Best Customer Service in Australia
#1 Baby, #1
I have some great news to share on Hubpages today. Australia’s consumer association ‘Choice’ has just voted my Motor Insurance customer service team as #1 in Australia!
Every year Choice Magazine reviews insurance and this year Motor insurance was reviewed. The organisation reviewed on a whole range of factors and noted that RACV (a sister motoring club) was the #1 rated product in the nation with ‘complete care’ 87/100. RAA’s motor product was also considered good with a score of 79/100 coming in 10th nationally.
Where RAA won was in the customer satisfaction index. RAA rated a whopping 92/100 with the nearest competitor being Shannons with 83/100 – RAA is a clear 9 points higher than any other insurer. The final scores were:
- RAA 92
- Shannons 83
- Apia 82
- Suncorp 73
- AAMI 70
- RACV 69
- RAC 69
- NRMA 65
- RACQ 64
- GIO 63
- SGIO 60
- Alliance 53
- CGU 51
- Budget Direct 48
- QBE 47
- Others below 46
So, how did RAA become #1 in the nation and a clear winner above other sister motoring club insurers?
Why RAA is #1
Seven years ago RAA started to move down a new sales strategy of selling from the top down, using Friedman sales techniques and setting targets. More recently the focus has been on serving the customer and having the customer at the centre of everything that we do. Combined with this we have World’s best KPIs in managing customer contact. Here are some of the reasons:
Friedman sales system – the Friedman sales system has really assisted RAA in becoming #1. The system helps us to uncover the customer needs, match products to their needs and to sell the features, benefits, advantages and to add a grabber. The legislation in Australia also helps in that the staff member must ask for the sale – legally. This means that the staff are well versed in the product and happy to help the customer to make the right decision.
Robust coaching systems & training – each staff member across the Distribution network is coached at least 1-2 times per week. This enables the manager to focus on key elements of the staff members presentation, especially from a customer service perspective. This helps the staff member to get better all of the time with the focus being on serving the customer. All new staff have 5 weeks learning about insurance and the systems. Combined with this training is sales and customer service training specific for the product.
Serving the customer – the RAA philosophy is that the member (or customer) is the centre of everything that we do. Our role is to help the customer to make the right decision and to match a product to their needs. This way the sale will wear well and we can offer more products over time. This focus on exceptional customer service and sales is another key reason for us becoming #1.
Product and pricing – our Underwriters have assisted us over the journey with a great product – still in the top 10 nationally – and with a strong value proposition in the pricing. If you can combine great pricing with a good product and provide strong customer service, you are on a winner. A lot of the discounters reduce their levels of customer service and this doesn’t help drive ongoing sales.
Marketing – the George suite of ads over the past 10 years has created a buzz around RAA Insurance and this helps to get foot, phone and web traffic to our salespeople. Without a strong marketing team behind your product, it is hard to become #1
KPIs – the RAA Contact Centre has World best KPIs. Our customer service level is a minimum of 80% of calls answered within 30 seconds – we average around 85%. Our abandonment rate must be under 3%, most call centres run around 5% with most months our KPIs delivering a sub 2% abandonment rate with no more than 3 days over 3%. The other factor is when you call the RAA you speak to a local consultant in Adelaide. For most other insurers you will speak to a centralised Eastern State contact centre who know nothing about your region or an overseas call centre. Further, RAA has 22 shops across SA all offering insurance in your local suburb or town. There appears to be nothing better than speaking to a local!
How Can You Become #1 as well?
RAA has become #1 as we have focussed on the customer and ensure that everything we do is customer focussed. In 2012 we expect that we will get even better as we improve out insurance systems and continue to recruit and train staff to provide even higher levels of customer service.
You too can become #1 by:
- Serving your customer
- Adopting Friedman sales techniques
- Strive to invest in customer service to create a competitive advantage around your KPIs
- Have a local contact centre
Cheers Michael
