Company: Delta Dental of Kansas, Wichita, KS
Company Description: Delta Dental of Kansas is the largest, most experienced dental benefits company in Kansas. We are passionate about providing benefits that meet the needs of our customers and educating Kansans about the importance of good oral health.
Nomination Category: Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Customer Satisfaction
 Nomination Title: Putting the User First
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominated organization's history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 90 words used.
Delta Dental of Kansas, and our subsidiary Surency, offer a suite of health products and insurance services in the more than 30 states. We have nearly doubled in growth in the last 15 years. Our mission is to improve healthcare through affordable and quality care, reduced healthcare costs and exceptional service. Our focus has led to an industry-leading 98%+ client satisfaction rating. We have shattered growth, retention and engagement records, enhanced our technology, digital solutions and analytics and implemented extensive product and service innovations to support our partners and customers.
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated organization's customer satisfaction achievements since the beginning of 2023, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video:
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the organization's achievements since the beginning of 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 241 words used.
DDKS runs a dedicated in-house Innovation Lab focusing on customer-driven innovation to improve user experience. The Innovation lab organizes cross-departmental innovation teams to successfully implement constituent-generated innovations and process improvements based on feedback by a listening tour conducted by our CEO, Dean Newton. These innovation teams continue to produce incredible results and involved employees from every department in our organization. The innovations resulted in 99.8% client retention and superior customer satisfaction of 98.8%.
Our contact center was recently recognized as a Benchmark Portal Center of Excellence, meaning that they are in the top 10% of call centers nationwide. This certification focuses on effectiveness and efficiency, balancing satisfaction and cost across all key performance indicators. The certification was based on our effectiveness in key performance areas compared to our peers in the industry. (See Attachment 1.) The department received additional recognition from Benchmark portal based on the performance results achieved by our customer team: third highest ranking call center in the United States (small center category), Best overall satisfaction rating (among all companies) and Best overall agent satisfaction rating (among all companies).
DDKS has a Net Promotor score of 84 compared to an industry average of 16. Members also score interactions with our agents considerably above industry standards. Our agents received an overall agent score of 97.7%. Testimonials are included in attachment 3. DDKS consistently receives very high marks with a current overall satisfaction rating average of 98.8%.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 202 words used.
Dean Newton, Delta Dental of Kansas’ President & CEO, engaged with stakeholders during a multi-year listening tour where he personally met and had hundreds of conversations to gather feedback and ideas about how Delta Dental of Kansas can improve oral health for Kansans. From that listening tour, we had four main takeaways:
- Make Benefits Simple: improve ways to help patients understand how dental benefits work
- Simplify Processes: streamline interaction with our company
- Expand Innovations: Innovate DDKS service model to help stakeholders
- Benefit Innovations: Enhance dental benefits to improve oral health in Kansas
The ideas from this listening tour directly fueled customer-centric transformative innovations in every area of our company directly leading to increased customer satisfaction. DDKS has an overall customer satisfaction of 98.8% compared to an industry standard of 77.19%, and has an NPS score of 84 compared to an industry standard of 16. Our Customer Service agent satisfaction scores were also 97.7% compared to an industry average of 53.14%.
We are extremely proud of our results and the dedication from every member of our organization. We understand that great results don’t mean that efforts stop. We look forward to continuously enhancing our customer’s experience with our company.
- Optional: Reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and explain how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
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