AIA Singapore has reinvented the way Financial Services Consultants (FSCs) engage customers and empowered its next-generation insurance agency through its digital initiative iResource.
iResource is a one-stop multi-purpose app that can be accessed online and offline, offering AIA FSCs 24/7 seamless access to information. The app provides rich interactive content to engage customers, serves as a learning tool for its FSCs, as well as communicate the company’s marketing initiatives, providing the digitalised agency force with a competitive advantage in the midst of today’s tech-dominated landscape.
Asia Advisers Network spoke with AIA Singapore’s Nicholas Tay, a Group Financial Services Director with over 25 years of industry experience, and Ermafitri Nasir, a tech-savvy millennial Financial Services Consultant in the early years of her career, to find out how iResource has helped in the course of their work.
Game changer
Unanimously describing iResource as a “game changer”, Nicholas said, “iResource puts all resources in one place at our fingertips on our iPads. It has become such an essential tool for us; we can’t go without it.”
He added, “We are serving a very digitally-inclined customer base today. It is crucial that our team is digitally equipped to have access to information anytime, anywhere, and therefore, we can serve our customers anytime, anywhere.”
Ermafitri said, “It transformed the way I serve my clients, putting them at the heart of everything I do. It allows me to provide clients with service excellence and my productivity has seen an increase compared to pre-iResource days.”
Clients: At the heart of it all
At the heart of it all is client centricity. Clients are presented with information that comes to life through colours, interactive games and videos. They get a better understanding and visualisation of the information and how all the variables affect their plans, piquing their interest.
Compared to pre-iResource days and how other agents had to use a calculator whenever clients change a variable, Ermafitri said, “Clients are impressed with AIA’s iResource. They like that we can tailor it to suit their requirements and see it visually immediately. Especially for wealth accumulation, they want to see the impact of the different rates of returns, duration and how much they set aside. Sometimes they will even ask me ‘Can I just play around with this?’”
Nicholas added, “It transforms the way we interact with our customers, and they appreciate such an experience. In order to bring across a point, it is easier to play a simple one minute game on iResource, so the customer immediately understands what you are talking about. The feedback from customers when they experience this with AIA is often ‘Everything I do with you is so easy. Whatever you do is just on an iPad.’”
Consultants: Focus on narrowing society’s protection gap
For consultants, iResource enables them to focus on what’s important, which is to be in front of prospects and clients. For Ermafitri, her productivity has increased by as much as 50%!
“iResource has made my job a lot easier. From 10 appointments a week in the past, I now meet 15. While it boosts my production, the bigger picture is that many in Singapore are still underinsured. This has allowed me to meet a lot more prospects,” she said.
She explained that in the past, she had to spend a lot more time preparing for an appointment – from practising presentation of concepts and products to even logistical issues such as gathering and bringing the right brochures and marketing materials. These are all available now in a single tablet through iResource. And with iResource, there is the assurance that whatever is presented to clients is compliant with regulations.
iResource’s customer segmentation is also an excellent tool to kick-start conversations. “Whether they are young aspirants, young parents or retirees, it helps us to begin a conversation relevant to them to uncover their needs,” she added.
Leaders: Focus on coaching and mentoring
As for agency leaders, Nicholas said, “iResource ensures consistency in every of our training session. Different batches of consultants can be trained and equipped in the same way as information is presented in a very consistent manner throughout the whole platform.”
It is also a tool that enables agency leaders to be much better at what they do by focussing on higher level coaching and mentoring.
In the past, agency leaders often have to perform the role of a resource hub, even answering basic questions from FSCs, especially new FSCs, on product features as such information could be scattered. But with iResource, “everything can be found in one place”.
“So they’ve stopped asking basic questions. Now, they come with case studies, and we can focus more on coaching and mentoring to improve their skills,” he said.
It has also helped his recruitment as AIA leads the market in digital transformation. “I always like to share with my prospective candidates how AIA is leading the market on the digital journey which definitely helps them in wanting to become a successful adviser with us. Today, we are talking to millennials who are very digitally inclined. To them, it is a standard that everything should be done digitally.”
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