LV= finds 57% of callers already have their what3words address ready to give the operator.
LV= Britannia Rescue has collaborated with what3words to help make being stranded "somewhere southbound on the M1?" a thing of the past.
Why has LV= collaborated with what3words?
Exact locations can be hard to describe, especially in a high-pressure situation, somewhere without a street address, such as the side of a motorway or quiet country road. This makes it really difficult to locate accidents or breakdowns and get a recovery vehicle to customers quickly.
As part of its digitisation strategy, LV= Britannia Rescue focused on better locating its customers at the point of claim and keeping them safe. That’s why LV= has collaborated with what3words to help make being stranded “somewhere southbound on the M1?” a thing of the past.
what3words is a global location technology that makes it really simple to communicate exact locations. Every 3 metre square in the world has been given a unique address made of just three words: a what3words address. These addresses are easy to say and share, and are as accurate as GPS coordinates. For example, /// indoor.crush.cherry is a what3words address on the side of the M1, which is much easier to say than its corresponding GPS coordinates (51.879245, -0.45114900).
LV= is dedicated to improving processes both externally, for customers and breakdown providers, and internally, for call centre representatives. The objectives of the collaboration were to ascertain a more accurate location from a caller, improve customer experience, and reduce the average handling time on the phone.
In building what3words into its CRM system and mapping software, LV= has tackled an industry-wide problem – frustrating and inaccurate destination input for breakdowns. LV= thought outside traditional addressing and location systems, opting for a revolutionary solution – what3words. Recovery vehicles can now navigate to any 3 metre square on Earth using just 3 words. LV= has reinforced its position as an innovative industry leader and has solved the problem of getting an exact location from customers who need assistance quickly.
How does the partnership between LV= and what3words work?
To achieve the objectives of this collaboration, LV= integrated the what3words API into its systems and organised internal training. Following these steps, LV= has continued with external communications to educate both breakdown partners and customers, and continues to monitor the partnership’s success internally.
The launch of this partnership allows LV=’s customers to provide an exact location in just 3 words. A customer can proactively provide their what3words address if they already have the app downloaded. If a customer is struggling to describe their location and doesn’t already have the app , LV=’s Customer Representatives can send a link to a data-lite version of what3words.com. The site displays the customer’s what3words address, which they read out over the phone. The 3 word address is the simplest way for LV=’s customers to provide their exact location in what can be a frustrating, even dangerous, situation.
Once the Customer Representative has retrieved the what3words address, they add it to a specific field in LV=’s CRM system so that a breakdown recovery provider will be dispatched to the customer’s exact location. This makes it easier to identify a customer’s location. It also means that customers receive help sooner and breakdown providers spend less time searching for customers.
Customer Representatives are a central pillar to LV=’s organisation. So, internal training sessions made sure that LV’s call handlers fully understood the collaboration and had the opportunity to ask any questions.
After the internal education was complete, LV= formulated its external communications strategy. This included both a newsletter to partner breakdown providers and a newsletter to customers across the UK, encouraging the recipients to download and use the free what3words app .
The commitment to this partnership continues with what3words’ and LV=’s marketing teams exploring further ways that the partnership.
Following the full implementation, there has been a fantastic uptake of customers providing a what3words address, which has helped to improve the experience of Customer Representatives and breakdown crews, as well as improving customer safety.
Has the partnership been a success?
Following the full implementation of what3words into LV=’s systems in September 2020, a what3words address has been used over a thousand times. The caller already had the what3words app downloaded and was ready to provide their what3words address in 57% of those calls. This demonstrates the success of LV= and what3words’s external communications, including their social posts, newsletter and PR.
Because Customer Representatives are so central to LV=’s business model and customer experience, they are frequently consulted during roundtables to ensure transparency in feedback. As a result of the implementation of what3words, LV= has seen call average handling time reduced and the call centre agents have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback. This illustrates an improvement in call handler experience which was a key objective of the collaboration. The impact of this improvement is a corresponding improvement to customer experience and customer safety.
Being stuck at the roadside is dangerous for both for the driver and the recovery crew attending the scene. Between 2015 and 2017, almost 9,000 accidents involved a vehicle colliding with a stationary car. 42 per cent of those took place on the hard shoulder of a motorway or major A road. Being able to reduce the amount of time spent on the roadside will save lives.
Henry Topham, Managing Director of LV= Britannia Rescue, commented “The safety of our customers, and being able to reach them as quickly as possible, is of paramount importance and the advanced technology what3words uses means we can do just that.”
Given the success of the collaboration so far, LV= is looking into other areas of the business where what3words can be used. We look forward to seeing how this collaboration continues to develop in the future!
