GLOBO | Blog

Telephone Interpreting: The Key to Retention & Outreach

Written by Chrissy Bullock | Oct 13, 2016 4:00:00 AM

An undeniably essential element in a successful claims management operation is happy customers and agents. And that only comes to fruition when you’ve got a solid customer service model in place. (We’re not saying anything new here.) But let’s get a bit more specific and drill down into your multilingual solutions so we can answer two important questions:

  • What role does your language services provider play in your customer service model?
  • How does the quality of your telephone interpreting impact the success of your claims processing operation?

Read on to find out how trailblazing interpreting services aid in your company's customer retention and outreach and promote business growth.

Strong Telephone Interpreting For Strong Customer Retention

Both agent and customer retention are critical to your company’s success. With new customer acquisition costing up to five times as much as customer retention, you can’t afford to lose valuable agents or once-loyal customers over unreliable telephone interpreting.

The aggravation caused by long connect times and poor-quality interpretation lingers in customers’ minds. Frustration is the seed of discontent, and discontent breeds client turnover.

Policyholders who feel that your company cannot accommodate their language and translation needs – or the needs of others involved – are likely to give you lower customer satisfaction scores, cancel their policies and go to a competitor… and possibly file a bad-faith claim.

Similarly, your agents, whether they work directly for your agency or as brokers, are critical to the success of your business. If they lose their policyholders due to your unreliable telephone interpreting, they may also become frustrated and switch companies. They may even convince their policyholders to switch to their new company-of-choice as well.

Strong Telephone Interpreting For Strong Outreach & Business Growth

Our reality is one in which just under 20% of the current U.S. population speaks a language other than English at home, and where 25.1 million Americans are considered Limited English Proficient (LEP)*.

*An individual who is Limited English Proficient is considered to know English "less than very well".

This being said, providing high-quality telephone interpreting services to non-English speakers doesn’t just help you minimize claims processing risk and threats to your bottom line. It actually has the potential to help grow your business.

Let’s imagine a situation in which your policyholder is an influential member of a thriving Vietnamese enclave, and you've partnered with a language services company to provide high-quality interpreting and translation services for your limited-English-speaking customers.

Thanks to your speedy telephone interpreting, the policyholder is connected within seconds to a professional interpreter who is fluent in both Vietnamese and insurance terminology. The Vietnamese interpreter brokers seamless conversations between your agent and policyholder throughout the entire claims process, sidestepping that language barrier and evading all the frustration, hassle and risk that come with it.

Pleased with his experience, your policyholder shares his experience with friends and family in his community, emphasizing the great customer service for Vietnamese speakers. Simply by providing great service to one customer, your company manifests connections with many potential customers who will likely think of your superior service first when it comes time to purchase new insurance policies.

Retain, Grow, Repeat

By treating your Limited English Proficient customers (and your agents) as well as you treat your English speakers – making their experience with your claims process as easy and pleasant as possible – you’re actively strengthening customer loyalty and retention. You’re creating bonds that could last for generations. You’re tapping into rapidly growing markets that hold tremendous potential for growth. You’re moving your company forward.

This was just a sample of how leading telephone interpreting services combined with qualified linguists and unrivaled connect times can positively affect customer retention and encourage growth. Download our guide, Ease the Pain of Claims Processing with Better Interpreting Services, to learn more about crushing the language barrier to move your business forward.