At Allianz Trade we’re proud of the empathetic approach we take to resolving your queries. Our solutions can be critical to your business success, so we go the extra mile to deliver the information and insight you need as fast and efficiently as possible… without forgetting to smile.
The following Q&A reveals how our 100% in-house customer service teams work across multiple channels to share the rich industry insight your company relies upon to excel.
Our customer service teams take a more responsive and hands-on approach to conventional contact centres. No matter how you get in touch – by phone, email or by using our Allianz Trade Online customer portal – you get through to a subject matter expert who can answer your query immediately. In fact, 90% of our customer service interactions are solved right there and then, during that initial call, without our experts having to escalate queries to risk assessors or claims teams.
We achieve this high level of responsiveness thanks to our service teams’ broad skill set and in-depth experience, which covers technical expertise, local market insight and much more.
Unlike conventional call centres, our experts have the power to share key information and help you make the right decisions faster and more effectively. Our customer service team members are also hand-picked and trained to ensure they have great interpersonal skills; they understand your needs and empathise with your situation.
The types of queries we receive vary widely: from straightforward requests for copies of mislaid invoices, through to complex enquiries, such as customers asking why their client’s credit limit has been reduced or cancelled.
Our winning customer service formula ensures that every time you contact us – no matter how big or small the request – your enquiry is handled swiftly, smoothly and in a professional manner thanks to our customer service team members’ understanding of your business needs. Their expertise means they can manage, solve and close issues as quickly as possible and leave you satisfied.
This customer centricity is embedded in our customer service teams, enabling us to continue Allianz Trade’s growth as a customer-focused organisation.
Our customer service advisers are more than just trade credit insurance experts. They are also great active listeners, communicators and problem solvers. They are continuously trained to ensure each adviser can grasp your issue quickly, devise the best solution for you, clearly explain the best course of action and then carefully guide you through the next steps toward success.
Our customer service advisers’ efforts are certainly appreciated by our customers. A client from Italy recently called out “the good feeling of collaboration every time you contact Allianz Trade”.
In a fast-evolving industry, continuous learning and upskilling is critical. Our service advisers are encouraged to never stop learning. We ensure their skills and knowledge are constantly updated: whether that involves new digital platforms and tools, new rules for risk limits, expertise in reading financial KPIs or a deeper understanding of how balance sheet status impacts risk decisions.
As part of this continuous improvement programme, service teams are equipped with regular updates on the three focus areas of our core service: risk analysis, claims and collection, and policy management.
We believe that the pursuit of customer excellence is a team effort. That’s why we have created an internal ambassador system, which encourages the sharing of knowledge and best practice across departments and between customer service teams.
We know your time is precious, so our customer service teams have taken specific steps to ensure every customer inquiry is resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible, while maintaining the highest possible standards of customer service care.
That’s why every time you call our service teams, you immediately get through to an expert with in-depth technical expertise and local market insight – whether in trade credit insurance or any other line of business – who takes ownership of your inquiry.
You won’t have to endure a frustrating wait while contact centre call handlers reach out through multiple layers of bureaucracy to find a solution.
We structure our services so they remain as close to the customer as possible. This means our customer service experts sit at a local, country-specific level, in contrast to some other companies that have regionally or even globally centralised services or have outsourced customer care completely.
Keeping our services closer to you ensures that our advisers can readily apply their detailed knowledge of areas such as local market conditions, legal and governance rules, accountancy standards to name but a few – as well as knowing the region, its customs and being able to speak your language.
Customer centricity is about putting customers’ needs and expectations at the heart of everything a company does. Allianz Trade, however, goes further by listening to what our customers tell us on a daily basis and using their valuable feedback to improve what we do.
Every time a customer shares an opinion about our customer service, we record and register that interaction and investigate what has happened so that we can repeat excellent customer service in future or improve our actions if they have fallen below the high standards we expect.
In short, we see all customer feedback as an opportunity to improve what we do.
For example, a recent Allianz Trade customer survey revealed that 61% of our customers prefer self-service to personal assistance, even though they would like to receive some assistance from an Allianz Trade expert when they need it.
This feedback led us to develop a service model which combines the new Allianz Trade Online customer portal with the option of additional personal support from our network of offices and partners in more than 50 countries when necessary.
We have recently invested in a brand-new core digital platform, giving our customer service teams faster access to the specialist data they need to answer your queries, no matter how complex they may be.
But we don’t stop there. Thanks to your feedback, our customer service teams are continuously searching for innovative new channels and expanding and improving those we already have.
Over the coming weeks, months and years we’ll be adding new functionality and communication channels to our platform, making it easier than ever to tap into our expert knowledge.
The new Allianz Trade Online customer portal is a great example of how we are innovating. It enables customers to access and manage their credit insurance policy and trade receivables anytime, anywhere and on any device. You can also use it to call upon our deep understanding of the markets and industries you operate in. We are also preparing to launch a live chat service, which will enable you to share your questions and requests via mobile phone and app alongside our existing channels.
At Allianz Trade we consider customer experience improvement an ongoing journey, rather than a final destination. As such, our teams are constantly analysing market trends and looking for ways to innovate our channels so our service levels remain ahead of the customer expectation curve.