Mercury Insurance 2007 Annual Report Download - page 35

2007 MERCURYNOW 33
This meant redefining their corporate culture. It meant
creating a mindset that permeates the entire organization.
To their way of thinking, if every employee takes personal
pride in the quality of their work and holds themselves to a
higher standard, before you know it, that promise becomes
a practice, that mindset becomes a mission and that strategy
becomes a success.
John Sutton, Mercury’s Senior Vice President of
Customer Service, says, “By raising the bar, we are also raising
expectations. Customers have come to expect good service
from most of the companies with which they do business. But
as we are finding, sometimes merely satisfying customers’
expectations isn’t good enough. Meeting expectations merely
becomes a baseline. What we are trying to do is exceed those
expectations at every opportunity. When our customers talk
about Mercury, we want them raving about us. This is the
new standard we have set for ourselves.”
Let’s look at one example of how Mercury is putting this
plan into practice. In a total loss scenario, the company has
set out to cut the time it takes to file a settlement offer down
from 3 days to same-day service. In most cases, the vehicle
owner is now getting their settlement offer within a week
of the loss. This not only expedites the process but vastly
reduces the policyholder’s anxiety. In addition, a Mercury
appraiser is on hand to help
them through the process and
answer any questions they
might have, from the value
of a replacement vehicle to
completion of DMV forms
to rental car options.
In the Eye
of the Beholder
So, is that old adage true,
“the customer is always
right?” Well, yes. According
to Mercury, one of the
most important things to
remember is customer
service lies in the eye of
the beholder. Customers
perceive and evaluate service
on their own terms. They
bring their own reality to the
situation. Service excellence
is determined and defined
not by the provider, but by
the recipient. That is the
very definition of customer
satisfaction.
Under their new initiative, Mercury is taking a fresh
approach to old problems, looking at their service from
the outside in. That’s why phone calls will be returned
within two hours. That’s why a relationship is established
with the customer from the very first
phone call. That’s why a supervisor is
notified of any disputes or complaints
immediately and why every situation
reaches a final solution quickly and
to the satisfaction of the customer.
That’s why the customer should only
have to make one phone call, with
the onus on Mercury’s staff to work
through the system, rather than having
the customer absorb that burden.
The dispatch team now acts more
as a help desk rather than a message
center. In essence, by expediting and
enhancing the flow of communication
internally, the company can make a
better impression externally. And, this
is just the beginning.
With the February 2008 launch of its Service Excellence
Initiative, Mercury concedes they still have a way to go as
they continue to roll out the program. Mercury, now in its
46th year, is steeped in a longstanding tradition of offering
customers a high level of service, savings and security. With
5,200 employees and operations in 13 states across the country,
this change will, of course, take some time to take hold. But
it will take hold, step by step, employee by employee, one
market at a time, one customer at a time. And, in so doing,
inch by inch, that bar gets higher and higher.
When our customers
talk about Mercury,
we want them raving
about us. This is the
new standard we
have set for ourselves.
FEATURE