Business Case – Sales Incentive

Reward and Recognition Reduces Unpaid Premiums

TARGET AUDIENCE

  • Insurance Account Specialists
  • Insurance Managers

Situation
One of the nation’s largest insurance companies realized an important way to improve the financial health of their company was to address the issue of Unpaid Premiums, which were unacceptably high. The client wanted to decrease the amount of Unpaid Premiums (focus was on premiums older than 90 days) through increased staff knowledge of their internal billing system, and application of that knowledge during customer interactions.

Objective
Decrease Unpaid Premiums by 23%.

Solution
A strategic, four-month reward and recognition program was implemented that contained three earning opportunities. Account Specialists and Managers were awarded ePoints, redeemable online for high-quality merchandise and travel, when they displayed desired behaviors and improved results.

Opportunity One: Learn and Earn
To increase their knowledge, training materials were provided and then online quizzes were taken that focused on:

  • Internal billing processes and Unpaid Premium collection procedures
  • Proactive Customer Service: How to engage a client and prevent Unpaid Premiums

To boost engagement, Managers received an ePoint bonus when 80% of their Account Specialists successfully completed each quiz.

Opportunity Two: Apply New Skills on the Job
Participants could earn ePoints when they demonstrated proactive behaviors that would reduce Unpaid Premiums daily. Managers observed and rewarded Account Specialists when they created target lists of accounts with aging premiums, walked customers through an online payment site, attended “Billing” workshops, properly maintained files, and provided exceptional customer service.

Opportunity Three: Reduce Unpaid Premiums Older than 90 Days
The Account Specialist Teams and their Managers were awarded ePoints when they reduced their Unpaid Premiums. Working from a baseline, ePoint awards were tiered and monthly goals were set. Awards increased as participants reduced Unpaid Premiums.

Communications
Onsite launch events and program announcement kits at each client location fueled excitement and engagement.

Management participated in weekly calls that overviewed important program progress items, including successful quiz completion stats, rates of ePoint issuance, and performance in the reduction of Unpaid Premiums. Managers also shared their employees’ Best Practices with one another.Results Graph

Results
Outstanding! This program successfully targeted strategic behaviors related to Unpaid Premiums, and the results were impressive.

Unpaid Premiums were reduced by over $4 million

Return on Investment
Client realized a reduction in Unpaid Premiums of over $4 million, while program investment was just over $115,000.

Interesting Note: This Unpaid Premium reduction program also contained a control group designed to compare the difference between our online reward and recognition program results and a program that attempted to reduce Unpaid Premiums using a designated Billing Specialist staff position. Our results were superior to this control group: Our Reward and Recognition program reduced Unpaid Premiums from $4 million to $0; the control group reduced Unpaid Premiums from $4.5 million to $2.28 million.