An interview with Paige L. Schaffer, President & COO, Identity & Digital Protection Services Global Unit, Generali Global Assistance
Stevie Award winner Generali Global Assistance won the Silver Stevie Award in the Customer Service Team of the Year category of The 2016 American Business Awards. The ABAs are the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. which attract more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year.
The American Business Awards are accepting nominations for the 2017 program.
All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The last early-bird entry deadline is December 14 – with discounted entry fees. The final entry deadline is February 16 and late entries will be accepted through March 15.
President & COO Paige L. Schaffer shares her business insights and thoughts on the Stevie Awards:
What does Generali Global Assistance do?
Generali Global Assistance (GGA) has protected the assets of organizations and their customers for over 50 years, and provides best-in-class identity theft protection and resolution services for leading Fortune 500 companies. GGA’s recently launched Iris® identity protection platform which is offered as a solution to over 25 million people addresses all areas of need for companies and their customers, offering 360° protection with prevention, monitoring, alerts, award-winning resolution services and identity theft insurance.
What is your role as the President & COO?
I oversee our Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit. In this role, I lead sales & marketing strategy and revenue growth initiatives, and manage operations as well as global expansion. Additionally, I ensure that we continue to offer the best possible solutions to our clients, minimizing the risk of identity theft for our diverse set of end users and maintaining a deep commitment to customer service.
What is the organizational vision?
Identity theft is on a precipitous rise internationally and consumer demand for identity protection service is rising at an equal rate. People are turning to the business and organizations they trust to get the protection they need - financial institutions, insurance companies, travel providers, legal services, associations and membership organizations, among others.
Our vision is to develop a seamless business-to-business platform driven by a people-first mentality that can help organizations of any type generate new revenue and exceed their business goals, especially as it relates to strengthening trust with their customers and building long-term brand loyalty. We have experienced ongoing success largely because the foundation of our program – our customer service team of identity theft resolution specialists – continues to be one of the very best in the business.
What sets your company apart in this category?
Helping people in their time of need has been GGA’s core DNA since its founding in 1963. Identity theft results in major emotional distress and financial difficulties for victims. As such, it’s absolutely essential to our mission that we not only quickly resolve any issues for identity theft victims, but do so in an empathetic, caring way. Our entire customer service team provides a human touch to identity theft protection and resolution, and this nomination was an opportunity to recognize their exceptional work.
How did you first become acquainted with the Stevies?
The Stevie® Awards are well-recognized and respected and we received several recommendations from our partners and clients to submit a nomination.
What was it like for your company to win this award?
We are thrilled to have won a Stevie for the fourth year in a row – and we were especially excited, after learning of our American Business Award, to receive a Gold Stevie from the International Business Awards during the same year.
How has the win affected your business?
Each Stevie® Award that we win is a rallying cry to continually improve and innovate. It’s a valuable reminder to the entire GGA Identity & Digital Protection Team that the world is watching and taking note of those companies that are providing extraordinary service. When we meet potential new business clients, customer service is at the top of their minds. Having a trophy case full of Stevie Awards drives confidence that our team of identity protection specialists are industry leaders and will work tirelessly to meet the needs of all customers.
What results have been gained since you've won this award?
Identity and Digital Protection Services remains one of the fastest growing business lines within Generali Global Assistance and in the time since we received our first Stevie Award in 2013, we’ve delivered a number of service enhancements to support our expanding client base. Most recently, we launched our new Iris® online identity protection dashboard earlier this year. We have deployed Iris® for several organizations across a variety of industry sectors, including Optima Tax Relief and National Benefit Services, for example. Additionally, several prospective new clients are Stevie Award winners, and they quickly recognize that the award indicates exceptional service.
What inspires you to continue your work?
I’m always inspired by the individual stories that I hear from our customer service team. We’ve had specialists work with individuals for months or years at a time, untangling complicated identity fraud issues that had destroyed their credit, made it difficult to work, and put stress on personal relationships with families and friends. It’s so rewarding to see a case successfully closed and to hear directly from our clients when their customers call and say that their lives have been improved because of the work that we do.
What changes do you expect in your industry in the future?
The world is becoming increasingly connected and the need for identity theft protection will continue to develop in ways that we aren’t even aware of yet – and not just in the U.S., but also globally. The rise of the Internet of Things, surging social media use, more frequent online transactions, and a more sophisticated crowd of international criminals all present significant challenges for digital security. To best serve our clients and customers, continual learning and reinvestment in the technology that monitors theft and fraud is an absolute must. What truly sets us apart and is absolutely crucial to our future as a leading identity protection provider for organizations around the world is a commitment to the person behind the data. While identity crimes are often perpetrated digitally, the victims they affect are human and we will always go above and beyond to care for that individual.
From left to right: David Brown, Generali Global Assistance Marketing Manager, Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit, Julie Jamsa, Generali Global Assistance Vice President, Service Delivery, Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit, Patrice Bobala, Generali Global Assistance Identity and Digital Protection Quality Analyst, and Michael Gallagher, the Stevie Awards President.
Learn more about Generali Global Assistance
