Service please South Africa
Most South African consumers have suffered at the hands of a customer services department in the last year. Whether it be an arrogant home affairs official or a bored South African Airways check in clerk the result is the same. An unpleasant experience at the hands of customer facing staff can turn a potential client away from a company for life.
In recent years, the South African economy has morphed from one almost entirely dependent on mining and commodities to a more service-oriented one. A quick look at the banking, telecommunications and tourism industries confirms this fact. In many such companies, service is the only distinguishing feature – meaning the customer is always king.
This phrase holds true in the financial services industry too –although it sometimes takes close attention from a regulator or Ombudsman to ensure the customer receives the desired treatment.
Benchmarking service performance
The importance of customer service and satisfaction will be further accentuated by the coming 2010 Soccer World Cup. And that’s why Ask Africa’s 2007 Orange Index makes for some interesting reading. Ask Africa recently released the results of its seventh annual survey aimed at benchmarking domestic service performance. The survey polled 70, 000 South African consumers on their experiences at the hands of 70 companies across a range of industries.
Andrea Rademeyer, CEO of Ask Africa pointed out companies should be wary of making assumptions about their customer’s requirements. They may, for example, be less concerned with friendliness than efficiency. Rademeyer believes “it’s important to gauge customer’s needs and expectations on a quarterly or at least an annual basis to keep in touch with what they want and expect.” Financial intermediaries are well aware of the importance and benefit of building relationships with their clients. And they have the added incentive of regulatory compliance to ensure they adopt a ‘know your client’ approach to business.
Rademeyer also shared some trend shifts in general consumer behaviour. Among these was a growing acceptance of different sales and distribution channels. “Whereas previously there used to be huge differences and a very clear preference for branches, followed by intermediaries and then contact centres, the small variance [in the latest report] shows that suddenly South African consumers have started making use of contact centres more so than in the past,” said Rademeyer.
Direct insurers still feature prominently
A quick look at the Orange Index reveals an unlikely culprit at the top of the list. Clothing retailer Pep emerged as the favourite in terms of “customer service and delight” scoring 72.39. The first short-term insurance company featured second – with Standard Bank Insurance occupying that slot. Direct insurer Outsurance filled the 11th position. Other short-term insurers included in the survey were Santam, which managed 18th and Hollard which managed 45th. Life insurers Sanlam at 21st and Liberty Life at 29th also featured.
But it was the medical aid companies that provided some surprises. There were no less than four on the list, including Medihelp (2nd), Bestmed (27th), Discovery Health (33rd) and Oxygen (35th).
The survey distinguishes between repertoire industries (clothing retail, food retail, fast food etc.) and subscription industries (medical aid, short and long-term insurance, banks, automotive and telecoms). According to Rademeyer “The subscription market has a higher barrier to switch, due to the nature of the client relationship.” And that’s something that the average cell phone subscriber is all too familiar with.
Insurance Industry laggards
Life companies Momentum and Old Mutual will probably be quite disappointed with their rankings. They managed 55th and 56th respectively. Short-term insurer Mutual & Federal will probably be disappointed to feature at 39th, while Auto & General ranked a lowly 62nd – just one position above SAA. And operating a direct or contact centre sales channel does not guarantee performance on the customer satisfaction stakes. Dial Direct placed a lowly 65th in the survey.
Consumers who participated in the survey ranked government linked institutions at the bottom end of the scale. State hospitals, state schools, SARS and Telkom offered the worst service in their view.
Editor’s thoughts:
Sincere and honest relationships with your clients are essential in the financial services game. Often the intermediary has the additional burden of carrying the can for poor service provided by a large product provider. We welcome any comments you might have about the service you have received from the insurance companies mentioned in today’s article. Post your comment below, or simply send your comment to [email protected]
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