At Guardian Life Insurance, the strong focus on customer experience permeates all departments within the organization. Each understands the overarching focus on customer experience, its impact, and its positive end results.
Loyalty360 spoke with Kimberly Delaney, Vice President of Client Engagement at Guardian Life Insurance; and Beth Wood, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of individual markets at Guardian Life Insurance, to learn more about the company’s central focus.
“At Guardian, customer experience is a shared accountability at all levels within the organization and across all functional areas, from the service center, to our legal department, to our product development teams,” Wood explained. “Everyone understands that their role contributes to the customer experience and our objectives are aligned around a common goal designed to earn customer loyalty. Unlike many businesses, Guardian does not view our customers as data points on a graph. Employees across our organization view our customers through the feedback and personal stories customers have shared, highlighting how our products help them to feel protected and confident in their future.”
Delaney added: “We are constantly exploring new technologies and listening to feedback from our customers to help us streamline the process of purchasing insurance, retirement, and employee benefits. This includes finding new ways to help customers explore products and what they cost, to make the application process more digital and to rely on mobile capabilities. Beyond our efforts to leverage technology to simplify the experience, we have a strong focus on enhancing the experience with a personalized touch to ensure our customers know we care about them and want to be their trusted partner for generations.”
Wood said that, in today’s market, with so much choice and so many messages being directed to consumers, appealing to both existing and new customers is challenging.
“But, we’re committed to emphasizing both,” Wood said. “Guardian now serves more than 25 million customers nationwide up from 5 million just five years ago. In the face of this substantial growth, we continue to be recognized for our commitment to our customer service as evidenced by customer feedback and industry recognition. Guardian’s Retirement Contact Center has been recognized by J.D. Power six years in a row for providing “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience” for the live phone channel. DALBAR has recognized teams across the Individual Disability Income business and Guardian was the only insurance provider to receive the 2016 Insurance Service Award for customer service in 2016. Guardian also earned a Loyalty360 CX Platinum Award for having the Most Customer-centric culture.”
What’s more, Delaney said that Guardian Life recognizes that its customers are living their lives digitally and that social media plays an important role in providing news, information, and education.
Wood added: “Being present and adding value through social content offers a chance for Guardian to be part of our customers’ lives. We invest a great deal in developing and sharing content through Guardian’s social channels, as well as enabling our financial advisers to share content directly with their networks on Linkedin and Facebook.”