BANKERS COMPLETES TWO-YEAR IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE-OF-THE-ART PHONE SYSTEM
Saturday, September 6, 2003
CHICAGO (June 9, 2003) - Bankers Life and
Casualty Company, Chicago, has moved to protect potential clients
from unwanted sales calls. The 125-year-old national insurer
completed rollout of automated do-not-call management and blocking
technology from Gryphon Networks in all its sales offices at the
close of the first quarter 2003. Gryphon's service, which has been
adopted by other large financial firms that depend on direct
telephone marketing to potential customers, prevents calls being
placed to numbers on state and federal do-not-call lists and to
areas restricted by call curfew. It allows agents to add
individuals to the company's own do-not-call list with touchtone
entry on any telephone and provides detailed call reporting tools
for measuring sales force productivity.
Michael Snavely, Second Vice President of Customer Acquisition,
said, "Our investment in this system is a sign of Bankers'
commitment to self-regulation of sales efforts. Our position as a
leader in the industry means that we take very seriously the
privacy of our customers and the public in general. This system
eliminates the possibility that our agents will call consumers who
have asked not to receive calls, so it benefits the public and it
helps Bankers comply with state and federal do-not-call
regulations."
Gryphon technology provides not only do-not-call compliance, but
a robust reporting platform to monitor and manage agent call
activity. "Agents know that call productivity drives sales, and
they appreciate knowing where they are relative to those goals."
Snavely said, "The Gryphon system allows us to track agent phone
activity much more effectively. We can tell, for example, whether
an agent is calling at the right time of day, what call
productivity is, and other factors that impact sales."
Snavely said key sales offices piloted the system beginning in
September 2001. He said the offices, mostly in Florida, found the
system highly useful and liked the protection from violation of
federal and state regulations. With 80 percent of all field offices
using the system regularly, Snavely projects that the remaining
Bankers offices will be fully-trained and utilizing Gryphon
Networks' service regularly well before the upcoming national
do-not-call list is implemented this Fall.
Established in 1879 and headquartered at the historic
Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago, Bankers Life and Casualty
Company focuses exclusively on the financial security needs of
seniors. The company offers a broad portfolio of health and life
insurance and retirement savings products designed especially for
seniors. These products are distributed through a national network
of professionally trained company agents. Visit us online at www.bankers.com.
Contact: |
Linda Heacox
312-396-7666
l.heacox@banklife.com |
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