Giselle Gould, Fairheads’ business development head.
Fairheads Benefit Services, the leading independent service provider of beneficiary funds and umbrella trusts, was last night acknowledged for a unique grassroots communication project by winning a gold Industry Best Practice Award at the Institute of Retirement Funds Africa conference in Durban.*)
The brainchild of Giselle Gould, Fairheads’ business development head, the roadshow was first established in 2010 as a means to educate guardians/caregivers and major beneficiaries/members about beneficiary funds and trusts and to facilitate knowledge transfer on a one-to-one basis. In 2013 the initiative touched nearly 5,000 attendees representing over 8,000 beneficiaries/members across South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique, from eight different beneficiary funds and trusts.
Olefile Moea, Fairheads Consultant and roadshow sponsor, said that beneficiary funds require a service strategy unique to the industry as many guardians and caregivers live in remote areas and are financially illiterate. The postal system does not effectively support rural Southern Africa and therefore SMS, a multilingual contact centre and direct contact have become a vital part of the communication strategy.
“The guardian roadshows are an innovative yet simple strategy where we travel to mainly rural areas where our clients live, enabling us to engage face to face with thousands of our members, guardians and caregivers, addressing their individual needs in their own language. Real-time access to their accounts is provided on laptop computers at the venues, which are commonly community halls” said Mr Moea.
The roadshows are clearly fulfiling a need, with attendance up by 87% in 2013 compared to 2012.
Fairheads Benefit Services starts its 2014 guardian roadshow on 29 August in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, with 38 presentations planned in 30 venues until the end of November.
*) Fairheads was awarded two certificates
Gold Standard Certificate for Excellence in Communication Project
Best Practice Certificate in Excellence in Measurement of Objectives and Efficient use of Technology in the Communication Project
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