“The idea of being enterprise driven is finding and using the best process. To be efficient, you have to be consistent. We want repairers to have a procedure that is consistent no matter where you are,” says George Avery with State Farm.
As State Farm rolled out its new claims system, which allows reps to handle claims anywhere in the United States, inefficiencies and inconsistencies among the zones were addressed.
The insurance magnate had been operating under a regional approach with 26 regional offices since the 1960s. Each office was individually run with its own underwriting, ad services and claims. About 15 years ago, the company transitioned to a zone approach, streamlining from 26 regional offices to 13 zones, which again, were independently run.
The new enterprise system will utilize three major, multi-functional “hubs” in Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta, along with operations centers across the United States and Canada that house claims, underwriting and any needed support functions.
The enterprise-driven system allows all those at the same level across the corporation to communicate and develop best practices. These best practices are determined independently at each level, not handed down through corporate mandates.
“This is in the best interest of our customers and our business partner, the body shops, so that we are
He cites supplement requests as an example of efficiency through the new practice. “Say a State Farm job comes in to a non-Select Service facility and we come out and write the original estimate. The facility tears it down and finds additional damage. One zone may have called a certain number, while another faxed it in. We’d like that when anyone has a supplement, no matter where they are located, they all do it the same way,” Avery says.
The improvements may be more noticeable to multi-shop operators with facilities in different geographic areas, but the goal is to simply streamline the process when dealing with State Farm.
“You need standard practices to be efficient. We believe this move is in an effort to give our customer not only a remarkable experience, but at the same time help our business partners get a consistent read from State Farm so they can operate as efficiently as they can,” Avery says. “And it is the customer that wins. A customer is not having a good day if they wreck their car. They are looking to all the stakeholders to get them back to where they were as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
While implementation of the enterprise-driven approach is underway, “the commitment to continuous improvement to benefit our customer is ongoing,” Avery says.
This commitment is highlighted by State Farm’s efforts to continuously solicit customer feedback and industry input. The company gains feedback through local management, which reports repairer insights; Avery, who gathers input at industry events; and its advisory council that interacts with body shops and consultants to gain input.
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