Boston, MA, Dec. 9, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DALBAR announced today the 2014 winner of its annual Plan Participant Service Award. Within the retirement plan industry, Nationwide was the only firm to emerge as a leader in customer service in 2014.
For nearly three decades, DALBAR has conducted rigorous testing of service delivery via its Service Quality Measurement Programs. Each year, DALBAR identifies those firms that rise above their peers in service to retirement plan participants after a full year of comprehensive evaluation and recognizes the elite organizations with the DALBAR Service Award.
Nationwide emerged as the front runner with proven leadership in the following areas:
- Nationwide call center representatives exceeded DALBAR service award levels in the categories of Attitude, Expertise, Call Interrupts and Accommodation for a full year. DALBAR research shows that excelling in these attributes results in satisfied customers. This achievement recognizes Nationwide's focus on building the capabilities that result in a consistent and reliable service experience for their customers.
- Nationwide representatives understand the critical nature of listening, understanding and responding with information based on each plan participant's needs and sense of urgency. Nationwide demonstrated this ability more than 93% of the time.
"Nationwide has set themselves apart from their competitors by helping employees understand the benefits and importance of their retirement nest egg. This goes a long way to creating peace of mind and securing customer loyalty, said Kathleen Whalen, Managing Director at DALBAR.
The Service Award is based on systematic testing of customer service throughout the year. DALBAR conducts thousands of tests to measure how financial companies respond to the service needs of their customers. Companies that exceed award level benchmarks after one year of testing earn the DALBAR Plan Participant Service Award.
DALBAR, Inc. is the financial community's leading independent expert for evaluating, auditing and rating business practices, customer performance, product quality and service. Launched in 1976, DALBAR has earned the recognition for consistent and unbiased evaluations of insurance companies, investment companies, registered investment advisers, broker/dealers, retirement plan providers and financial professionals. DALBAR awards are recognized as the marks of excellence in the financial community.