OnBrand24 handles a complex customer service/membership program for Enservio Marketplace, a division of Enservio, the insurance services market leader in contents inventory creation, valuation and replacement that processes nearly $2 billion in contents annually.
Enservio Marketplace develops online shopping platforms that serve the needs of insurance carriers and their policyholders while giving more than 350 retailers access to over 60 million consumers, helping Marketplace members save more with exclusive offers, daily deals and access to millions of products.
Enservio has created a set of best-in-class solutions for processing contents claims. Its full suite covers everything from contents inventory creation and valuation on the front end, to analytics, replacement and payment solutions on the back end.
OnBrand24 serves in the crucial support role of answering inquiries from both end users (150,000) seeking information on how to utilize the online retail platform for replacing contents covered by their insurance policies, as well as inquiries from insurance carriers seeking information on how the Enservio Marketplace program works.
This requires OnBrand24 representatives to have an extensive breadth of knowledge about Enservio and the agility to switch between the needs of policy holders and carriers. Most of all, OnBrand24 agents must be problem solvers who can think and communicate independently. The program is too complex for scripted answers.
“OnBrand24 has done fabulously well for us, they are an extension of our internal service team, and that’s the best compliment I can give,” said Adam Miles, Director of Operations, ReStore Payment Programs. “They’ve been great partners. The agents move very smoothly back and forth between questions from consumers and carriers – and that’s a challenging responsibility. I have dealt with a lot of vendors over the course of my career, and OnBrand24 is definitely top tier in terms of responsiveness, professionalism and delivery. I’m grateful to the entire OnBrand24 team.”
OnBrand24’s reporting and feedback capabilities also have been invaluable. Input based on our interactions with Enservio users has direct bearing on updated versions of the company’s online customer service application.
In addition, OnBrand24 continually expands an FAQ section on the Enservio Marketplace website, improving efficiencies by providing immediate online information for the most commonly asked questions and freeing up representatives to handle more complex inquiries.
In the world of business, Sir Richard Branson means Virgin and Virgin means an enthusiastic embrace of the entrepreneurial spirit. Branson’s Virgin Group is a leading branded venture capital organization and is one of the world's most recognized and respected brands.
Virgin HealthMiles, one of the Group’s companies, is a membership company providing technology-based employee health programs that align wellness incentives with healthy behaviors. The company serves more than 120 companies representing over 700,000 employees across the U.S., and relies on OnBrand24 customer service agents to be as creative, decisive – as entrepreneurial – as the company itself. In so doing, Virgin HealthMiles calls on capabilities rarely asked of an outsourced customer service call center services provider.
“You need brains, personality and finesse to work for Virgin HealthMiles, and OnBrand24 delivers those qualities in abundance,” said Ken Ryan, Director of Member Services, Virgin HealthMiles. “We are fast-paced and innovative, and OnBrand24 fits in very well with our culture. I doubt many inbound call center services companies could handle the challenges we’ve given OnBrand24. Their customized services have been a key factor in our success.”
Operational in the U.S. since late 2005, Virgin HealthMiles helps companies build a culture of prevention that delivers healthy shifts in behavior among employees and measurable business value for companies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, lifestyle-related chronic conditions drive 75 percent of the nation’s nearly $2 trillion healthcare costs. And a recent survey by the National Business Group on Health found that two out of three workers whose employers offer financial incentives say it's motivated them to try healthier lifestyles.
The Virgin HealthMiles Pay-for-Prevention™ approach addresses these trends by rewarding personal responsibility for adopting the right behaviors while aligning participating companies’ interests with those of their employees to drive down lifestyle-related health care and productivity costs.
With Virgin HealthMiles, employees get the motivation and tools they need to get and stay physically active. Participating employees earn “HealthMiles” for increasing their daily activity and reaching key milestones that trigger financial rewards, such as gift cards to major retailers, cash to spend as they choose, health insurance premium discounts, HSA credits or other incentives their employers choose to offer.
For participating companies, the benefits of Virgin HealthMiles are far-reaching. The HealthMiles program helps employees make sustainable behavior changes, such as increased physical activity levels, which can help to prevent the onset of costly chronic conditions that drive the majority of healthcare costs today. With HealthMiles, employers get the tools and data they need to measure and manage their healthcare cost-savings strategies.
Evidence-based science supporting physical activity and its positive effect on health is the cornerstone of the HealthMiles program. The program is designed to guide members to the right amount and frequency of physical activity, and allows them to focus on the activities they enjoy with the assurance that they’re getting the right amount to be healthy. Activity milestones built into the program are aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Service’s recommended daily activity minimums, which are defined as approximately 7,000 steps or 30 minutes of moderate activity, 5 days a week. The tools of the program capture and track activity, and members know at a glance if it’s enough to meet these health recommendations.
With its high number of members, the extensive detail involved in the program and members’ use of technology, Virgin HealthMiles places a premium on quality customer service. Members frequently have questions about milestones and rewards, and how close they are to achieving an incentive. They also ask for assistance uploading activity data from their pedometers into their online Virgin HealthMiles account.
This is where OnBrand24 call center services comes in. Its agents are educated in all details of the program, and they are trained to deal with members in a positive manner that motivates them to remain engaged with the program. OnBrand24 agents understand that they not only represent Virgin HealthMiles, but they must also be highly regarded by the company’s members and clients. And they need to make sound, fast decisions when helping members.
“When you work for Virgin HealthMiles, don’t look for a script or a rulebook,” said Mark Fichera, CEO, OnBrand24. “It’s a non-bureaucratic culture, you have to handle customers with humor, creativity and enthusiasm, and you have to make smart, knowledgeable decisions on your feet. This is an elite customer service program, so we recruited and trained a team that best represents the Virgin HealthMiles brand and reflects its culture.”
OnBrand24 handles about 12,000 calls and emails per month. The call center’s agents draw on their detailed knowledge of the program and its technology, along with their intuition. For example, members sometimes ask for HealthMiles to be credited to their accounts for exercise that their pedometers don’t pick up, such as swimming.
“Swimming is good physical activity, and we want to reward members for doing the right thing,” said Jamie Sharp, Member Services Manager, OnBrand24. “Because a pedometer isn’t the best activity device to use in capturing swimming data, we’ll credit members’ accounts with a best estimate for the HealthMiles they deserve if they’re not able to use another program compatible activity tracking device, such as a Polar™ heart rate monitor.”
Web-based technology is a cornerstone of the Virgin HealthMiles-OnBrand24 partnership. The two companies share a common computing platform via CITRIX, providing the call center’s agents remote log-in access to Virgin HealthMile’s IT environment.
To improve responsiveness and cut costs, OnBrand24 created and continually expands an FAQ (frequently asked questions) section on the Virgin HealthMiles website. Utilizing Intelliresponse technology, the FAQ program has reduced member phone calls and email inquiries by 20 percent.
In addition, the call center services company generates detailed monthly reports that include metrics on call volume data, average call resolution time, email volume and response time, as well as data on the issues and questions raised by Virgin HealthMiles members, information that enables the continual evolution and improvement of the customer service program.
To monitor OnBrand24’s performance, members are regularly surveyed on the customer service they have received. Approximately 100 Virgin HealthMiles members are surveyed daily regarding OnBrand24’s trouble-shooting capabilities, communications effectiveness and overall responsiveness.
The results: OnBrand24 is graded “Good” or “Excellent” by 95 percent of those surveyed.
“Our partnership with OnBrand24 is strong and productive,” said Ryan. “We even invite them to join us on sales presentations. They understand our program and our members. Most of all, they understand our culture. They are a big part of our team.”
