Professional and personal excellence

National Alliance CSR of the Year Kelly Whitener is her
agency's "go-to" person

By Elaine Tolen

The essay question for The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research's 2010 Outstanding Customer Service Representative of the Year competition begins with this statement: "Many people come to the insurance industry by chance and stay by choice."

For Kelly S. Whitener, CIC, CISR, who is the 2010 Outstanding CSR of the Year, that statement sums up her insurance career. Born and raised in rural North Carolina, Kelly often worked in the tobacco fields that were farmed part time by her extended family. After graduating from high school, Kelly stayed around Stokes County, which is about 50 miles northwest of Greensboro, North Carolina.

Kelly's longest job prior to joining the insurance industry was in the local school system, where her duties included serving as a liaison to employee benefits carriers, researching claim and coverage issues, and handling work-related injury reporting. "This sparked a deep interest in the insurance arena," she recalls. Kelly eventually worked her way up the ranks in the system's administrative area. At that point she realized, "There was only one more position 'up' and that person wasn't leaving anytime soon."

Referred through a friend of a friend, Kelly went to work at a small local independent insurance agency. She worked there for 13 years, specializing in commercial lines. As second in charge at the agency, she also learned about every area of agency operation.    

A new opportunity

When Kelly joined Senn Dunn Insurance in Greensboro as a commercial account manager four years ago, she was looking for a larger agency where she could expand her skills and knowledge. Senn Dunn is a well-known independent agency in North Carolina (and a past Rough Notes cover agency and Marketing Agency of the Year), "so everyone knows who they are," says Kelly. She confesses, "I've always secretly wanted to work there!"

Being hired at Senn Dunn "was perfect timing," Kelly says. "My children were 16 and 20 when I started, which made it easier to go from a 15-minute commute to a one-hour commute (each way). I couldn't have worked so far away when they were young."

Senn Dunn operates under a team concept in which an account manager is assigned to work with a producer. Kelly says the team also coordinates with the marketing department and claims unit for sales and service. As an account manager, she fields coverage questions, adds policies to existing accounts, handles certificates, visits clients prior to renewal—whatever supports clients.

"The best part of my job is working with clients," Kelly says. "I take pride in my relationships with them. I call them 'friend.' Clients share knowledge and information when they trust someone. Learning about their business—not just selling insurance—is most important."

In her essay, she revealed that philosophy when answering a question posed by The National Alliance: "Given the changes you have observed and anticipate in the future, explain what would be the best title for the CSR of tomorrow and why."

Kelly wrote: "Our society today is an 'instant' nation. We want more for less and we want it now! ... [R]obust customer service is the answer [to satisfying these demands and setting ourselves apart from the competition]. Let's not deliver mediocre, acceptable service, but rather exceptional, over-the-top service."

Her essay suggests that CSRs should be partners with their clients. "Let's call a CSR a Service Advocate," she writes. "Yes, an advocate [who] understand[s] their business model, goals/objectives and is partnering to meet their insurance needs, every day."

Kelly then continued her essay by asking: "How do I take my service responsibilities to the advocacy level?"Her answer: "Get to know your clients and their operation; establish and cultivate the relationship and that bond of trust; deliver on the service promise; continue to educate yourself; and take pride in the fact that you are considered more than a CSR…[—you are] a Service Advocate."

To further her insurance education, Kelly is currently working on her CPCU and plans to start working toward a CRM designation next year.

Attesting that Kelly "walks the walk" is Senn Dunn's president/COO, Tim Templeton, CPCU, who says that he is "amazed by her energy and enthusiasm for this business and her clients. Her mindset is always, 'What can I do to learn and grow?' She takes serving clients very seriously. No client service request is too small or too large for her attention. She has a real servant-leadership heart."

Glyda E. Meredith, commercial administrative manager, says, "When Kelly answers the phone, the smile is in her voice. It's always, 'How may I help you?'—and she means it."Glyda echoes Tim regarding Kelly's hunger to learn, adding that "she is also willing to share her knowledge with others so they can grow and be the best they can be."

Rising to the challenge

Kelly's book is comprised of larger clients from a variety of disciplines: financial services to construction to pest prevention. There are more than 50 customer service representatives in the agency, and, according to Executive Vice President Tim Ward, CPCU, CIC, when there is a special account situation, "Kelly is the 'go-to' person. For example, earlier this year we got the opportunity to propose coverage for an account with international exposures that had been written for years by one of the leading national brokers. The company has manufacturing operations in three states, Canada and Spain, and operations across the country and in England.

"The major part of the risk was written through the national accounts unit of the carrier and included a loss-responsive rating plan, collateral requirements, different expense loads by state, supporting coverage from six different carriers, and coordination of U.S. and international policies," Tim continues. "Kelly jumped in and researched all the hundreds of pages of data, coverage forms, pricing and expense charges.

"She created a diagram for the insured, in a format they could understand, showing how the policies related to one another and the insurance each provided. The client admitted that they had never understood these points and had never received the level of service Kelly provided," Tim comments. "That went a long way toward helping us secure a major account on an agent of record letter."

Besides giving excellent service to external clients, Kelly is a leader to "internal clients"—her peers in the agency. Senn Dunn started a new organizational concept about two years ago that places account managers in smaller groups for training, feedback and direction.Kelly is a team leader in the Commercial Department.

"These small groups allow for more personal interaction," Kelly remarks. "I can be a point of contact and field questions for account managers who might be less likely to ask in a larger group or to ask someone in upper management. When we're re-thinking a protocol or work process, these small groups provide constructive input."

Kelly's enthusiasm for helping others doesn't stop at Senn Dunn's door. She has held various board positions on the Stokes County Relay for Life committee and received the 2009 Relay Spirit Award. She has been active in North Stokes High School booster clubs as well as other community organizations.

Senn Dunn's motto is "We'll handle it."™According to Tim Templeton, "What sets Kelly apart is her excellent client service, a hunger for knowledge, and a desire to see others around her succeed." Kelly Whitener, 2010 National Alliance Outstanding CSR of the Year, can handle it—whatever it may be.