Inside LYNX Services: Attendees See Inner Workings of Call Centers

Attendees of the Independent Glass Association and National Windshield Repair Association (NWRA) in Fort Myers, Fla., began the event with a tour of LYNX Services' call center, where they received an inside look at the call center's inner workings.

The tour was led by Chris Umble, vice president of strategic development, who spoke with attendees about the company's tiered service model released late last year in conjunction with Allstate.

"It creates value at different levels of the value chain," he said. "For policyholders, the goal is to provide a better experience."

He explained that the idea of the program is to differentiate among shops "favorably on items other than price."

Umble added, "We all know shops are not equal. Some are better than others."

He explained that items on which shops are judged are customer satisfaction, warranty performance and "NAGS part utility versus market/peers." The customer satisfaction index looks at items such as shop efficiency, general satisfaction with the company and technician, professionalism, workmanship and whether the customer would refer someone else to utilize that shop.

LYNX looks at nearly 100 percent of the claims it processes for these items, he said.

"What evolves is a measure of value," Umble said. "You may not be looking for best price in all cases, but you are looking for the best value."

He also advised that a shop easily can move among the tiers.

"This is not a lifetime appointment," said Umble.

Others on the tour talked about the company's move toward electronic processing, at the request of their insurance clients, and the fact that shops can now enable electronic scheduling-so customers can schedule work with a shop from the LYNX portion of certain insurers' websites.

"You're going to have the opportunity not only to receive the work assignment by e-mail, but also for the policyholder to re-schedule the work," explained Paul McFarland, who oversees the company's participant services. "More and more of our clients have deployed services where their policyholders can go online and service a loss."

McFarland also pointed out that it"s important to update the LYNX METRYX system with the areas in which you do work.

"You want to make sure you check all the zip codes where you truly want to provide service," he said.

Keeping your e-mail address up-to-date and making sure to provide one you check also is key.

"That is the only way we communicate with you," McFarland added.

In addition to auto glass claims processing, LYNX also provides first-notice-of-loss for some insurers and auto physical damage services. However, auto glass claims is its core business, according to John Weissar, who is in charge of all the company"s call center operations.

"In that business, we provide an end-to-end management solution," said Weissar.

The company also operates a call center in Paducah, Ky., which operates in concert with the Fort Myers location. There are 850 employees between the two, and in-bound calls are routed to the location with the first customer service representative available at any given time. All calls at both locations are recorded.

"We have an integrated quality assurance and coaching process," added Weissar.