Company Overview:

Allstate is among the country’s oldest insurance companies; interestingly the company that was to provide relief to the distressed came into being during the most distressed period in recent history. Started in 1930 during the great depression as an automobile insurance company it progressed rapidly from auto insurance to personal liability, life, health and commercial insurance and became a full-fledged insurance company providing the entire range of Insurance products.

It is however the human face of the company that set it apart. Giving back to the community has been a passion with Allstate right from its early years.The company has been actively involved in social welfare through a host of activities ranging from improving neighborhoods, schools, and communities to road safety through better automobiles and safer driving habits; by imparting safety education to drivers; working with government bodies and automakers to make the automobile a safer mode of transport through inclusion of safety features.

Allstate took special efforts to reach Insurance to Hispanics by educating them on social security and the need for insurance. It has also done similar work among blacks and people with disabilities. The company is rated as one of the most employer friendly places to work and employs 20% of its senior staff from minorities.

Before EchoMail

Allstate was receiving an average of 1,500 to 2,000 mails per day addressed to its almost 80 departments with topics ranging from product queries to claims and jobs. If handled manually it could easily take a week to respond to all mails received in a single day. Allstate realized that it was in one of the most competitive industries and prompt response to inbound E-Mail was perhaps the right beginning to a long-term relationship and the first step towards winning a new customer or retaining an existing one. It also realized that these mails reflected customer perceptions about the company, changing customer preferences, Complaints and grievances, in short it was like holding the pulse of its vast customer base and any company could neglect these mails only at its own risk. In view of the huge volumes and importance of these mails Allstate realized that it would be better to entrust its E-Mail management to an agency with expertise in this field.

The EchoMail Deployment

EchoMail analyzed the needs of Allstate and recommended the use of EchoMail® Customer Care™ (CC) its well-researched E-Mail response management system coupled with its proprietary artificial intelligence tool EchoMail® Business Intelligence™ (BI). This proved to be a winning combination and its results were apparent from day one. BI helped in making a quick and in-depth analysis of the huge volumes of inbound E-Mail and helped in interpreting the hidden meaning in them, its powerful analytics engine helped in extracting the different sentiments including the subtle nuances expressed in a single E-Mail. This made it easy for CC EchoMail’s proven customer relationship enhancement tool to categorize, manage and route this huge volume of E-Mail to the relevant departments and generate response in record time. This helped in instant response to both queries and customer grievances.

After EchoMail

Prompt and early settlement of claims made by its clients is undoubtedly the most important responsibility of any insurance company and is perhaps the attribute that most insurers look for in an insurance company. However in real time situations speedy claim processing is often hampered by communication gaps arising out of delayed response and poor understanding of E-Mails by both the insured and the insurer.EchoMail was able to considerably speed up the communication process by interpreting the exact meaning in these E-Mails and routing them to the relevant department, helping to elicit rapid response. This resulted in considerable reduction in processing time and quicker settlement of claims helping Allstate to fulfill one of its key promises to its clients. Accurate interpretation of these mails helped in better understanding of its customer base in terms of needs, preferences, grievances etc. This helped Allstate to tailor its schemes, attend to grievances in record time, send prompt responses and process and settle claims faster. All this enhanced the service quality and the image of Allstate as a caring and customer oriented company resulting in the retention of existing customers and acquisition of new customers in the highly competitive insurance industry.