Agent Oversight Improves Quality and Customer Experience
If you’re like most health plans, you rely on key “glue folks” to keep operations running smoothly. You know the ones: staff members that embrace their role, mind the details and ensure behind-the-scene efforts improve outcomes. They may or may not communicate one-on-one with customers, but their efforts contribute in a positive way to the overall customer experience.
For many, the partners and team members that manage the oversight of field and call center agents are the very glue of the sales and marketing activities inside a plan.
Consider agent oversight in three parts: Compliance, Operations and Quality. They’re three distinct functions of equal importance. When synchronized, Agent Oversight aids in seamless performance of an organization’s sales and marketing efforts.
What do we mean by three distinct functions? Consider the three-legged stool:
Compliance is more than a disciplinary function. The compliance department should work directly with Operations to ensure open channels of communication exist with all sales agents. Effective communication of regulatory requirements through training can mean prevention of compliance missteps and disciplinary actions.
Operations should be proactive regarding agent oversight functions. With careful monitoring of agents and frequent status reports, agent issues can be addressed promptly and directly. Simplify the process with technology to monitor sales meetings anywhere and anytime and assess agent performance in real time. Oversight recommendations may include additional training, corrective action or require immediate termination. Regardless the action, the result must be swift.
Quality programs should offer metrics on evaluating agent performance. There are a number of ways to rate agent performance in the development and implementation of Quality programs: grading, coaching or performance reporting. At Bloom, we use all of those tools — as well as call review, call scoring and calibration for each call center agent. Plans should work closely with their call center partner to develop, implement and assess a customized Quality program that best meets their needs. A strong partner can work with a plan to implement an existing program or to craft a new one.
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The Bloom Call Center is licensed in 48 contiguous states and offers marketing, call center and technology solutions to the health care industry. Since 2007, Bloom has participated in over 55 million conversations about insurance products, submitted over 200,000 applications for insurance, and set over 150,000 appointments for seniors to meet with Licensed Agents. Bloom is a proud partner of Gorman Health Group. Click here to learn more.