In a country notorious for poor service, it is refreshing to see a company like Liberty Life actually doing something proactive to remedy the problem.
It’s never easy admitting that one is not perfect, but the life assurer has done just that with its recently launched “We’re working on it” media campaign. And far from stepping back from this “revelation”, Liberty Life is now upping the ante with a series of television and radio commercials, set to launch on July 5.
According to CEO Myles Ruck, this back-to-basics approach is not simply for the benefit of consumers. It is designed to permeate through the entire Liberty Life staff and intermediary culture, with the aim of changing attitudes and ensuring that a “customer-centric” approach takes hold.
Ruck says there is a serious message behind the rather “different” campaign that is much more significant than the ads themselves, because it goes to the heart of the way the life assurer has to start doing business.
He explains that the reason he describes the new campaign as “different” is that Liberty Life is making a promise that has yet to be fulfilled, rather than making the usual claims about why its product is better and why consumers should buy it.
“We’re making a promise that we are going to try to raise our customer-service standards, and a promise only really counts for something when you tell somebody about it. But by making our promise so publicly, we are making a commitment that’s going to be impossible for us to renege on.
“We have, however, only just begun this journey, hence the line ‘We’re working on it’, which is all part of making our commitment public.”
Ruck acknowledges that the line is “provocative and attention-getting” but explains: “The aim is to ensure we’re jolted into reconsidering our service and improving it, so that it meets world-class standards.”
The fact that Liberty Life is publicly acknowledging that there is room for improvement is somewhat unusual, especially given that recent consumer and intermediary research has seen its current service perform well against its competitors — but for Ruck that is simply not good enough.
“Despite the fact that our service rates highly, we believe much remains to be done in this area,” he says.
Proof that this not just another case of all talk and no action is the recent appointment of Alan Woolfson as MD of group customer service and as internal ombudsman, which has already improved the company’s customer query/complaint systems, with a client hotline in place. Initial challenges for staff include returning all customer calls and responding to e-mails within 24 hours and normal mail within three days.
The group has adopted a credo, explains Ruck, which is “Don’t just commit to talking about doing something”. The group is committed to doing something, he says. — I-Net Bridge