Safeco Insurance Recognized for Outstanding Customer Service

Safeco Insurance Service has been recognized for call center customer satisfaction excellence for a second consecutive year under the J.D. Power and Associates Call Center Certification Program. The Call Center Certification Program distinction acknowledges a strong commitment by the Safeco Insurance Service call centers to provide “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience.”

To become certified, Safeco’s service operations successfully passed a detailed audit of more than 100 practices that encompass the call center’s customer satisfaction measurement and analysis strategies, recruiting, training, employee incentives, quality assurance capabilities, and management roles and responsibilities. As part of its evaluation, J.D. Power and Associates also conducted a random survey of Safeco Insurance customers who recently contacted its service call centers, located in Washington, Colorado and Indiana.

“Call center customers were particularly pleased with how promptly they were able to speak with a customer service representative,” said Mark Miller, senior director of the global contact center practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

For certification status, a call center must also perform within the top 20 percent of customer service scores, which are based on benchmarks established in J.D. Power and Associates’ cross-industry customer satisfaction research. The evaluation criteria include the customer service representative’s courtesy, knowledge and concern for the customer; promptness in speaking to a person; and timely resolution of the problem or request. Additionally, the experience with the automated phone system is evaluated based on the clarity of the information provided, the ease of navigating the phone menu prompts and the ease of understanding the phone menu instructions.

“We strive to do what’s right, so that agents and customers can do more, and this recognition is a testament to our continued commitment to the customer experience,” said Mike Hughes, Safeco president.

The Call Center Certification Program was launched by J.D. Power and Associates in 2004 to evaluate overall customer satisfaction with call centers and to help call centers in various industries increase their efficiency and effectiveness by establishing and continually updating practices for handling service calls.

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company providing forecasting, performance improvement, social media and customer satisfaction insights and solutions. The company’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers.

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