Case Study: A Legacy Culture of Client-centricity
At the annual general meeting in 1926, the Chair, Willie Hofmeyr, stated that Sanlam did not regard itself as a company whose main aim was to become rich, but as an institution that had a responsibility to serve the nation: “We fully subscribe to the view that the interests of policyholders should be the first consideration in a business of this nature. That is why we always try to be fair rather than technical towards policyholders.”
This approach resulted in a large number of death and disability claims being approved because the Board’s decision was based on empathy and humaneness rather than on technical correctness or the letter of the law.
This culture of client-centricity still exists in Sanlam today and is one of the key drivers of our success for the past 100 years.
In 2012, Sanlam expanded the mandate of the Policyholders’ Interest committee of the Board and renamed it the Customer Interest committee. This preceded South African legislation aimed at protecting customers – evidence of Sanlam’s inherent client-centricity.
The committee reviews and monitors all client-related decisions made by the Group. From a product and services governance perspective, the committee ensures that Sanlam’s client-centricity standards are maintained across the Group. New products are subject to a pre-approval and sign-off process that includes a review from the Sanlam Customer Interest committee and an appointed statutory actuary.
Today, our client service and support capability is extensive, mature and sophisticated across most of the markets where we operate. For example, the SPF Client Care Centre (CCC) handles at least 16 000 client interactions daily through various channels. Apart from operations at Head Office, SPF has more than 100 CCC offices throughout South Africa.
Over the past seven years, we performed consistently in terms of complaints resolved by the office for the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance. The Ombudsman mediates in disputes between members of the long-term insurance industry and policyholders regarding insurance contracts.
We continuously focus on innovation and efficiencies to improve client experience. Initiatives in this regard, for example, enables Sanlam Sky to pay some 80% of its claims within 24 hours. Similarly, Saham Assurance pays small vehicle claims within 90 minutes. This significantly reduces waiting time and the administration burden for clients. Saham Assurance’s Check Auto Express centres were the first to be launched in Morocco in 2009. These centres are dedicated to the payment of small car damages (less than US$2 000), also known as ‘fender benders’. Experts at the express centres evaluate the damage and can compensate a policyholder within 90 minutes via cash or cheque. A more recent enhancement of the service enables clients to have digital visibility of the claim’s progress with the potential to reduce waiting time to only 20 minutes. Saham Assurance also offers clients on-site glass repair as an alternative to receiving a claim payment. 40% of damages are paid by the Check Auto Express centres, which recorded a 95% satisfaction rate from clients. These are just some of the many examples of how we achieve superior client service.