by Call Center Outsourcing Expert on November 15, 2011
If you are in the medical insurance industry, this is crunch time! Open enrollment for Medicare Part D ends on December 7, 2011, barely 3 weeks away. Coinciding with the open enrollment period for many corporate insurance plans, the early Medicare decision deadline puts extraordinary pressure on insurance agents and insurance providers to renew current policy holders and sell their services to new customers.
Nationwide, 27.6 million Part D beneficiaries have more than 1,576 plans to choose from. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation report, from 41 to 55 plans will be competing for consumer attention regionally. If you sell Part D coverage, you know that two things will most impact your sales figures:
- The number of potential beneficiaries you reach, and
- How quickly you reach them.
The shear volume of phone calls and time required to contact current and prospective clients is a herculean task that can quickly overwhelm your office staff or in-house health care call center. The same is true if you handle the open enrollment process for corporate clients. If, like many insurance agents or providers, you handle both; it’s double the pain.
As the December 7 Medicare Part D open enrollment deadline draws closer, overworked employees and in-house call center staff are going to be feeling the pressure. The resulting stress can lead to increased errors and decreased civility; both business killers. Outsourcing health insurance calls to an expert health care call center can solve your problem, ease the stress on employees and result in higher sales and greater customer satisfaction. It’s a win-win solution for your firm, your employees and your customers.
And it’s not too late to get the help you need to succeed. A highly-regarded health care call center referral service, Telesales Services specializes in matching clients to experienced, high-quality healthcare call centers that are ready to go when you are — even at the eleventh hour!
by Call Center Outsourcing Expert on October 26, 2011
Call center productivity and profitability hinge on three things:
- Response time. Customer satisfaction is affected by how quickly the call center staff is available to respond to the caller. The shorter a customer’s wait time when he or she contacts a call center, the higher their level of satisfaction with their call center experience.
- Workload. Call center productivity is directly impacted by workload efficiency which is a result of matching the workload requirements with the staff. A highly motivated call center staff with proper training will process a greater number of calls in a shorter period of time. When agent productivity is maximized, staffing levels can be decreased, minimizing staffing costs and maximizing profit.
- Scheduling. Call center productivity and profitability hinge on the staff’s ability to handle each call efficiently and effectively by matching proper staffing levels to the call volume. Also keeping first call resolution in mind. When agents fail to complete calls in the scheduled number of minutes (called out of adherence), due to training, utilizing obsolete technology or skill gaps, then staffing levels must be increased. Any increase in staffing levels incurs additional costs not just for staff compensation, but also for staff recruitment, training and retention.
Call center scheduling problems present the greatest challenge to businesses that are attempting to manage their own call center programs. Using an outsourced call center can prevent headaches and be more cost-effective than trying to provide call center services in-house. Out-of-adherence problems can destroy the productivity and profitability of call center operations. Telesales Services specializes in call center outsourcing. We have a proven track record of successfully matching businesses with effective call centers that know how to minimize cost by maximizing scheduling adherence and call center productivity.
