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Tele-interviewing: update

“The telephone is a good way to talk to people without having to
offer them a drink” 
Fran Lebowitz

The past few weeks and months have seen SelectX back at the forefront of tele-interviewing. In the middle of 2009, under the sponsorship of SCOR Global Life, we collaborated with Hank George Inc to conduct the world’s largest underwriting survey, taking a global snapshot of tele-interviewing in terms of implementation and plans for introduction. Subsequently we authored with SCOR a brand-new report on tele-interviewing which will be published shortly. The report covers subjects such as making the business case, auditing tele-interviewing, the customer journey and tele-claims. As a taster of the full report you can download here a copy of the executive summary.  The survey results can be found here.

In February and March we were involved in a series of workshops run by SCOR Global Life in the UK and Ireland presenting some of the survey findings (click here for the slides) and discussing current tele-interviewing issues. Part of the workshop proceedings sought the participants’ views in three key areas:

  • What the business case for tele-interviewing should cover

  • What the current view of best practice looks like

  • Where tele-interviewing is going and might be in ten years’ time.

 

The results of each session, neatly captured with mind-mapping software, were presented back to the group with interesting results.

In the final part of the workshop we participated in a panel session that covered such issues as:

  • Whether tele-interviewing presents companies with an opportunity to grow their markets

  • How to ensure that sales agents understand tele-interviewing and appreciate the benefits both to themselves and their clients

  • Whether the establishment of a single tele-interview ‘bureau’ offers consistency of process that would make life easier for independent advisers and customers alike.

 

The discussions benefited from contributions from sales directors and intermediaries.

Both the survey and the discussions with individual practitioners highlighted that tele-interviews produce a wealth of disclosure which may present the underwriter with a number of challenges:

  • Do I understand enough about the applicant’s condition to forego a physician’s report?

  • Is the treatment the applicant is taking consistent with the diagnosis they have been given?

  • What does the underwriter do when the underwriting manual does not cover this new information?

 

We explore these issues in more depth in a new article on underwriting manuals in the tele-interviewing age which can be seen here.

Another key and perhaps surprising finding of the report is that the amount and quality of management information about the underwriting process available to many insurers is still sadly lacking. We find it worrying that in these modern times companies still struggle to obtain details of some of the most basic information. To run a good business you need reliable data for sound decision-making.

Another surprising finding is that a significant number of companies either don’t audit interviews or, if they do, have a seemingly haphazard approach. Without a formal, regular review of the quality of all parts of the tele-interview process there is a real danger that the main benefits proposed in the original business case will not be met.

With these findings in mind SelectX is working on an innovative service that can help companies make continuous improvements to their interviews and the underlying process. Expect more on this shortly…