During times of catastrophe, calls must be answered, even if that means rolling them off-site to prevent frustrating a policyholder.

Hurricanes and tropical storms are key examples. In the wake of Sandy, Safelite's contact centers successfully managed an unpredictable 900-percent increase in overall call volume while maintaining consistently high service levels. That involved 14,000 non-glass FNOL calls, answering 91 percent within 20 seconds. Only 2.5 percent were abandoned. Even during this strenuous time, policyholder needs were met because of this team of professionals.

It can be difficult to imagine just how important prompt answering of the phone is to a policyholder during a disaster. What seems like a small thing may translate to a policyholder for life.

2. Answer the phone quickly.

Do you know your contact center's average speed to answer? A recent SupportIndustry.com survey of 50 senior-level service and support professionals reported their average speed to answer as 30 seconds to 1 minute. Imagine the impact that has on claimants' trust in you. If it takes a minute to answer the phone, then how long will it take to actually resolve the claim?

Of equal importance to average speed to answer is the average time to abandon for callers, meaning the average time a customer waited before he or she gave up on you before you could answer. Our experience finds policyholders have an average tolerance of 34 seconds before hanging up.

For some policyholders calling in, this may be their first-ever claims experience with the insurer. Having perhaps paid premiums for years, the policyholder will measure his or her investment during this moment of truth. What does it say to your insured if your company is quick to take payments but slow to deliver service?

Safelite Solutions has a flexible workforce to make sure phones can be answered quickly while maintaining a consistent cost per call, regardless of volume. In fact, Safelite Solutions' customer service representatives answered 5.8 million calls in 2012 with an average speed of 11 seconds… that's just two household rings, and an abandon rate of 1.73 percent.

3. Answer the phone… and represent your brand appropriately.

These policyholders chose your insurance company for a reason. Many times, that choice is influenced by a company's brand equity. Maybe the insured likes the commercials or trusts the brand promise. It's critical that the experience of the claim matches the tone of your brand. Otherwise there will be a gap that leaves policyholders questioning their decision and brand loyalty.

In fact, an insensitive or unresponsive customer service representative is the number one gripe according to the 2012 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer.

Making sure customer service representatives (CSRs) are well-versed in the insurer's “personality” and preferences can be challenging, especially considering a relatively high turnover rate in this field. However, on-going and randomized monitoring will help ensure that a CSR sticks to the brand promise.

4. Answer the phone… and confidently share policy requirements.

A survey from Accenture identified a gap between what kind of customer service policyholders expect to receive and what they are actually getting. For example, 62 percent of respondents said it was important that the insurer provide information that was easy to understand. Yet, only 27 percent reported their insurers were fulfilling this need.

It is critical to properly communicate policy requirements, as well as the claims process and timeline during FNOL. Many policyholders mistakenly assume that just because they filed the claim, the claims adjuster will be at their house the next morning.

Some third-party contact centers work in a variety of industries, jumping between customer calls for travel agencies, banks, retailers, and insurance companies. Consequently, they never master any of them. How confident are you that they can properly represent your company, your culture, and your standards to policyholders?

5. Answer the phone… and don't rush to get off.

Do your CSRs know how many calls are waiting? If your CSRs know the queue is building, then how pressured will they be to get off the call quickly than is really ideal? Representatives must take the time to listen to the policyholder, express empathy, and collect all of the pertinent information. Is this happening?

The average call time for FNOL is 12 minutes but can run as high as 20 or more depending on the claims severity. Using talk time as a measurement for success is never advised. Your staff should be focused on a positive customer experience that will ultimately outweigh the cost of a longer call, resulting in a higher ROI in the end.

Bolstering Policyholder Retention

Clearly, the theme here is answering the phone. Just as important as an excellent contact center, however, is a solution for the growing number of policyholders who prefer the web to report claims. Regardless of the channel—phone or web—the goodwill from a positive first impression can influence the entire claims experience.

If your contact center operations aren't answering the phones in these five ways, then interactions may be damaging your relationship with your policyholder.