BenchmarkPortal Announces: New York Life – AARP Contact Center Achieves Its Tenth Certification as a BenchmarkPortal Center of Excellence

Santa Barbara, CA (PRWEB) June 13, 2013

The New York Life - AARP customer contact center has been certified as a Center of Excellence for the tenth year in a row by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. "New York Life - AARP is the first contact center to be certified as a Center of Excellence for ten consecutive years,” said Bruce Belfiore, BenchmarkPortal CEO. “A decade of consistent, superior performance is not only a cause for celebration for the New York Life team, it is a testament to exceptional management focus and to careful execution by the entire, fully-engaged team."

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’s operational metrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

"I would like to spotlight the fact that one does not remain a Center of Excellence for a decade by running in place,” added Belfiore. “New York Life - AARP has been dedicated to using metrics and best practices to create a culture of continuous improvement - always setting and meeting new and higher goals. I am delighted to recognize this unparalleled track record of success."

Key performance indicators, such as first call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and others are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center compares to other centers in the same industry. Metrics which relate to customer satisfaction are balanced by financial metrics, which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "New York Life has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that New York Life is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate New York Life on a job well done.”

About BenchmarkPortal

BenchmarkPortal’s founders pioneered the first contact center benchmarking study in 1995. Now custodian of the largest database of contact center metrics in the world, BenchmarkPortal is a leader in certification, training, consulting and research for the customer contact industry. Its team of professionals has gained international recognition for expertise and innovation in best practices. BenchmarkPortal’s mission is to help managements optimize the performance of their centers in terms of both cost and quality, encourage customer loyalty and build enterprise value. For more information on BenchmarkPortal, call 1-800-214-8929 or visit http://www.BenchmarkPortal.com.

About New York Life

New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States* and one of the largest life insurers in the world. New York Life has the highest possible financial strength ratings currently awarded to any life insurer from all four of the major credit rating agencies: A.M. Best (A++), Fitch (AAA), Moody’s Investors Service (Aaa), Standard & Poor’s (AA+).** Headquartered in New York City, New York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investments*** provides institutional asset management and retirement plan services. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as retail mutual funds. Please visit New York Life’s website at http://www.newyorklife.com for more information.

*Based on revenue as reported by “Fortune 500 ranked within Industries, Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual),” Fortune magazine, May 20, 2013. See http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2013/faq/?iid=F500_sp_method%20 for methodology.
**Source: Individual Third Party Ratings Reports as of 6/4/13.
***New York Life Investments is a service mark used by New York Life Investment Management Holdings LLC and its subsidiary, New York Life Investment Management LLC.

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