A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders
00:35:41 · AJ Loiacono
[00:35:41] S0: Yeah. So I always go back to we had to look at what is a reflection of good service in our industry. Good service starts with your membership. Because if your membership is unhappy, the plan sponsor, the employer, becomes unhappy very quickly because HR is going to be overwhelmed with tales of woe and frustration. And so the first thing we wanted to do is to make sure we had a world-class call center. And people are going to be like, that sounds so old school. And I'm like, yeah, it is on some level. But what made us different is because we had no secrets. So think about this. Imagine you're a customer service representative at a traditional insurance company, and someone goes, Well, why was it this price? They can't answer that question because there's 600 different prices for that same drug. You know, uh, it's just what your price is, you know, and they you know, like, why? Or like, or I paid X this month and next month it's Z, like what occurred? And it's very difficult for them to answer these questions. That was the first observation. So, what were we doing and investing in is to make sure that one, when someone called 99% of the time, someone who's calling for healthcare into a call center, they're not coming from a happy place. And so we must give them honesty. We must be able to answer every question, even if it's not what they want to hear. But then we have to provide a solution. I want first call resolution at like 97% plus. And why is that? Because the worst thing in the world is you have a healthcare issue and you say, uh, like, see if that works and call back. No. And so that meant staying on the line eight, nine, 10 minutes. So I threw average handle time out the window. I didn't cap anyone, like, hey, you're judged on average handle time and you need to get off the phone in five minutes. I mean, it's like, I don't know if you remember the Zappos philosophy. It's like, stay on the phone as long as you want with the customer. And this was like in-house call center that you had? In-house, yeah. Domestic.
00:37:52 · S2, AJ Loiacono
[00:37:52] S2: Yeah. [00:37:53] S0: You know, you're like, whoa. But what I knew was if we were bringing noise to like nothing, and this is what customers were saying. They're like, I'm not hearing any complaints. In fact, people have actually gone out of their way to say this was a really good experience. That is gonna set the tone with the customer. And then what you're gonna do with the customer is you're gonna do something that is not going to be price efficient, which is we would go on site to actually go over the review with the customer. So at a minimum, you have quarterly reports and you have an annual review. And I was like, we're going to every single one of our customers. You've gone once a year or four times for each quarter? Well, you have four reviews. And my whole point was if someone wanted us to go on site, we would. But most people are like, coming here once a year. That's enough. Yeah. That's enough. Enough of you. I don't want to see you here. A lot of our customer concentration was mid-Atlantic Northeast when we started. And I must have been in a rental car so much with my colleagues going out to Pennsylvania, to Maryland, to Delaware, Connecticut. It didn't matter. I'm like, we have to get in front of them. And as we expanded, you know, now I'm hopping on a flight. You know, we're we're in Ohio.
00:39:14 · Pablo Srugo
[00:39:14] S1: It's funny. This is the thing about startups, is like, yeah, you know, having having done one, it's like on the outside, you know, there's so much glamour around it, so much hype. And then it's like, it's actually you driving in a rental car in some like little town, you know, nobody around. And it's like three hours just for you to have a meeting where they're like, cool, thank you so much. Like, and you're like, okay, that's my day.
00:39:33 · AJ Loiacono
[00:39:33] S0: And it's terrible. Like, you know, like I will be fair, like the first couple of times you get really pumped and excited. And you're like, I have a customer and they want to talk to us, and this is so exciting. But then by the time you're it's like your 78th, you know, kind of one of these, you're just like, I think we could make a the earlier flight if we hurry. Yeah, exactly. But no, it is not glamorous or sexy. But when you are engaging with the customer, and I think this is important, this is I think really helpful advice is you know, we have hundreds of customers and we service millions of lives here directly. And I'm still the client manager on two of our oldest accounts. And people are like, why would you, as the CEO, be an account manager? And I go, Because I have a direct line to the feedback, what's working, what's not, what keeps them up at night, what could we do better? And I always want to say, like, yeah, is that in some sort of KPI report or, you know, someone giving me a presentation? I go, yes. But what keeps it what I would say honest and direct and raw is working with those customers. And I never gave up two of them, still to this day.
00:40:47 · Pablo Srugo, AJ Loiacono
[00:40:47] S1: So that's how you have this is like half the battle because you provide a great service, you're on top with your customers, your customers should be happy. Are you actively turning that into testimonials, or are you just doing it reactively where it's you're selling and they're like, hey, anybody else? And you're like, Yeah, sure, call these guys. Or are you doing something a little bit more proactive to get them kind of as brand ambassadors talking about you on your behalf? [00:41:09] S0: Sure. So now we're a little bit more sophisticated. So we ask everyone to participate in our annual survey for customer support and service. And so the typically head of HR or the head of total rewards or benefits at an organization is doing this review session and you know, filling in our rating. But one of the questions we ask is, can we use you as a reference? And that is extraordinarily important. And then we have another line and says, Would you ever be interested in doing a conference with us? So we have an annual conference for our customers or a panel or, you know, a featured broadcast of some sort. And, you know, you'll get people that are a little bit shy. You'll get people that are like, I would like to do it, but my company is just, they're so difficult. You know, we're a Fortune 500 company, it's very difficult for me to get approval to say anything about anything. But you still get people that do. And so you are being proactive to find the people that are allowed and willing to do it.
00:41:09 · AJ Loiacono, Pablo Srugo
[00:41:09] S0: Sure. So now we're a little bit more sophisticated. So we ask everyone to participate in our annual survey for customer support and service. And so the typically head of HR or the head of total rewards or benefits at an organization is doing this review session and you know, filling in our rating. But one of the questions we ask is, can we use you as a reference? And that is extraordinarily important. And then we have another line and says, Would you ever be interested in doing a conference with us? So we have an annual conference for our customers or a panel or, you know, a featured broadcast of some sort. And, you know, you'll get people that are a little bit shy. You'll get people that are like, I would like to do it, but my company is just, they're so difficult. You know, we're a Fortune 500 company, it's very difficult for me to get approval to say anything about anything. But you still get people that do. And so you are being proactive to find the people that are allowed and willing to do it. [00:42:19] S1: So let's shift gears. The other thing that I thought you were doing very well was on the hiring side. You you said you had about 90% retention for employees after four years, which is incredible because there's a lot of turnover in you know, in in tech and all these kind of startups. Um, the key you said was really hiring for mission. So I'm curious on just your hiring approach, especially the first 30, 40, 50 employees, like how did you go about hiring them? What did you do that was that was different, that was unique?