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Church Mutual service center certified seventh straight year
MERRILL, Wis. (Jan. 8, 2016) — Church Mutual Insurance Company's Commercial Lines Operations Service Center has been recertified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal.
This marks the seventh consecutive year Church Mutual has earned the prestigious honor. Church Mutual is one of only 14 service centers in the entire country to hold the certification for that time span.
"The Center of Excellence achievement represents your commitment to delivering customer service that is both effective and efficient," BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore said. "It is the culmination of important initiatives that were undertaken to achieve sustainable service excellence."
The recertification followed an intensive review by BenchmarkPortal. To earn the Certified Center of Excellence designation, call centers are measured on 22 key performance indicators and must also undergo audits conducted and verified by BenchmarkPortal researchers.
"The Service Center keeps improving on its performance each year," Church Mutual CEO Mike Ravn pointed out. "Our 90,000-plus customers are the beneficiaries of their outstanding service capabilities. As a mutual company, we are here first and foremost to serve our customers. The Service Center is our most vital link in that chain."
Among the Center's impressive numbers:
- It handles approximately 412,000 calls per year.
- Its average speed of answer of 12 seconds is almost three times as fast as the property and casualty insurance industry average (33.3 seconds).
- Its percentage of dropped calls (1.31) far exceeds the industry average (4.43).
- Average hold time of 20 seconds is less than half the industry average (47.82 seconds).
- Showing its versatility, it handles 184,800 emails annually, again almost tripling the industry average of 65,482.
Only about 10 percent of all service centers that begin the certification process meet the standards necessary to earn Certified Center of Excellence status. Presently, 88 United States customer service centers hold the designation, including three in Wisconsin.
"Maintaining this certification has been one of our primary goals," Church Mutual Commercial Lines Operations Manager Jon Smith said. "If we meet the high standards established by BenchmarkPortal, we know we are providing outstanding customer service. This verifies that we have not only met, but far exceeded those standards. I could not be more proud of our employees."
About Church Mutual Insurance Company
Church Mutual Insurance Company, founded in 1897, offers specialized insurance for religious organizations of all denominations and insures more than twice as many religious organizations as its nearest competitor. Church Mutual is rated A (Excellent) by industry analyst A.M. Best.
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Contact:
Jay Lillge
Title: Corporate Communications Manager
Phone: (715) 539-4503
Email: jlillge@churchmutual.com
