David Payne Named a 2011 1to1 Customer Champion

Standard Insurance Company ("The Standard”) announced today that David Payne, assistant vice president of Contact Center Operations at The Standard, was named as a 2011 1to1 Customer Champion by 1to1 Media, a division of Peppers & Rogers Group. The 1to1 Customer Champion designation is awarded to individuals who are the voice of the customer in their organizations, who engage their team in a way that helps to build both employee and customer loyalty, and whose efforts help their companies tie customer strategy to bottom-line impact.

Payne was nominated for the award based on several additional criteria, including his understanding of customer needs, ability to make decisions based on the customers’ best interests and demonstrated efforts to deliver a better customer experience.

"Selecting the 1to1 Customer Champions each year is a challenge and a privilege,” says Ginger Conlon, editorial director of 1to1 Media. "All of the nominees are championing the customer cause in their organization and making an impact on the bottom line. The winners stand out for both their efforts and their results. One key reason David Payne stood out was for his efforts to build employee engagement and empathy that ensures customer satisfaction.”

The Standard has engaged and continues to engage in a focused initiative to improve upon customer experience. To date, this initiative has led to a better understanding of the intent of customers, improvement in customer satisfaction, increased employee engagement and performance, and better operational efficiency.

"David has been an instrumental driver of our efforts to make sure that the customer experience rules every interaction with our contact center,” said Dan McMillan, vice president of the Insurance Services Group at The Standard. "Our goal is to offer an industry-leading customer experience in order to make sure our customers get what they want, how they want it and when they want it. Under David’s leadership, we believe we are on our way to achieving this goal.”

Payne has led Contact Center Operations at The Standard for the past two years. Throughout his career, he has championed, led and supported contact center and customer experience initiatives that served customers through a variety of channels including voice, self-service, interactive voice response (IVR) and online support. Prior to joining The Standard in October 2009, Payne spent three years as the executive director of Strategy and Execution at Victoria’s Secret and seven years at General Electric Financial in Six Sigma and LEAN as the operations intelligence leader.

Each year, 1to1 Magazine selects 15 executives as 1to1 Customer Champions. These are customer-centric leaders who understand that engaged customers make a positive bottom-line impact. They are innovative, determined and creative leaders who treat customers as the valuable resource they are. Their stories will be featured in a special issue of 1to1 Magazine's Weekly Digest in October.

About The Standard

The Standard is a leading provider of financial products and services, including group and individual disability insurance, group life, AD&D, dental and vision insurance, retirement plans products and services, individual annuities and investment advice.

The Standard is a marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. and subsidiaries. For more information about The Standard, visit www.standard.com.

About 1to1 Media

1to1 Media is dedicated to helping organizations realize the greatest value from their customer base. 1to1 Media provides resources that deliver relevant information on the latest thought leadership regarding customer strategy and marketplace trends. Their print, electronic and custom publications explore the best practices and trends from companies using customer initiatives to drive results. 1to1 Media is a division of Peppers & Rogers Group. For more information about 1to1 Media, visit www.1to1media.com.

About Peppers & Rogers Group

Peppers & Rogers Group is a management consulting firm, recognized as the world's leading authority on customer-based business strategy. Founded in 1993 by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers Ph.D., the firm is dedicated to helping companies grow the value of their business by growing the value of their customer base. The firm is focused on driving bottom-line results from the delivery and implementation of customer initiatives. With expertise that cuts across vertical industries, Peppers & Rogers Group partners, consultants and subject matter experts have a deep understanding of the most powerful value levers that drive business results. For more information about Peppers & Rogers Group, visit www.peppersandrogersgroup.com.