The challenge

An emerging startup was preparing to disrupt the insurtech and fintech space with new financial products and a superior customer experience, including white glove customer service and an active ‘community of members’ and brand advocates.

Given that customer support was not the company’s core strength, it wanted a strategic partner to help it define and develop a brand-new customer service experience. It needed assistance recruiting, hiring, and training licensed associates to handle sales and customer service in insurance, mortgages, banking, and credit cards (processing applications, verifying customer data, etc.), in addition to equipping the associates with cutting-edge technology and managing their performance in highly regulated industries.

Our solution

The client engaged TTEC as its foundational partner based on the depth and breadth of our digital and human capabilities and expertise. We worked closely with the client to build a brand-new customer experience solution that included the following:

Licensing – We deployed our comprehensive College of Insurance program to license and train hundreds of associates. The program consisted of a rigorous selection process, online courses, licensing exam, ready-to-sell monitoring, and other licensing activities.

Staffing – By utilizing our College of Insurance program, in addition to hiring already licensed staff, our talent acquisition team recruited more than 300 at-home associates to support the client’s multiple lines of business in a virtual contact center.

Performance and coaching – Our coaching and performance approach equipped associates with what they need to quickly move from learners to high performers. Sales dashboards and processes were put in place to measure throughput; an adaptive coaching model was introduced for continuous development in addition to a performance scorecard, learning modules, and other proactive development tools.

Omnichannel technology – Having full transparency into customer interactions was important to the client. If the initial interaction started in a digital channel and then moved to voice, it wanted to track that journey. To do so, we equipped the client with a cloud-based omnichannel platform for voice, social, SMS, mobile, and web. We also provided digital solutions for workforce management, reporting for insights and a powerful analytics layer, AI-powered RealPlay training curriculum development with learning management system and sandboxes, and more.

The results

Leveraging expertise, skills, and innovation, TTEC provided the people, processes, and platforms to deliver a comprehensive end-to-end customer support operation. In just a few months, in an incredibly tight job market, we recruited, hired, trained, and nested more than 300 licensed associates in a new virtual contact center to support customers in a variety of digital and traditional channels.

Part of our recruiting strategy was to attract associates who were excited to work for an emerging brand and shared its brand values. Enthusiasm for the brand coupled with expert training and preparation produced a 4% attrition rate that was significantly lower than the industry average of 30-45%. We also had a surplus of more than 100 associates who were ready for a second ramp ahead of schedule.