L- R: MD/CEO Universal Insurance Plc, Benedict Ujoatuonu; MD/CEO African alliance Insurance Plc, Mrs. Joyce Ojemudia; GMD Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Mr. Ganiyu Musa; Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief BusinessToday Communication, Nkechi Naeche-Esezobor, MD/CEO, Access Pension PFC, Idu Okwuosa-Okeahialam and Chief Consultant,
B. Adedipe Associates Limited, Dr. Abiodun Adedipe at the 6th BusinessToday annual Conference held yesterday at Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja, Lagos.
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR–Operators in the insurance and pension sectors have been advised to improve customers experience and build trust rather than sell products.
This statement was made during the sixth Businesstoday conference with the theme, ‘Prioritising excellent customer services in insurance and pension businesses’ in Lagos.’
Making his presentation, the Chief Consultant of B. Adedipe Associates Limited, Dr. Biodun Adedipe, said excellent customer service was fundamental to every organisation, public or private, profit-seeking or not-for-profit.
He said, “You must be able to answer in clear terms the questions of what is most important to different customer categories?
“How can we deliver repeatedly beyond the expectations of those customers?
He laid emphasis on what the operators in the two sectors can do to win customers and retain them; how they can keep the customers and serve them with the best cost management so that they can still remain profitable.
He said for them to retain their customers, they must know that they are not in business to sell products but to provide solutions to customers’ problems, adding that what customers need is peace of mind.
According to him, “When a customer is complaining the message is not that I want to leave to somewhere else, the interpretation of customer complaint is that I want you to improve.
“When customers are complaining, therefore, don’t treat it as antagonism but that they are telling you they want to go elsewhere. Every complaining customer is passing a message to you to improve. The ones that want to go away won’t complain to you.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, African Alliance Insurance Plc, Mrs Joyce Ojemudia, said in today’s insurance and pensions businesses, which were businesses of promise (intangible), customer experience was critical to business performance, growth and sustainability.
Ojemudia, who was the special guest of honour said, “Maintaining trust is very fundamental to today’s business environment and a solid customer service is imperative to achieve this.
“Satisfactory customer service is vital to the existence of any business, including insurance and pensions.”
She said customers were very demanding and value-centric and there was a need for the insurance and pensions businesses to brace up and be continually dynamic in their approach in terms of quality service and value creation.
The Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mr Ganiyu Musa, who is also the group managing director of Cornerstone Insurance Plc, said the insurance industry was doing quite a lot to improve customer service, but still have a long way to go.
According to him, customers should avail themselves of the different platforms including the National Insurance Commission’s Complaint Bureau to resolve issues with their underwriters if the need arises.
He said the platform is at no cost to the insured and will go a long way in addressing some of the complaints consumers have.
He however noted that the key to improving customer service is innovation.
Managing Director, Access Pension Fund Custodian Limited, Mrs Idu Okwuosa- Okeahialam, noted that the operators were selling two difficult products which showed that they needed to do more to please the customers.
Ben Ujoatuonu, managing director, Universal Insurance plc said as an industry, if we get it right, we will have some much growth in the business given the huge potential.
Ujoatuonu said, there is need for every player to have a virile business development unit that is research oriented, and this he noted will come out with products that are tailor made to suite specific need of customers.
He noted that players should quickly adapt to insuretech, as this will make the journey to penetration faster.
