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Quality
…why we need it?
Quality,
quality, quality…..suddenly we hear it everywhere. What
is quality? Why is it needed in an insurance company?
Quality,
in simple words, can be defined as " consistently delivering
the promised performance and guard against non-conformance".
It has been realized the world over that " Quality is
the key to customer satisfaction".
In
today's world, organizations and institutions face increasing
pressure from customers, clients and consumers, of their products
and services to be more effective, responsive, and efficient
and provide more value. The adoption of quality practices
has caused a revolution throughout the world. Practices associated
with Total Quality have spread not only across all dimensions
of operations and management throughout the industrial sector,
but increasingly through organizations in service sector as
well. Insurance industry is no exception to this. Insurers
need to display "quality" more simply because the
whole concept of insurance is based on utmost good faith.
It is a well known fact that no customer ever reads the insurance
policy unless there is a dispute with his insurance company.
Insurance is still bought on trust and hope.
Managing
leading business position in today's highly competitive market
and continuously changing environment is a daunting challenge.
For continuous improvement, every one in the organization
must look for new and innovative ways to improve the quality
of product and services while maintaining competitive prices.
Why I say 'continuous improvement' is because pursuit of quality
is an endless journey and no matter how good you are, there
would always be room for further improvement with new ideas
and better ways of doing things. This is all the more true
when we take a look around us and find technology playing
such a dominant role in all spheres of our lives.
The
business environment in which an organization operates is
changing at a very rapid pace and in order to thrive and progress
it has to be capable of adapting quickly to the changing environment.
This means the organization has to be very creative and innovative.
How we did things yesterday may have been the best way then,
but is not the best way today, and how we do things today
may be the best way today, but certainly it shall not be the
best way tomorrow. Therefore, future prosperity depends largely
on how flexible we are towards adapting to change and improvements
around us. Organizations, which can anticipate the changes
and adapt easily to the changing environment will be the ones
to attain pinnacle of success. Therefore, all activities and
processes have to be continuously re-engineered and improved
for delivering the quality and value added services.
To
stand out in the competition we have to do things differently.
However, it shall not be sufficient to do things differently
alone, but to be perceived by our customers to be doing so.
All insurance companies issue policies and underwrite proposals
and claim that they are the best, so how are they different?
They settle claims and each one claims to be doing so most
efficiently. Why should a customer come to one company giving
priority over others? Ask yourself - what is it that we do
or offer which our competitors does not do or offer.
Examples of some value addtions are establishment of a 24/7
Call Center to serve the customers. Setting up a business
intelligence Unit to constantly monitor the market trends
and needs could be another. Consciously transforming the existing
branches to model service branches of the future geared to
handle future challenges is yet another step in that direction
and empowerment of employees is the fourth visible reason.
However these are just some of the illustrations that have
brought in results and are quoted just for the sake of driving
the point.
Time
has gone when an insurance comapny proudly claimed that they
fulfill customer demand in hours, minutes or even seconds.
Remember it was a demand that we fulfilled. Now we have to
anticipate the customer demand and proactively fulfill it
even before he even thinks of asking for it. This shall be
true quality in service.
In
an era of globalization, the need for being quality conscious,
innovative, and creative at all levels is all the more vital
for future growth.
Quality cannot be the domain of one unit or one segment of
the organization but each one in the organization has to demonstrate
commitment to quality, if success matters in the organization.
All segments of the organization have to work with the objective
of providing world class quality to its customers.
Quality has to be imbibed in everyone as a 'culture' rather
than simply taken as another management expectation.
Remember, real customer satisfaction and improved profits
shall come only when customer sees you as a "quality"
company rather than just as another insurance company. Need
of the hour is commitment towards quality. Top
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