Company: ARAG, Des Moines, IA
Company Description: ARAG is a global leader of legal insurance. Legal Insurance is based on a traditional healthcare PPO model. It provides people with quality, affordable and accessible resources to resolve everyday legal matters. As the pioneer of the legal insurance category, ARAG has more than 70 years of experience. We serve Fortune 500 companies and protect 15.5 million people and their families - worldwide.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Team of the Year

Nomination Title: ARAGs Call Center Customer Service Team

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since January 1 2008 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:

ARAG strives to provide the best customer experience with every contact.  In
2008 ARAGs Customer Care call center placed intensified focus on listening to
our customers needs to increase overall satisfaction, while protecting them
from legal and financial hardships. It is our belief that allowing open
avenues of communication for continuous learning and growth creates a
foundation for increased customer retention.

2008 brought great honor to our company, as Customer Care was awarded
the “Certified Center of Excellence,” for a second year in a row by the
leading call center benchmarking firm, Benchmarkportal.  Sponsored by Purdue
University, Benchmarkportal’s certification of excellence is given based on
actual call center metric results including, abandonment rate, average speed
of answer, complaint resolution, training/QA, and independent satisfaction
survey results.  The reports for these metrics are verified by the
benchmarking firm for accuracy.  Out of more than 50,000 companies in the
Benchmarkportal database, only 5-7% have the overall performance results to
even be considered for the certification.  Of those few receive the honor and
even less in multiple consecutive years.  This recognition is an example of
the extraordinary work of this team to exceed raised expectations on
performance standards

This year, the Customer Care department went further by not only looking at
the comments collected from satisfaction surveys and using them to implement
change, but also by setting up a way to collect and track feedback offered
during our phone interactions.  We used that additional information to find
and improve processes within the department, and also provided feedback to
other affected departments within ARAG to help foster change in all areas of
the company.

                Our desire to ensure a quality experience for our customers relies
heavily on our staff.  We are distinguished from other call centers by
maintaining low employee turnover.  For 2008 turnover was less than 10% for
people leaving the organization. ARAG encourages personal and professional
growth for employees through various forms of health and business education,
to help them excel on their career paths. Further, we developed additional
departmental employee recognition programs for our staff for providing ideas
for change, problem resolution, going above and beyond to assist customers,
etc.   In 2008 this dedication to our associates was seen through their
commitment to their jobs and to our customers.  

Protecting our customer’s rights and assets is at the forefront of our minds
whenever customers contact us.  In the past year we have seen an increase in
debt matters, foreclosures, bankruptcies, etc., and simplifying the legal
world for our customers is what ARAGs Customer Care prides itself on.  Our
mission and purpose with every customer is to provide valued assistance and
make it easy for them to select ARAG as their first choice, by setting a
standard of quality for the legal insurance industry.  For 2008, this customer
service department went that essential extra mile.

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]:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/12/prweb575840.htm

http://www.benchmarkportal.com/pressrelease/2008/10/29/arag-recognized-as-center-of-excellence-for-customer-service

http://www.newsguide.us/business/insurance/ARAG-Recognized-as-Center-of-Excellence-for-Customer-Service

http://www.hr.com/sfs?t=/contentManager/onStory&e=UTF-8&i=1116423256281&l=0&ParentID=1170434051474&StoryID=1225720258813&highlight=1&keys=%5C%22ARAG%5C%22<=0&active=no

http://m.dmregister.com/news.jsp?key=350690&rc=bn

http://www.eumarketingportal.de/web/index.cfm/ARAG:__Ausgezeichnet:_Kundenservice_punktet_in_den_USA/:var:site:ausgabe:katID:20:contentID:18334:siteref:suche

http://www.videotelefonie-umts.de/nachrichten/news/rss/131274.html

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

Ann Dieleman is ARAGs Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. She
provides leadership for Product Development, Marketing, Client Management and
Customer Care, to increase account performance and growth. She serves as a
member of the executive team charged with linking corporate strategy to
business execution. Ann has earned a master’s degree from Drake University.

Angela Ballantine is ARAGs Customer Care Center Director.  She has 15 years of
experience with ARAG and has been responsible for overseeing the Customer Care
Center for eight years in the handling of customer calls, training, sales, and
customer concerns. Angie has her Paralegal degree.