Bilda Acuna

Aymee Diaz has fielded calls for customers at Unum Group for more than two years, and she is increasingly asked to answer questions and explain benefits in Spanish.

Ms. Diaz, a Unum customer service rep who is part of a new initiative addressing the growing number of Hispanic customers, said she typically handles between 15 and 25 calls a day in Spanish.

Staff Photo by Patrick Smith Aymee Diaz answers calls at Unum on Friday. Unum announced it will be going bilingual in all its call centers.

“The actual number is growing,” she said.

Bilda Acuña, assistant vice president for Hispanic markets for the Chattanooga-based insurer, estimates there are about 150,000 Unum customers whose native language is Spanish.

“About two years ago we recognized that there was a growing demand for Spanish language customer service capabilities, and we really didn’t have a centralized strategy to meet that demand,” Ms. Acuña said.

Unum spent a year studying customers and put together a plan to address needs that had been overlooked in the past.

“Through our research we found that no one in this industry is doing a good job at (addressing Hispanics’ needs),” she said. “Everyone is taking tiny steps in that direction because it is complex, but we felt we needed to make a full-hearted investment in communicating efficiently with Spanish speakers.”

Ms. Acuña said Unum realized they had several bilingual customer service representatives that were servicing calls in English. The company revised its operating procedures to make better use of these employees, she said.

Unum also has hired 15 bilingual employees this year and expects more will be hired next year to address growing demand, she said.

Camila Neslin, a bilingual marketing consultant at Unum, said the company also is attempting to educate Hispanics about their policies before they need to file a claim, so they will better understand the process.

Unum also has created literature in Spanish about its policies in hopes of informing Hispanics and filling an insurance gap. Ms. Neslin said that 62 percent of people in the United States have life insurance compared with 32 percent of Hispanics.

“They are very uninsured,” she said.

With Volkswagen coming to Chattanooga, German may become a common language heard locally, but Unum officials said there isn’t enough demand to warrant German-speaking call centers. Officials said they would add more languages as need arises.

Unum officials said the program is a work-in-progress and may need to be retooled as it grows.

But Ms. Diaz said the effort has greatly improved since she was hired in 2006.

“It’s amazing to see how much progress we’ve made in the time I’ve been here,” she said. “I get feedback daily about how grateful they are. It’s great to hear that familiar voice speaking to them in Spanish. It makes them feel like they are part of Unum and not just a customer.”