Enterprise Engagement Center: Excellence in Customer Connection

Western & Southern Financial Group has over 137 years of helping to meet the financial stability needs of our customers - individuals, families, businesses, foundations and nonprofits. Our family of companies continues to grow and diversify, fortifying our financial foundation and embracing new opportunities to help meet customer needs through superior service and range of solutions.

Briefly describe the nominated team: history and past performance (up to 1,250 characters):

I am honored to nominate Western & Southern Financial Group's Enterprise Engagement Center (EEC) for this award in recognition of its extraordinary transformation and enduring impact. What began as a single-line-of-business call center, known as the Client Relationship Center (CRC), serving only Western & Southern Life Insurance and managing approximately 276,000 interactions annually with just 27 front-line associates, has evolved into a cornerstone of enterprise excellence serving several lines of business.

In late 2023, the CRC took a bold step forward, becoming the Enterprise Engagement Center (EEC). This was a visionary initiative uniting customer service across all Western & Southern Financial Group business units. Today, the EEC proudly supports eight companies with a team of 131 full-time associates in the home office and 101 part-time remote site associates, delivering exceptional customer experience at scale.

This transformational evolution reflects the EEC's unwavering commitment to growth, innovation and collaboration. By aligning resources, optimizing processes, and strengthening partnerships across the enterprise, the EEC continues redefining the customer experience elevating both customer satisfaction and agent experience, showcasing the best of Western & Southern Financial Group.

Outline the team's achievements since July 1, 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 1,500 characters):

The Customer Relationship Center (CRC) transformed from a single-company service team into the dynamic Enterprise Engagement Center (EEC) supporting eight companies across the Western & Southern Financial Group family. This remarkable growth expanded the EEC to 232 dedicated associates, delivering exceptional service through more than 889,000 customer interactions each year.

Following strategic consolidation, the team enhanced service levels, reinforced organizational structure, and streamlined operations to drive greater efficiency. Additionally, the introduction of comprehensive training programs reduced onboarding time by four weeks, enabling associates to deliver consistent, high-quality service from day one.

This evolution, as evidenced below, reflects the EEC's achievements and unwavering commitment to operational excellence, innovation and customer satisfaction.

• Record-Breaking Sales Performance: The EEC Sales Team achieved 268% of the placed policy goal compared to 2023, with a 58% increase in placed premium and a 195% rise in policies per representative per week, establishing a strong foundation for continued growth.
• Transformational Training Innovation: The training and service leadership teams produced a new onboarding and career development approach, saving over 22,000 training hours, improving efficiency and employee readiness.
• Enhanced Surge Capacity: Expansion of the surge plan and cross-training to include the full EEC added 14 non-phone associates [SK1] who managed 15,000 additional customer interactions, helping improve service levels and elevate customer experience.
• Process and AI-Driven Innovation: Through collaboration with key partners, the EEC implemented over 140 employee ideas resulting in 10,000+ hours saved and $922,000 in cost savings, reinforcing a culture of innovation and operational excellence.

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 1,500 characters):

The Enterprise Experience Center (EEC) continues to set the standard for operational excellence, collaboration and customer commitment. As the department has grown, the team consistently demonstrates exceptional performance, innovation and strong alignment with organizational goals.

The EEC embodies teamwork in action, with each associate playing a critical role in helping customers protect their loved ones, delivering superior service through calls and correspondence, and strengthening internal processes to elevate the overall customer experience. This shared commitment has fueled extraordinary year-over-year improvements across all key performance measures.

Key EEC Results:

• Western & Southern Life Insurance Team:
  • Building on a 41% improvement in average speed of answer (ASA) in 2024 - while answering 15K more calls, the EEC continued this momentum in 2025 with an additional 7.5% improvement.
• Annuity Phone Team:
  • In 2024, ASA improved by 74% compared to 2023, enabling 8.3K more answered calls.
  • That progress accelerated in 2025, with an additional 45% improvement in ASA and 9.3K more calls handled year over year.
• Columbus Life Insurance Phone Team:
  • A 47% improvement in ASA from 2023 to 2024 rose an additional 65% improvement in 2025 while answering 6.2k more calls.
• Lafayette Life Insurance Team:
  • A 69% improvement in ASA from 2023 to 2024 increased an additional 67% improvement in 2025 while answering 4.3k more calls.

These results reflect the EEC's steady focus on service excellence, efficiency and teamwork. Through innovation, accountability and shared purpose, the EEC continues to deliver extraordinary results and set a benchmark for customer service success.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 1,500 characters):

EEC Service Training Breakdown: Highlights the time, planning and attention dedicated to delivering a dynamic and effective training program for our service team members. This initiative ensures that every minute of training is intentional, focused on mastering key materials and enhancing service excellence, while minimizing unproductive time.

Employee Idea Results: Highlights our continued commitment to enhancing the agent and customer experience. Through focused improvement efforts, data-driven insights and targeted initiatives, the team consistently works to elevate performance across key departmental metrics. Associates submit ideas as they identify opportunities to improve the agent and customer experience, providing a valuable channel for feedback and recognition. This ongoing dedication ensures alignment between operational excellence and strategic goals.