As MetLife identifies more customer needs, more languages are added the most recent being Hindi. Drescher has no problem finding people who speak the languages. Whenever we need some language beyond what we have, we just go out and find it, he said. IUP has an incredibly diverse international population. The employees receive about three to four weeks training by MetLife before they are ready to work with customers.
Employees learn insurance details so they can understand most customer comments and questions.
The callers carefully learn MetLife s authorized scripts that detail what they can and cannot say, including how to answer any of a multitude of questions they may get from customers. Even if the callers must paraphrase to make the subject easier for the customer to understand, the paraphrasings must be approved by MetLife. Drescher and Sewalk believe this is a winning situation all around. MetLife was able to solve its problem at a very reasonable cost with top-notch, efficient translators. The callers get hands-on training and a good paying job, not always easy for a foreign student.