After being approved for a U.S. visa, a friend of mine got her passport back from the consulate, turned the page, and gasped, ‘That’s not my photo!’ (True story!)
You’d never think that an error like that could happen, especially in such a tightly controlled environment, but the fact is, mistakes do happen.
If there are people involved, there’s the chance of human error – and if there are computers involved, well, there’s the chance of computer error! It’s understandable though… we live in a time when there’s more pressure on everyone to get more done in less time. Even computers get overwhelmed!
Passport photos can be swapped out, but errors can also happen in the insurance industry, and unless you’re always following up on things, mistakes like this can have really disastrous impact.
Who does this?
When I was just starting out in the insurance business, ‘something’ happened that resulted in a client’s policy being cancelled. Neither we nor the client were notified. We got it fixed.
Ever since that happened, we started maintaining a Policy Summary Chart for each individual client. It lists not only the expiry dates of all the different policies that the client holds, but also the details such as important clauses, coverages, riders, and more.
It may be possible to keep track of these things if the agent only ever deals with one insurance company – and even then, things can slip through -- but I go out of my way to mix and match policies to the best advantage of my clients. It’s a big part of the human-centered, personal service that we take pride in.
Using this system, we’ve been able to reinstate a client’s policy that had been canceled by the insurance company because they didn’t process the payment properly. I’ve caught gaps in coverage that would have been near impossible to spot otherwise. And I’ve been able to negotiate special rates and benefits with insurance companies because of information we have at our finger tips.
As in my last letter, I have to ask, ‘who does things like that if they don’t actually ‘have to’’? I do… because real, human-centered, personal service is the right thing to do.
So enjoy the wonderful weather we’re having, and relax. I got you!
Sincerely,
Cindy Bowden, CLU, CH.F.C.