Pacific Life - Best New IVR or Web Service Solution

Company: Pacific Life, Newport Beach, CA
Company Description: Offering insurance since 1868, Pacific Life provides a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients.
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: IVR or Web Service Solution – New

Nomination Title: Avoiding the Abyss: Shedding Light on the Application Status and Funding Process

Pacific Life released a brand-new web service solution for Financial Professionals, the New Business Status Tracker, on July 22, 2021.

One of the biggest challenges the company hears from Financial Professionals is, when they submit new business, there is no way for them to know the status of that application unless they call Pacific Life or an outbound call is made if there is an issue with the application. The New Business Status Tracker is an online, digital-first tool to provide Financial Professionals real-time transparency into the application status and funding process of their clients’ applications without having to call Pacific Life (or wait for Pacific Life to call them.) The feature is available to all Financial Professionals, regardless of how they submit their business (paper, order entry, or through eApplication.) Once Pacific Life receives their clients’ application, statuses are then made available to them on Pacific Life’s dedicated Annuities website. It allows Financial Professionals and their administrative staff to self-serve on an item that is critical for them to have the most up-to-date information. The tool also helps internal partners, such as Operations and Sales teams, to gain business efficiencies by saving time spent on the phones through utilizing this feature as they support Financial Professionals.

Through research and studies, Pacific Life learned that, in order to maintain success and remain competitive, the experience of Financial Professionals and internal users must be enhanced by elevating digital capabilities. A goal was set to make it easier for Financial Professionals to do business with Pacific Life while creating operational efficiencies that add value to the organization. The tracker has led to less calls into Customer Service and the Sales teams regarding many new business call topics. On topics where the number of calls increased, the call duration was generally shorter, resulting in hours of improved efficiency. The tool has won accolades from some of the biggest Financial Professional names in the annuity industry, lauding the improvement and calling it a fantastic tool.

Avoiding the Abyss is an internal news article that discusses the research and development of the tool, the collaboration required to create it, and a look into Pacific Life’s Digital First commitment. The Status Tracker Announcement video provides insight into the driving force for the tool. RSD Digital News & Insights is an internal newsletter that announces the launch of the tool and includes initial customer reactions, both internally and externally. New Business Status Tracker Visitors shows a steady adoption of the tool by first-time users and consistent increased usage while New Business Call Topic Trends showcases the value of the tool by examining data immediately after launch and continued success months after launch. Pacific Life Status Tracker Guide gives Financial Professionals a simple resource to navigate the new tool while the Status Tracker Demonstration displays a visual presentation of the tool.