportunity, Daly points out.
"We already have on-board 90 000 customers from the original short-term business," Daly says, adding that he estimates the local insurable market at around 2,4 million households worth about R10 billion annually, and that the local market will grow by 30-40% over the next five years.
Daly explains that NBS, with its head office in Durban, has for 25 years been specialising in insuring properties of bondholders. Last year the company expanded into two areas: national insurance for the BOE group and its customers; and domestic insurance (household insurance) branded under the name NBS N-SURE!Line. The company`s gross premium was R172,4 million last year and its asset balance R150 million. Its staff complement increased from 30 to 85.
ATIO was chosen, says Swart, "Because we wanted a company which could be a one-stop shop to handle implementation, skills training, project management, and full technology integration. The price was competitive and ATIO went out of its way to meet our requirements and the tight deadline of three months."
ATIO`s brief was to provide a call centre initially designed for 500 incoming calls a day, using 32 telephone lines and 25 staff. ATIO also provided for capacity planning: for 1 000 calls a day, 64 telephone lines and 50 staff within the next three months. Consequently the call centre will soon expand to a larger vacant wing at the head office. NBS N-SURE!Line is planning to grow the call centre`s staff by 20 people a year.
The brief also called for the supply of IT and telephony equipment (hardware and software), consulting and implementation. ATIO supplied and integrated a Lucent Definity switch to interface with its AtioCall software running on Compaq Proliant and Sun servers. ATIO also supplied its voice recording system and Dictaphone running on its own server to monitor calls.
Atio co-ordinated the switching system by installing live wall boards throughout NBS N-SURE!Line`s complex to monitor the number of calls processed, and the number in queue.
NBS N-SURE!Line`s call centre runs from 7am to 8pm and after-hours emergency calls are diverted to a standby number. Customer services specialists are divided into three teams, each handling a different aspect of insurance calls: fulfilment (dealing with claims), customisation (ensuring vehicle inspection, asset inventory and changes/updates to policies); and sales (25% of calls). Each group also has a team leader and specialists in a particular field.
"Callers are greeted by an interactive voice response application which makes them aware that their conversation will be recorded, which replaces all the paper work and forms the basis of our mutual, legal agreement. That automatically presents them with a number of options. Through computer telephony integration (CTI), the acceptance of a call opens the appropriate application, speeding up the interaction process," Swart says.
ATIO understands that up to 70% of the success of any call centre hinges on the human element, with technology making up the balance. Accordingly ATIO has a relationship with Linda Coetzee and Associates, the foremost South African company in the field of telephony skills and training. Coetzee was responsible for pre-screening and recommendation of staff. Further, she was responsible for training and development of staff to deliver the service levels required of an N-SURE!Line agent. "We looked for people with a call centre background, who have telephony skills, and who know how to close a sale. Customer service is crucial and our staff are of excellent quality. We are proud of them and their loyalty," Swart adds.
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