The Western & Southern Life Insurance Company - Young Customer Service Professional of the Year

Company: The Western & Southern Life Insurance Company, Cincinnati, OH
Company Description: Western & Southern Life is a member of Western & Southern Financial Group — a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio - Servicing middle-market consumers with high-quality, personalized financial services needs.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Young Customer Service Professional of the Year - Financial Services Industries

Nomination Title: Alex Shaw, Young and Driven

Alex Shaw exemplified a commitment to the Customer Service team’s goals, objectives and customer satisfaction. Alex set high standards of performance for himself and motivated others by consistently seeking creative solutions to meet the needs of our customers and demonstrating genuine desire for the team to excel. He deftly balanced the demands of his role and, in addition to the normal course of business, demonstrated exceptional drive and initiative for process improvements.

While also attending school full-time to earn his undergraduate degree, Alex consistently exceeded expectations in his role as a Customer Service Team Lead. In October 2019, Alex received the Customer Service Associate of the Quarter award for his outstanding performance and dedication to his team. During this time period, Alex serviced over four thousand customer interactions, maintained a 100% to-goal accuracy rate, participated as a subject matter expert on two Enterprise-wide initiatives, and facilitated 16 training sessions for over 50 front-line associates. Additionally, Alex was instrumental in delivering new-hire training remotely, in light of Covid-19, which was uncharted territory for our department. In collaboration with our department’s Training Consultant, Alex seamlessly executed and received positive praise from new hires.

In a continual effort to put the heart of the customer at the heart of our business, Alex knew it was vital to transition to a primarily work-from-home environment with minimal negative impact to our customers. The culture of our 133-year-old company is rooted deeply in the importance of on-site associates, and prior to Covid-19, working from home was uncommon. This presented new and unexpected challenges for the Customer Service team, and we needed to promptly pivot and adjust so our customers could continue to receive superior service. Alex quickly volunteered to test systems from home, reassess existing processes and recommend changes to accommodate new circumstances, and remained positive and confident to support leadership’s goal of maintaining morale during an unsettling time.

Whether it’s supporting Enterprise-wide projects, training frontline Customer Service associates, or servicing our customers, Alex continually provides value and commits to improving the customer experience. One example of this was Alex identifying a customer pain point while collecting requirements for a project. He noted that when a customer requested a policy certificate, we sent a form and required the customer to complete it before we mailed the policy certificate. Alex worked closely with the applicable department and quickly received approval to improve the process by allowing us to accept a verbal request over the phone from the customer. This simple process change reduced mail time and mail cost, decreased processing time, and improved the customer experience.

Alex's dedication to the Customer Service team is evident in all he does, and the Western Southern Life Customer Service Team proudly and without hesitation nominates Alex Shaw for the Stevie Award Young Customer Service Professional of the Year.