When I monitor phone calls, one of the most important questions I have to answer for myself is: Is this adjuster in the customer service business? Or, is this adjuster in the “get rid of this person if he's not my problem” business?

The most important thing that I listen for is whether a claim adjuster actually believes that his job is customer service and is willing to help even if it is not his claim, or whether he tries to do anything he can to get rid of a customer because it is not his problem. This is important in teamwork, because there is a huge potential that we all are creating more work for ourselves by being selfish and handling only our own work.

I was listening to phone calls one day when a particular call came in that I believe makes my point. A customer, Betsy Burke, called and got Maria, and the exchange went like this:

Maria: Hello, this is Maria in claims, how may I help you?

Betsy: I'm calling to find out what's going on. I keep getting calls from the company that loaned me money on the car. I thought you all paid this off?

Maria: Oh, this is Tom's claim. He's not in today. Can I have him call you tomorrow?

Betsy: No, I want to find out what's going on now.

Maria, heaving a big sigh: Ok, what is your claim number?

Betsy: 1234567

Maria: It looks here that we paid $6,000 on your truck.

Betsy: But I owed $8,000.

Maria: Hold on. (Maria puts Betsy on hold, two minutes pass.)

Maria, getting back on the phone: Ma'am, did you sign a bill of sale?

Betsy: A bill of sale? What's that?

Click, put on hold again. Maria does not say a word before doing this. Three minutes pass. The phone rings and a new person answers the phone.

Steve: Hello, this is Steve, claim supervisor, can I help you?

Is Maria in the customer service business, or is she in the “get rid of this lady, she's not my problem” business? That's right, this adjuster is in the “get rid of this lady, she's not my problem” business. Notice how she did not even want to try to help. Her first goal was to get rid of Ms. Burke.

In the adjuster's defense, you might say that maybe she was not supposed to answer these questions or maybe she did not know how to help someone like this. That would be a good defense, except that she knew perfectly well how to do it. That is not why she wasn't helping Ms. Burke. She was not helping because it was not her claim and, therefore, not her job. You see, she does not know that she is in the customer service business, she thinks that she is in the “handling claims” business.

Take a look at the next phase. When she realized that she was going to have to talk to this person, a big sigh slipped out, which clearly tells the customer that she really does not want to deal with it, but she is willing to put up with it. This is not great customer service and these types of things come out more than we can ever imagine.

When she put Ms. Burke on hold the first time, she did say, “Hold on,” but it is common courtesy to simply ask someone if they can be put on hold. For example, “Would you mind if I put you on hold?” And, of course, it's always nice to actually wait for an answer. Additionally, it is common courtesy to tell someone how long they are likely to remain on hold, and maybe even give them a reason for being put on hold. Unfortunately, we did not get any of that; what we got was, “Hold on.”

Hot Potato

You might be looking at this conversation wondering how the claim supervisor got involved. For that, I need to reconstruct the dialogue, because it is not obvious just from reading it. The first time that Maria put the customer on hold, she walked over to her supervisor, and it went like this:

Maria: Hey, Steve, this is Tom's claim. He's not here right now. Can I transfer this call to you?

Steve: What does she want?

Maria: I don't know, something about we paid $6,000 but she owes $8,000. Can I transfer this call to you?

Steve: She must have signed a bill of sale or something, didn't she?

Maria: I'll go find out.

This is the point at which Maria gets back on the phone and asks Ms. Burke whether she signed a bill of sale. When the customer indicates that she does not even know what a bill of sale is, Maria puts her right back on hold. Maria walks back over to her supervisor.

Maria: She doesn't even know what a bill of sale is. Can I transfer this call to you?

Steve: Fine, fine, transfer the call to me.

Maria walks back to her desk, clicks on the line, transfers the call, and hangs up the phone. That ends her total interaction with this customer.

Let me ask: Do you think she is saving herself any time? Is she saving herself any work? One thing is sure: Maria thinks that she is. She thinks that she has saved herself work by not having to deal with this person at all. Yet, if everybody in the office is doing the same thing, it actually is generating more work for everyone.

If Maria had gotten rid of this call by taking a message for Tom, that means that Tom has to call back the next day. When he does call back and does not get the person, he will leave a message. When that person calls back, she will not get Tom because Tom will be on the phone, and then she will leave a message. And then Tom will call her back and, maybe, after about five or six phone calls back and forth, Tom actually might be able to talk to her and do absolutely nothing more for her than anyone else could have done.

What I want to submit is that if everyone simply tried to help customers, if they could, before they tried to get rid of them, it would reduce the amount of work for everybody. This is where the teamwork aspect comes in.

I have talked to plenty of adjusters who thought that they were outstanding in teamwork, but who never appreciated this. In fact, I asked an adjuster one day whether he thought that he was a team player, and he said, yes, he thought that he was an excellent team player. When I asked him why, he replied, “Simple. I am great at teamwork because I do my job, and pull my own weight, and I do not bug anybody else.”

Teamwork is much more than just doing one's own work and minding one's own business. Awesome claim adjusters understand that they will get back far more than they ever will give by paying attention to teamwork. To help others in their offices always will return great rewards, because they almost always will get paid back more than they ever offered in the first place. Additionally, awesome adjusters know that, by helping customers whenever they can, even if it is not their file, it will ultimately reduce the amount of work the entire office has, and everyone benefits.

As far as teamwork goes, I have found there are people who are givers, and people who are takers. Givers keep an eye out for their coworkers and help whenever they can. Takers spend as much effort as possible making sure that no one is taking advantage of them, and refusing to help others.

The funny thing is, I have never met a giver who was unhappy in his job, and I have never met a taker who was happy.

Carl Van is president and CEO of International Insurance Institute and dean of the School of Claims Performance. He can be reached at www.insuranceinstitute.com.