The agents working in your insurance call center are going to be required to wear many hats depending on the needs of the customers they speak with, some of which require more specialized skills than others. Here are five of the possible roles the insurance call center agent may need to play over the course of a day on the job.

 

Customer Service Representative

 

This all-encompassing role refers to any time a customer calls in with a question that requires an answer. Maybe they have a question about their existing policy and the coverage it provides or a question about a different policy that they may be switching to. The former is the more common experience—after all, insurance policies can be difficult to understand, whether that’s health insurance, auto insurance, home insurance or something else. When customers are unsure or confused about an aspect of their policy, they often feel that the safest and most direct path to clarity is by speaking with someone in the call center who can explain it to them.

 

Claims Processor

 

This meaty job of filing claims is when insurance policies—and insurance call center agents—are put to work. It requires inputting claims into whatever system the company uses, which serves to jumpstart all necessary steps and processes that need to occur to move the claim through its life cycle and ensure that the requisite people receive their money and/or advice on how to move through and past the inciting incident. Without agents doing this job, insurance companies would simply be selling policies that went on to do nothing for their holders.

 

Salesperson

 

Speaking of selling policies, salesperson is another important role held by the insurance call center agent. Especially when it comes to auto, home, commercial, and other types of insurance besides health, customers typically do a good deal of shopping around for the right policy. When agents do get the chance to speak to a prospective customer, they need to do their best to explain why their insurance is the best choice and go into detail on everything it offers. They need to be clear, knowledgeable, and persuasive without being pushy. And just like when they are acting as customer service representatives, they need to know the policies they are selling inside and out.

 

Case Manager

 

Similar to the claims processor, the insurance call center agent acts as a case manager when dealing with customers who have a claim or a case in progress. They need to be able to answer questions regarding the status of a claim, the steps that have been completed and those that will come next, any conclusions that have been reached, and so on. They also need to know the speed at which claims typically move through the different steps of processing and resolution so they can give customers a rough idea of when they can expect to hear from the insurance company.

 

Service Concierge

 

Picture the concierge at a high-end hotel. What do they do? They help patrons of the hotel, offering advice on the best restaurants, shops and so forth in the area and which, if any, have relationships with the hotel. An insurance call center agent may be called upon to do essentially the same thing, offering information on the doctors, auto body shops, repairmen and more that are covered by the customer’s insurance policy. Without this critical information, customers can end up with surprise bills that are much higher than they originally expected, which is never the ideal outcome.

Fulfilling all these roles at once can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be—especially if you have the support of an excellent and easy-to-use call center platform like CallShaper. To learn more, request a demo today.