Profile in excellence: ACE Customer Champion Award winner

Imagine leaving your home when you were 16 years old to move to another country where you didn’t speak the language and had to live with a family you had never met before. In addition to being homesick, communication would be an issue because you probably wouldn’t be able to understand what everyone was saying, and they wouldn’t speak your native language.

It takes an extraordinary person to undertake such a dramatic move and succeed beyond all expectations, and yet, that is exactly what this year’s Customer Champion Award winner did.

Linh Pham, a claims representative in the Walnut Creek, California office of Sedgwick, traveled to Ohio in 2008 as an exchange student from Vietnam. She found the culture in the U.S. very different from her native country, and navigating through these changes and the challenges of an American high school were only magnified because of the language barrier. She had taken six years of English, “but studying English in school and actually using it are two different things. I had a hard time expressing myself,” she recalls.

Her mother thought that coming to the U.S. as an exchange student would give her the best opportunities to succeed scholastically and professionally. She spent time preparing her daughter for the next phase of her life, but didn’t tell Pham that she would be going to the U.S. until just a few days before she left Viet Nam.

Fortunately for Pham, mobile phones made keeping in touch with her family a little easier, although phone calls home were very expensive and calling overseas was sometimes difficult.

Related:  What makes an insurance customer champion?

Entering a new chapter

After she completed high school, Pham applied to and was accepted to Western Kentucky University, where she majored in finance and marketing. Summer breaks provided her with an opportunity to go back to Vietnam, and she made the trip again following her graduation from college in 2014.

Pham moved to California after graduation. “I really liked the way people in California interacted with one another,” she explains. “They smiled a lot, and I was attracted to the California way of life.”

Initially, she worked as a sales representative for a large retail store before working for a retail bank for almost two years. “After serving as a bank teller, I was given the opportunity to move into quality control at the branch. It was there I learned the value and importance of customer service,” shares Pham. “Many of the lessons I learned there I still rely on in my claims role today.”

Pham was referred to Sedgwick by a friend who already worked for the company. “Honestly, I did not choose the claims industry – the industry chose me,” she muses.

Related:  Honoring excellence in insurance

How the past builds on the future

Her journey and experiences have given Pham unique insight and understanding as she works with injured workers who are often unsure of what to say or how to say it. They are worried about losing their jobs, what filing a claim will mean to their employer and how they will be able to pay for any medical treatment. Pham is diligent about not only communicating the facts of the claims to workers, but also helps them to understand the process, the workers’ compensation statutes that apply to their cases, how return to work programs operate, and why it is beneficial for workers to participate in them.

She says the claims that are most meaningful to her are “those in which I have been able to develop a rapport with the injured worker. Often, it takes time to earn their trust and confidence. I work hard to explain the claims process, outline available options, and assist them following a workplace injury. Often, the most challenging cases end up being the most rewarding because I know I have helped the individual during what can be a difficult time.”

As anyone who works in claims knows, there are bound to be challenges, and Pham says one she has encountered involves the changes in the industry itself or laws affecting how she handles her claims.

“Many people think of claims work as being boring and it is not,” she remarks. “The moment I begin to feel comfortable, something changes. Change may occur in client service instructions, case laws or even California Labor Law itself. Moreover, individuals are unique. I must apply laws, regulations and service instructions to each individual’s unique circumstances, and ultimately find a balance that meets the needs of all parties.”

Pham realizes that many individuals played a role in her success. In addition to her family, she says that her supervisor at the bank had a great impact on her professionally, especially since he saw her potential even when she couldn’t see it herself.

“He showed me the importance of mastering the details and understanding every aspect of the job,” she says. “By understanding the people and processes, I was able to advance professionally. He not only encouraged me to do a better job, he inspired me. I still carry many of these lessons with me today, and they have helped me find success in my claims role.”

It is those traits and her multi-cultural experience that have made her an exceptional claims representative. Smart, detail-oriented, empathetic and able to create a rapport with her clients regardless of the situation, Pham is an excellent example of how the insurance industry really does make a difference in claimants’ lives.

She says that winning the ACE Customer Champion Award is one of the highlights of her career and inspires her to do her best work every day. “I really enjoy working in claims and seeing the positive impact it has on other people.” And the claims industry is so fortunate to have people like Pham consistently working with claimants and policyholders during one of the most difficult times of their lives.

Patricia L. Harman (pharman@alm.com) is editor-in-chief of Claims Magazine.