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Pacific Life Customer Service

Gold Stevie Award Winner 2012, Click to Enter The 2014 American Business Awards

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: Customer Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year

Nomination Title: The Pacific Life Promise - A Model of Simplicity in a Complex Industry

Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved since January 1 2013 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

When dialing into a service center, it’s not unusual for Financial Advisors and investors to endure lengthy wait times while navigating through strings of telephone prompts. And, if the caller has a variety of questions, the process often repeats itself.

At Pacific Life, the Retirement Solutions Division Call Center believes this process does not need to be frustrating and inefficient, and the division strategically distinguishes itself among its competitors by creating a unique service experience for its clients. Despite the complexity of the industry, the model is simple: Call Pacific Life. A trained, Series 6 licensed Customer Service Representative (CSR) answers your call within 10 seconds. Regardless of your inquiry, the same team member will answer it on the first attempt without transfer.

In this streamlined, customer-focused “one-stop-shop,” staff members must go through extensive new-hire training in preparation to answer calls on every potential topic. And, to ensure first-call resolution and demonstrate how valued their caller’s time is, the team strives to proactively anticipate the caller’s needs to prevent the need to call back. Yes, you need a form, but this CSR will email it to you, confirm receipt, and walk you through completion requirements.

This extraordinarily simple service model has earned Pacific Life a multitude of industry accolades in 2013, including the industry’s prestigious Dalbar awards, as well as sincere praise from customers. As one Advisor shared, ”I have sold Pacific Life's products since 1995 and will continue…because every time I call in, I speak with intelligent representatives who not only understand what I request of them but clearly inform me of their instructions.” However, the call center’s greatest accomplishments typically occur behind the scenes, where training programs and processes are designed to sustain the team’s service commitments in the wake of continual industry changes. This past year, sustaining these commitments was even more challenging due to Pacific Life doubling its product base, an explosion of new Pacific Life fund offerings, several new and complex tax and compliance requirements, and a difficult financial market.

To tackle these challenges, in early 2013, the call center completed a 1½ year project to completely revamp its internal training process. Previously, new hires underwent extensive, linear training on all topics before taking a call. The new program breaks training into stages that build upon and reinforce each other, allowing the trainee to take calls throughout the process with the help of additional behind-the-scenes support. As a result, the call center has been able to continue meeting its service deliverables, while also improving its efficiency and risk management and enhancing employee morale and development. CSRs have reported a greater depth of understanding, appreciated learning in a more logical and less complex manner, received additional on-the-job experience at a quicker pace, and ultimately feel better prepared to advance within the department. They also feel more empowered to tackle complex cases, improving first call resolution.

The volume of work that went into the internal training diversification program was extensive, but to the customer, the service experience was unchanged. This is what the call center refers to as the “Pacific Promise”- its steady commitment to focus on customers before all else.

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Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated organization/department:

As Assistant Vice President, Service Solutions for the Retirement Solutions Division, Frank Boynton is currently responsible for Customer Service, Advanced Customer Support, Advanced Contract Support, and the Operations Project Team. He has been with Pacific Life for over 15 years and has managed several key areas in Operations.

Mr. Boynton started his career in financial services providing research on publicly traded companies to investment professionals. He has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Mr. Boynton is a member of the Customer Contact Council (CCC); holds FINRA Series 6, 26, 51, and 63 licenses, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wesleyan University.

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