Customer Service Focus
Zero backlog
A process for catching up and staying current
By Terilynn Willis, CIC, CRM
It’s 3:10 a.m. and you are lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. You can’t sleep because you’re thinking about all of that work piled on your desk, or the item you forgot to do yesterday afternoon before leaving the office. It’s just impossible to shut off your thoughts. There is so much to do and clearly not enough time to get it all done.
Have you had a similar experience? As an account manager and manager of a servicing staff—with 30 years in this business—I hate to think about how many nights I have spent that way. For a long time I believed that this was the nature of the insurance business. But I discovered it doesn’t have to be.
Prioritizing has always been an issue for the CSR/account manager. Most of the time, we know what to prioritize and even how to prioritize. Our challenge is managing the interruptions that wreak havoc on prioritizing.
Take charge
Years ago when I started a new management position, we had eight months of policies that had never been checked or processed. In addition, there were more than 1,200 documents that also needed to be processed or filed. How to fix the problem? Cleanup was just one issue. We could get it cleaned up, but that wasn’t going to solve the problem. In the spirit of finding a solution, “zero backlog” came into being.
Zero backlog is a process defined by a goal. For me, zero backlog means that anything that comes in today must be processed no later than the same time next week, or five work days. Depending on your circumstances, you may define your goal differently. Of course, some items— certificates, claims, final audits, etc.—require a greater sense of urgency than others.
In an ideal world we would be working today’s work today, servicing the client’s needs in a timely fashion. So how do we accomplish this task?
Simply put: Keep your current mail current and clear off the backlog. Start clearing off the backlog by working on the oldest item first. By doing so, more recent work then becomes part of the backlog of work. By keeping your current mail current and working off the already old stuff, eventually you will be working on current work only. This is a simple concept, but it doesn’t resolve your problem over night. After all, it took time to get into that backlog situation in the first place.
Create a “no backlog” workflow
I went to the owner of the agency with my plan, which included the time frame necessary to get the backlog of work caught up—eight months. The owner wanted it cleaned up within one month. While we could have cleaned up the old stuff in a month, it would have been a temporary fix. Our goal was to fix the problem long term to prevent a never-ending backlog of work. We had the right ratio for personnel and book of business. We weren’t overstaffed or understaffed. We were just behind. So I didn’t want to hire additional staff to fix the backlog because I would have to let them go once everything was cleaned up.
End result, we had the backlog all cleaned up within five months.
Here is how my basic zero backlog system works: You will have color coded file folders, three for each day of the week (you will have a total of 15 folders for the week). Red, green and yellow are my choices. The purpose is to prioritize the mail and work as it comes in which allows for greater focus on what has to be done, even when you have numerous interruptions throughout the day.
Red is for the most important work, that which must be completed within 24 hours or less.
Green is for money; anything that involves money and invoicing. Final audits are exceptions because they need to be addressed within 24 hours of receipt. They go in the red file for processing. Most of the time, green will include policies and money endorsements.
Yellow is all non-monetary items, such as endorsements that do not generate a change in premium, attachments or drop filings, and correspondence that does not require 24-hour response.
Initially, you will have one more set of files to add to your weekly files. There will be a red, green and yellow file marked “Backlog” with the date you start this program. As of the date you decide to start, you will take everything in “Backlog” and divide it into three piles: those items that need 24-hour response, anything money related, and then everything else—just like the daily folders.
Never move mail from one folder to the next, or add to the backlog folder once you start. This will defeat the process. If someone gets behind and cannot get mail completed in the time allotted, communication becomes necessary and “the team” comes into play. This gives you the opportunity to review what is happening in that situation and to identify why a person cannot keep up. The reason could be anything from a renewal cycle, training issues, procedures that need to be refined, work performance, book of business that needs to be distributed by expiration time, or accounts that may need to be matched to a person’s talents and personality to better handle the client’s needs.
Communication is another key for success. If you start to fall behind, don’t wait, let someone know. Tell your manager or monitor that help is needed. After all, we are all in this together. Open communication, without threat, is clearly another key for success.
The zero backlog process set expectations for job performance, a counseling process for those falling behind, cross-training so that every position was covered for vacations, and anything else that might have come up. Does this mean that we never fell behind again? No. Our industry has cycles and there will be times when adjustments are needed, but the process provides for that as well.
Create an environment where a team of people is willing to adopt a common goal and help one another reach that goal together. This is the secret to the success of the zero backlog process.
The author
Terilynn Willis, CIC, CRM, has 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry. She focuses on automation, procedures, workflow and team building in commercial lines. Terilynn is currently a senior account manager handling large commercial accounts. For additional information on the zero backlog process, contact Terilynn at ZBinfo@prodigy.net or tl@zerobacklog.org. For more information on the CISR (Certified Insurance Service Representatives), CIC, or CRM programs, call (800) 633-2165 or go to www.TheNationalAlliance.com.