We have discussed how you might outsource back office work, work that is not full time, or work for which you can’t find staff. We have discussed training a receptionist how to answer a phone and handle client’s calls. We have discussed training a receptionist how to meet and greet people visiting your office. There usually comes a time when that small agency needs to add customer service staff. A question I have heard more than once is “How do I assure that they will take as good of care of my clients as I do?”
I think this is a very valid question. I also think it is very difficult to achieve. So take this simple example. While we were out-of-town our yard man trimmed our hedges. When we arrived home everything looked in perfect order. However, over the weekend my husband found that a part to our water sprinkler was missing. He called our yard man on Monday morning. He came by the house, dug around in the shrubs for a bit and found the missing piece. He said he had a helper that day and that the helper must have blown this piece into the shrubs when he was cleaning up. His comment to my husband was “My quality control sometimes is not as good when I have a helper.”
Now this seems like a really simple example compared to a more complicated insurance office. However, I think it is a great example of how no matter how simple the job, training and quality control is needed.
When you begin to hire staff you do begin to lose some control. Not everyone will talk to your client exactly the way you do. Not everyone will write an email for a submission to the insurance carrier exactly the way you do. Not everyone will always have the sense of urgency that you might have. This can be very frustrating for a business owner. You cannot be watching over them all day to be sure they do what you expect, nor do you want to. That would defeat the purpose of having employees. But you need to have people you can trust.
We will investigate and discuss some ways to get the right person for the right job in your agency in the next few blogs. I would be interested in hearing from you if you have specific questions in this area.
Topics Agencies Training Development
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