Intermediary distribution: The key to employee benefit success

Sanlam Employee Benefits (SEB) has scooped a number of industry awards this year. They attribute their success to their distribution support channel and say: “Without the dedication of financial advisers our business would not exist!”

SEB is enjoying an excellent 2011. We’re only 10 months into the year and they’ve already clinched three top industry awards and surpassed most of their annual sales targets. The group took honours in the Umbrella Fund category for both the Imbasa Yegolide Award and Institute of Retirement Fund’s Communication Challenge. They also scooped the sought after Financial Intermediaries Association (FIA) Award for Product Provider of the Year: Employee Benefits. “These awards, coupled with respectable new business volumes suggest that we have implemented the correct strategy and are managing it well,” says Richard van Dijk, General Manager of Distribution at SEB.

On the right track

What does it take to scoop three awards in quick succession? The group believes its focus on a comprehensive client-centric product and service proposition is paying off – with its dedicated distribution support channel. The FIA Award is held up as an independent vote of confidence that SEB is on the right track.

To become a product provider of choice you have to equip brokers with the tools necessary to service their clients. “The financial advisers’ income and success is linked to the client, so it is vital that we provide the backup for them to retain their existing book of business,” notes Richard. “We pay close attention to service, product, business relationships, pricing and staff competencies to enable brokers to deliver the best value for money solution to their clients, both new and existing.”

Specialised knowledge

The employee benefits environment is very competitive and there are many highly skilled professionals vying to establish themselves as the preferred provider to both the intermediary and the client. Over the years Sanlam has seen a number of variations and upgrades to the standard employee benefit offering, though specialised knowledge remains the key differentiator for success.

The group leveraged this knowledge to achieve the Communication Challenge award. It is an important honour, given the poor state of South Africa’s retirement savings environment. SEB says addressing the situation will require much more than simply tackling the communication issue. Richard explains: “A number of socio-economic challenges must be addressed to make it easier for people to save. What South Africa needs is a concerted campaign to increase financial literacy and encourage a culture of saving from an early age. And the first priority should be insurance on the life of the family breadwinner – a vital yet inexpensive solution.”

Reputation built on trust

Retirement Fund communication is about providing essential information to members and building a level of trust between them and their trustees. “We place the member at the centre of everything we do, so we consider how to make it easier for the member to both understand and appreciate their fund membership,” he says. “The industry faces a number of challenges that are complex in nature, but by talking about them, involving all stakeholders and trying to simplify the message we are making progress.”

Fund members must understand their benefits and it is important to establish lines of communication between fund member, fund trustees, intermediaries and providers! The only way to insure a win-win situation for all stakeholders is by working together. SEB takes active steps to promote communication, by hosting and attending a number of forums and developing research tools such as the employee benefits Benchmark Survey which is open to the industry, competitors and clients.

Market leading distribution

In a market where competitor’s products are similar an employee benefit company has to find ways to distinguish its offering. SEB believes that good leadership and a passionate team make all the difference. Their distribution team is second to none and has already exceeded sales targets across five product lines as well as boasting an 84% pass rate in the Regulatory Exams.

The team is made up of employee benefits specialists and support staff and is headed by the charismatic Richard van Dijk, who has mastered the art of distributing a highly sophisticated product and service to a complex market. SEB’s specialists are responsible for building relationships and distributing the products and service to the broad intermediary market and ultimately to the client.

Supporting brokers

At the front line, the SEB distribution success is thanks to the motivated broker force. “We are actively expanding our reach into the broker space and we believe that the broker is integral to our success,” says Richard. “We provide specialist support to the broker in the form of sales, service and administration and where required we provide actuarial, investment, legislative, technical and underwriting support. We also run regular workshops and product accreditation programmes in support of our brokers needs.

“Brokers play a vital role in the development of the industry thanks to their unique personal relationships with the client. They ask the questions that keep insurance companies honest. They also vote with their feet and can walk away from a service provider at any time to where they receive the best service. The broker has a vested interest in the clients’ wellbeing and represents the client with professional integrity.”

Proud and humble

With such magnificent achievements to date we expect big things from SEB next year. Richard concludes: “We are proud of what we have achieved and we are humbled by the honour of the recognition. We now have an even greater responsibility to deliver at an even higher standard through 2012 and beyond.”

Delivering in the employee benefit space

Richard van Dijk started his employee benefits career as a pension fund administrator where he benefited from a broad technical understanding of the retirement industry. The experience he gained through constant interaction with intermediaries and clients has proven invaluable in his current sales & marketing role.

Richard moved through the ranks from associate salesman, to regional and national management and eventually executive management, some 10 years ago. He rose to the position of Divisional Director, Sales and Marketing at Liberty Life, a company he served for 22 years, before joining Sanlam as General Manager, Distribution: Sanlam Employee Benefits in 2008.

In his new role Richard leads a team of sales managers and support staff in selling Sanlam’s products and services through collaborative partnerships. His leadership skills are invaluable in a competitive segment of the local financial services industry.

Richard has plenty of advice for aspirant sales and marketing executives. “In business, it is your customer that pays your salary and determines your growth and success – so you should put them at the centre of everything you do, partner with them and add value in their lives,” he says.

He believes that client relationships are of the utmost importance: “A happy client will bring repeat business and referrals whereas a disgruntled client will move to a competitor or tarnish the company brand with disparaging remarks about poor service.” In a nutshell: Always under promise, over deliver and be consistently reliable and contactable at all times.

Richard loves working at Sanlam because of the group’s culture and value system, which encourages entrepreneurial growth. He believes the group’s reward and recognition programs will allow sales talent to thrive and be an integral part of the business.

On a personal note, Richard says braaivleis, rugby and sunny skies are among the things he cannot live without. Also on his list of indispensable items: “Professionally – my sales managers and team, personally – my family and friends, and philosophically – my faith.”