One thing that is certain in consumer satisfaction is that when consumers are satisfied, business will boom. It is time to start improving the consumer experience. The earlier proverbial statement “it’s a sellers’ market” no longer holds sway. What holds now is “the consumer is king”.
This was a common reaction from stakeholders in the insurance and pension industry at the Insurance and Pension Editors of Nigeria Roundtable held in Lagos with the theme, ‘Consumer Satisfaction: Key to Insurance and Pension Sectors’ Growth’.
They said that now is the right time for leaders in both industries to rethink, redefine and transform what their teams deliver and how this is delivered.
They condemn the poor customer service by some insurance companies and Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).
The paper presenter who is the Director, Centre for Pension Rights Advocacy (CPRA), Takor Ivor stated that transforming service delivery models will improve inside-led decisions making, so that insurers and PFAs can exploit market opportunities in a strategic, safe and informed way. Building an inclusive culture for service delivery has to be deliberate.
He said modern consumers, seek brands that actively listen and appreciate them.
He added that neglecting this aspect risk loyalty loss to competitors, noting that for the PFAs, the transfer window has been opened and Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) are transferring their accounts from one PFA to another.
He also said that insurance policyholders have grown to expect the same simple, seamless and positive interactions with their insurers that they experience with every other aspect of their lives.
He said: “If those expectations are not met, they will quickly move on. The stakes of consumer’s loyalty and retention are high in the insurance industry as they are in the pension industry.
“In the insurance industry, the fact that I used Insurance company A for my vehicle licence this year does not place me under any obligation to continue with the same company the following year”.
Speaking on consumer experience, Takor disclosed that his findings from lots of people about pension, especially those who fit into Micro Pension Plan and the prevailing view is that saving for retirement is complicated, boring and even scary. It is hard to disagree.
“This means that to genuinely engage the unengaged with ‘pension stuff’, the first challenge is to deal with these perception. If there are no consumers, there will not be pension or insurance industries and one cannot then be talking of satisfying anybody.
“What about the people in the picture, the engaged? Those brave souls have made conscious decisions to actively engage with saving for the future or taking a policy. How much effort has the pension or insurance industries expended over the past years on making it both easy and intuitive to act upon that fragile spark of motivation, to make the end-to-end consumer experience as seamless and painless as possible.
“In the pension industry, consumer satisfaction should mean that every telephone call, every email and website visit, of every consumer will have the potential to inform and influence the way the company improve what it does and how. In the insurance industry, keeping policyholders happy is no longer nice to have, but a need to have”, posited.
For the Executive Vice Chairman, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Tunde Irukera, the insurance industry’s poor customer satisfaction has created a negative impact.
Irukera, represented by the commission’s Head of Lagos, Mrs Susie Onwuka, said that claims were not easily redeemed, which impairs customers’ satisfaction.
He said their findings show that claims are not easily redeemed.
“Claims are not easily redeemed and I don’t know why. People submit claims and it is from one issue to another. It ought not to be so. I think disclosure is important. Anything that you know will mar a product, at least at the point of sale, the person should be told. Attention should be drawn to this.
“The insured should know how much they are investing and then the customer can be the guardian of the policy, knowing that if they do not keep to the terms, the policy may elapse and they may lose money, but they are never told,” he stated.
According to the FCCPC boss, policies are just too rigid; the winner takes it all and it shouldn’t be that way.
He maintained that the industry still needs to do a lot to achieve customer satisfaction.
On the other hand, the Director General of the National Pension Commission, Aisha Dahir-Umar, who was represented by the Head, South-West Zonal Office, National Pension Commission representing PenCom DG, Akinsola Adeseun, stated that only 25 states had domesticated the Pension Reforms Act 2014.
She said the commission has been deploring moral suasion in its bid to ensure all states are complia nt with the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014.
“We meet with the states so that they can domesticate the Pension Reforms Act 2014. I can tell you that about 25 states are at different stages of implementing this. There are several parameters that we use to adjudge whether states are compliant or not.”
“The first step is legislation. They must put in the state law and about 25 of them have that. Then, they must set up what we call the Pension Bureau or Commission which is the agency that will drive the Contributory Pension Schemes in the states.
Meanwhile, the President Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) Babatunde Oguntade, has elevated product integrity and value as key components to achieving customer’s satisfaction in insurance and pension sectors.
Oguntade, who was the Chairman of event noted that the theme of the roundtable “Customer Satisfaction: Key to Insurance and Pension Sector’s Growth”, was apt as the issue of enhancing customer satisfaction in the service sector cannot be over emphasised.
Represented by the Deputy President of NCRIB Mrs. Ekeoma Ezeibe, he submitted that unlike tangible products which could be seen and touched, marketing intangible products like insurance and pension requires greater measure of dexterity to connect the buyer with the products, adding that the seller must as a matter of fact demonstrate great ability to persuade the existing and potential clients to feel the product through product integrity and value.
“It is most disheartening that in developing economies, services are difficult to market due to multifarious reasons, of which perception is one. It is obvious knowledge that insurance and pension are one, save the dichotomy that seems to be created between the two in our clime.
“Notwithstanding, the issue of satisfying customers should be at the front burner of consideration by the two if the two sectors are to accomplish the expected ends,” he said.
He further stated that while the insurance industry still continues to battle the albatross of poor patronage due to low understanding and acceptance, leading to the belief that insurance is only sold in Nigeria and not bought, the potential of the pension industry on the other hand is far from being reached also due to the same reasons.
Oguntade noted that there is a large pool of potential clients of the two sub- sectors of the financial services sector that have not been reached, leading to probing questions as to whether the product offerings of the two are well understood and accepted by those they are supposed to serve.
He appreciated IPEN members for their crucial roles and support which the NCRIB has been enjoying from, particularly since his emergence as the 22nd President.
“There is no doubt that the image of our Council and the entire insurance industry has been greatly enhanced through your rich reportage of insurance events as they unfold. There could never be a better time to solicit more of such support than now when strident efforts are being made by all stakeholders in the industry to position insurance as the first port of call by the insuring public, be they individuals or corporates,” he said
President of IPEN Chuks Udo Okonta in his welcome speech submitted that although, the insurance industry is expected to hit N1 trillion premium income target in the current 2023 financial year, a feat that was expected to have been achieved eight years ago, precisely in 2015, the pension funds asset, he said in the kitty of the pension sector are expected to surpass N18 trillion by the end of the outgoing year. “Yes, these are and will be great achievements, however, they were long overdue as this is barely scratching the surface of potentials and opportunities that are existing in both sectors,” he posited.
For the insurance sector, he noted that several reasons have been adduced for poor insurance penetration in Nigeria ranging from the country’s peculiar market environment, limited public awareness and negative public perception by those who are unaware of insurance. But in the reality, inadequate service delivery is a major challenge to why insurance acceptance has been very low.
On the other hand, the need for service delivery in the pension sector is key for the overall success of and sustainability of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), considering its retail nature. Achieving service excellence in the sector is a collective effort by all stakeholders to ensure enhanced service delivery, he submitted.
