Treating our clients fairly

Sanlam strives to be client centric and to treat our customers fairly, to understand our clients and their financial services needs and to provide innovative, tailored solutions to fulfil those needs. We care about our nation's financial freedom, link our clients' successes to our own and will continue to be accountable for our actions with the aim of building long-term relationships that improve peoples' lives.

Fair principles around dealings with customers as a key stakeholder group are critical to the sustainability of the organisation. Our approach to clients is largely aligned to the expected requirements of the FSB's forthcoming "Treating Customers Fairly" (TCF) legislation.

The six pillars of TCF are:

We support TCF and will continuously strive to meet the requirements.

Further detail is provided below.

Understanding client needs

The context within which we operate is changing. Our growth strategy requires that we understand the needs of a more diverse client base. This is due to our internationalisation focus but also due to shifts in the segments of markets in which we currently operate. There is a growing consumer base despite economic conditions, a growing middle class, growth in black and younger clients in all income categories and a growing gap between rich and poor. Understanding client needs in these markets is essential. This requires new and adjusted products. We conduct proactive research to identify needs that are not currently fulfilled.

Engaging our clients

We strive to improve our clients' product access and the financial security benefits they derive from our benefits. We focus on simplifying product terms and information. This is coupled with a broad focus on improving the financial literacy of people in the markets in which we operate. Providing service excellence and good investment performance increases client satisfaction resulting in greater persistency and retention.

We have continued to highlight the importance of personal touches. Making contact is an important part of the engagement. We have a differentiated service to provide more targeted and therefore relevant service information. Our client contact centres facilitate several ways to make contact. Efforts are underway to improve contact by creating synergies with continually evolving technology. Group-wide complaints are managed through the Client Relations Unit. Cluster-specific complaints are directed to and managed at the internal complaints units of each cluster.

We have a good relationship with all Ombudsman Offices. In addition, Sanlam clients also have access to an internal arbitrator. This year we tried to strengthen processes and also set up a complaints forum. This two-monthly forum aims to improve implementation of the complaints process, get feedback from the ombudsmen and look at trends in different environments.

Our performance

Sanlam focuses on measuring the client service, complaints and claims experience as a whole, rather than through a narrow measure of client satisfaction. An assessment of the quality of service, relationship, communication and overall satisfaction yields our "Voice of the Customer" (VoC) score. Overall, our VoC scores did not change significantly from 2010: there was a slight increase in the volume of reported "problems", and slightly fewer reported "delights". VoC from a client perspective is down slightly but from an intermediary perspective there has been a great improvement.

Sanlam RSA's client success is evident in our persistence figures and complaints data, which are both among the best in the industry. Good performance is also evident in the various client satisfaction survey results from throughout the group and the number of awards won this year. The Sanlam Personal Finance Client Contact Centre was awarded the best call centre, the best processing centre, and the best CSI initiative in the call centre industry for 2011.

Client education initiatives

Informed customers make better financial decisions. Considering the complexity and rapidly changing nature of the financial industry, better informed individuals are more likely to become Sanlam's clients. Sanlam wants every client to feel confident in their choices about their financial future – and confident that Sanlam can help them achieve their financial goals. Sanlam has several broad-based participation initiatives related to consumer financial education.

Sanlam has several workshop based initiatives that took place in industrial theatres and conferences.

Sanlam Business Market

Sanlam has a strategic responsibility to advance our clients' financial knowledge. Sanlam Business Market has a focus on small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The more someone understands his or her personal financial situation as well as the financial planning needs of their business, the more likely he or she will be able to manage it in a pro-active manner.

Sanlam offers SMEs a free Cobalt Business Fitness Analysis followed by a Cobalt Business Fitness Report based on the high-level information we gather on the business, its strategy and financial planning risks. An independent business adviser performs the debrief interview where the need priorities are discussed, followed by a tailor-made implementation strategy. This is a useful service for SMEs looking to improve their business, and allows us to highlight areas in which a Sanlam product/ solution could be beneficial for the SME. During 2011 Sanlam spent R 82 250.00 on this offering.

We also launched a free e-book called The Business Plan Book in 2010. Available electronically, over 25 000 copies have been downloaded to date, without any supporting marketing efforts. We are in the process of translating the book into Zulu to be relevant to a larger audience of start-up entrepreneurs and business owners in South Africa.

We also launched another e-book, called the Business Turnaround Book in May of 2011.

In addition, we circulate e-articles to 28 000 subscribers on an almost weekly basis. The context of these articles focuses on relevant financial and business topics.

Sanlam Professional Market Financial Literacy Campaign

A few years ago, Sanlam began researching the financial needs of student professionals in order to develop a relevant product.

This revealed a need for financial literacy as students felt their education had not prepared them to manage the financial risk associated with starting a career. In 2009, Sanlam launched its Financial Literacy Campaign for final-year students from various professional faculties. Students attend a presentation by a well-known Sanlam-sponsored speaker who explores the key risks, pitfalls and financial choices that a young professional typically faces. Attendees are given guidelines on managing such issues and we have developed a 'life events planner' booklet as well as a more comprehensive version of the lecture in DVD format. These initiatives will strengthen the Sanlam brand in the long term. The efficacy of this project requires the establishment and maintenance of strong relationships with the key professional universities. Johan van Zyl supports the initiative by meeting with the Vice Chancellors of the universities and expressing Sanlam's intent to support them through focused interventions.

Since its inception three years ago, the project has reached approximately 4 000 students on 11 campuses. In 2011 we invested R150 000 in the project. This included printing the 'life events planner' booklet. The project was funded by the Sanlam Foundation. The Foundation will continue to fund the initiative for the next two years at a cost of R 150 000 per annum.

Sanlam complaints management processes

We aim to resolve all complaints on entry. Unresolved complaints are taken to a dedicated client relations consultant (also the point of entry for all complaints from the external Ombudsman). The Client Relations Unit has access to the Client Resolution Committee that makes decisions regarding more serious or challenging complaints. If still unresolved through these channels, complaints are escalated to the Sanlam Arbitrator. If not satisfied with the Sanlam Arbitrator's decision, clients can escalate complaints to the relevant external ombudsman or pursue other legal means. In all instances complaints are managed to assure clients of Sanlam's concern for fair treatment, but also to improve the way we do business. Where ordered to pay compensation, determinations are thoroughly investigated and relevant remedial actions are taken to prevent recurring complaints. When required, processes are changed or further training provided. In some instance disciplinary action will be taken.

Although specific to SPF, this process is relevant to the group as a whole. Each business cluster has a complaints unit that feeds customer specific complaints to the Client Contact Centre. The internal complaints unit then researches the issues within the relevant business units and reverts directly to the complainant. SPF and SEM each have their own Client Relations unit that handles third party complaints.

In 2011, most complaints raised by clients fell into the following areas:

Total and average monthly complaints referred to Ombudsmen: 2007 - 2011 (Sanlam Professional Finance including SDM SA6 )

The increase in complaints to the Sanlam Arbitrator is due to the client centricity project that was finalised in 2010. During the project a big effort was put into aligning internal complaints processes and creating awareness for the internal complaints escalation processes to the Sanlam Arbitrator. His jurisdiction was also extended to all the other product lines in Sanlam and not only for policy complaints. The increase includes many of these "other product line complaints". This increase, coupled with the decrease in complaints referred to the Ombudsman, shows that more complaints are being effectively managed internally, rather than being referred to the external Ombudsman.

The "complaint interventions" are recorded in SPF to ensure that we note all the interactions between a client and Sanlam and possible different complaint resolution mechanisms. It may therefore be that the same complaint was counted more than once. This practice is however, the same as previous years.