Revisiting the Service Center concept

[Dennis]

I've read the threads on this site regarding the usage of service centers (also read the ones on the"other" site) and was wondering how the masses feel now about service centers to help in their agency operations.  To be specific - if you use SC - why and how did you approach staff with the concept?  How do you handle accounts that have Personal, Commercial and L&H policies and the SC is for PL only?  I've visited the SC for Safeco and have to say I was impressed with their staff; I sat in on several calls and felt that it could be a value-add to our agency as well as to our clients. The challenge seems to be engaging your clients and staff in this concept - because if you don't - you're paying for something you're not getting.

Thoughts / comments / jabs / opposing points of view - all welcome.

thanks

Dennis

[Jeff Zylstra]

You forgot the most important person of all in this equation - the customer!  If your customer has a personal relationship with their CSR or if you're in an area that only wants to deal with local people, you're in for a rough ride. 

Another thing that you will run into is that the company people will only give customers the company stance on things, and only quote their company's products.   And Safeco is a company that has very strong and possibly different ideas on how things should be handled, if certain things are permissible, or how a risk be rater or underwritten, etc...

The other thing that you may find is that anything your customer says to a company CSR/rep should be able to be said to a company underwriter, because that is the mindset that these folks will have.  So if they say something to a company rep, it may result in a cancellation or a higher rated classification or other unfavorable underwriting decision that may not have happened if they talked to your in-office CSR, or another one of your companies.   You need to check how those circumstances will be handled BEFORE anything happens.  JMO...