Frequently Asked Questions about the Novarica Average Customer Experience (ACE) Rankings™:
What are Novarica ACE Rankings™?
How does Novarica collect Ranking Responses from insurers or banks?
What do insurers or banks get for participating?
Can vendors direct their own clients to rank their solution?
How does Novarica choose which solutions to rank?
Do vendors have control of ranking content?
Can vendors choose not to be ranked or have a ranking withdrawn?
What if Novarica receives multiple Ranking Responses from different individuals in the same company?
How long do Ranking Responses remain valid?
How does a solution go from a standard ACE Ranking™ to a Silver or Gold ACE ranking™?
What if some of the original Ranking Responses expire before Novarica gets the additional ones needed for an ACE Silver or Gold Ranking™ report?
What are Novarica ACE Rankings™?
Novarica Average Customer Experience (ACE) Rankings™ are based on responses to an online survey of senior technology and operational executives at insurer or bank clients who have direct experience with the vendor product and organization. There are three levels of ACE Rankings™, which vary by number of client responses: Standard (3 responses), Silver (5 responses), and Gold (10 responses).
Novarica validates the identity and responses of the participants, who are assured of anonymity.
The Novarica ACE Ranking™ survey asks for the reference to rank his or her experience with the vendor and solution on a 7-point scale from “Completely Agree” to “Completely Disagree” against various positive statements about customer experience, for example “Staff is highly responsive.”
These statements are grouped into Novarica’s four SOFT areas (Staff, Organization, Functionality, and Technology) as well as an additional area for Overall Customer Satisfaction, which is double-weighted in the average.
Novarica ACE Rankings™ also include verbatim customer comments as provided by survey participants. These comments may be edited lightly for length, clarity, or repetitiveness.
Novarica ACE Rankings™ are produced independently and are not sponsored by the vendor. Novarica offers vendors the opportunity to direct clients to the survey and also solicits participation directly from its own network of insurer and bank contacts.
The Novarica ACE Ranking™ is intended to provide an objective measurement of customer satisfaction levels in general and is intended to be used to guide insurers or banks’ own due diligence processes when evaluating potential solution providers. It is not a substitute for conducting reference interviews or visits prior to selecting a solution.
How does Novarica collect Ranking Responses from insurers or banks?
The Novarica ACE Ranking™ surveys are open at http://www.novarica.com/acerankings/ with one version for products, one for services. You can also use the buttons at the top of this page.
Novarica receives Ranking Responses on a rolling basis. As soon as 3 qualified responses from 3 different clients are received for an individual solution, a standard ACE Ranking™ can be published. If 5 or 10 such responses are received, an ACE Gold or ACE Silver Ranking™ can be published.
What do insurers or banks get for participating?
insurers or banks can choose to receive either a free copy of the Novarica ACE Ranking™ report in which they participated or a $500 report credit, which is enough to buy any other ACE Ranking™ report.
Can vendors direct their own clients to rank their solution?
Yes, vendors are free to direct their clients to http://www.novarica.com/acerankings/ and encourage them to participate. Novarica believes the feedback of anonymous vendor-directed clients is as valid as feedback from clients that are sourced independently, and in many cases it is surprisingly candid. Vendors cannot review the feedback provided by their clients. Novarica does not contact potential respondents on behalf of vendors.
How does Novarica choose which solutions to rank?
Novarica will publish an ACE Ranking™ report on any insurance technology solution or service when it has enough qualified responses. Novarica may solicit rankings from its contact network in response to a request from one of our insurer or bank clients to understand the Average Customer Experience with a solution they may be evaluating, but other than that does not typically schedule or plan when to publish rankings in specific classes of solutions or services.
Do vendors have control of ranking content?
No. Novarica ACE Rankings™ are produced independently by Novarica for general publication. Vendors are generally provided with a preview of ACE Rankings™ before they are published as a courtesy and given the opportunity to fact-check the brief introductory information about the solution and company. Vendors cannot change or suppress scores or comments.
Can vendors choose not to be ranked or have a ranking withdrawn?
No. Vendors can of course choose not to support the ranking process, but Novarica’s goal is to document Average Customer Experience for every solution on the market that our insurer or bank CIO clients may be curious about.
What if Novarica gets multiple Ranking Responses from different individuals in the same company?
Only one Ranking Response per company is used. If multiple rankings from a single company are received, they are prioritized by:
- completeness of response
- organizational seniority of respondent
- date of response
In cases where the same solution is used separately in two operationally separate areas of a single company (e.g., different divisions), Novarica may include multiple rankings from the same company.
How long do Ranking Responses remain valid?
Ranking Responses from insurers or banks remain valid for 12 months. An exception is made only if a new Ranking Response from the same individual or a more qualified individual at the same company is received after the original Ranking Response. In that case, Novarica will generally replace the original Ranking Response and update the ACE Ranking™ report.
How does a solution go from a standard ACE Ranking™ to a Silver or Gold ACE Ranking™?
The three levels of ACE Rankings™ vary by number of client responses: Standard (3 responses), Silver (5 responses), and Gold (10 responses). If additional new Ranking Responses are received from new customers after the original ACE Ranking™ report is published for a solution, and none of the original Ranking Responses is older than 12 months, Novarica publishes an ACE Silver or Gold Ranking™ based on all the responses. 5 Ranking Responses are required for an ACE Silver Ranking™ and 10 for an ACE Gold Ranking™.
What if some of the original Ranking Responses have expired before Novarica gets the additional ones needed for an ACE Silver Gold Ranking™ report?
If enough new qualified Ranking Responses are received after one or more of the original Ranking Responses has expired, Novarica publishes a new standard ACE Ranking™ report.
For example, if a solution receives 2 Ranking Responses in January and one in July, a standard ACE™ Ranking report would be published in July. If the solution receives 2 new ones in December, a new report would be published the following January when the 2 earliest ones expire.
If Novarica receives 5 or 10 valid Ranking Responses from within a 12-month period from the oldest to the newest, we will publish an ACE Silver or Gold Ranking™ report (depending on the number of responses), which would be updated according to the same methodology.
Click here to return to the main ACE Rankings™ page.
