Company: Marsh U.S. Consumer, Des Moines, IA
Company Description: Marsh U.S. Consumer designs, sells, implements and administers risk management and financial service programs that generate revenue, promote loyalty, reduce costs, and increase efficiency for hundreds of associations, membership organizations and businesses. Marsh professionals provide consulting, broking, product and program design, marketing, and program management and administration services.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Management Team of the Year

Nomination Title: T.J. AMOS, JO PHILLIPS, JAMES WEST, TRACY GONZALEZ

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

These individuals have responded to the considerable challenge of enhancing
quality customer service offered by a team that has grown from five employees
at its outset eight years ago to 182 today. This team has leveraged existing
best practices and created new ones to tailor-fit a solution for each of
thousands of individual policyholders, as varied as independent truckers and
electrical engineers, selling and servicing products from personal and
commercial lines to annuities and international travel products.

As the best indication of this outstanding leadership quartet’s excellence,
Marsh U.S. Consumer has attained the distinction of J.D. Power and Associates
Certified Contact Center for two years running. Marsh remains the only North
American insurance services company to achieve this coveted certification.

T.J. Amos, Jo Phillips, James West and Tracy Gonzalez have:
•increased from 80% to 96% — within the last five months — the rate at
which customer concerns are solved in one call;
•achieved a perfect customer experience score, as assessed by our
customers using a metric-based evaluation methods;
•reduced the turnover rate to half the industry average; and
•hired, trained and licensed dozens of customer service representatives
(CSRs) dealing with complex insurance products.

Jo Phillips, AAI serves as the best practices “eyes and ears,” developing many
of the processes to evaluate performance and improve quality assurance. She
accomplishes this by identifying customer dissatisfaction pain points and
bringing them to management’s attention. She also helps identify and fill gaps
in CSR knowledge, shortening the time it takes to solve customer concerns.
(See above.)

T. J. Amos is a natural leader and the “go-to guy” when supervisors are away.
An acute judge of talent, he identifies which individuals are best suited to
current positions and those with the greatest potential for growth. T.J.’s
depth and breadth of knowledge in commercial property and casualty lines helps
Marsh’s insurance carriers hone products and services to fit current and
future needs. Frequently accompanying sales teams in the later stages of
deals, his persuasive arguments have more than once meant the difference in
securing new business.

Tracy Gonzalez has helped forge the culture that changed the customer service
team from reactive to proactive, which also has helped spur new cross-sell and
up-sell opportunities. Most notably, she has instilled the notion of how to
build the trust essential to elevating the relationship between the customer
and a voice on the phone. By zeroing in on the weaknesses and strengths of
representatives, she contributed immensely to improving responsiveness,
efficiency and overall success.

James West is the process and procedures expert so valuable to any team.
Because he loves to tear things apart and rebuild them, he has an uncanny
knack for identifying what’s broken and implementing repair strategies. As an
example, by consolidating the work of three teams into two, Marsh’s
transportation clients who request a new certificate of insurance or I.D. card
can get those documents prepared while they are on the phone instead of having
to wait several days.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

Jo Phillips, AAI Operations Manager Implemented Quality Assurance Program in
2009, comprising 147 sales, services, and administration positions supporting
over 250 programs. TJ Amos, Operations Manager Key role in successful launch
of largest commercial P&C client. Enhanced partnership with training
department to revamp our training methodology. Tracy L. Gonzalez, Call Center
Manager Developed and successfully implemented mentor program for 80 Customer
Service Representatives. James E. West, FLMA, ARA, AFSA, ACS, AIAA, Operations
Manager Achieved J.D. Power and Associates certification (first ever for
insurance broker). Led operations growth initiatives resulting in an increase
of $3 million in revenue per year.