Directors in AXA's customer services and claims division are going back to the floor this week in its intermediary service unit (ISU) in Ipswich.

AXA customer service and claims director Andy Fairchild said this was the second phase of his plan to "get an informed view of the market and our strategy" to become more customer-focused. The ISU operation handles AXA's personal lines and corporate partner business.

"This is the next step after seven directors went out last November to our Birmingham, Bolton and Morecambe claims units to get a feel for what I would call the real world.

"This is not about shadowing anyone, or being there just to shake hands, it is about sitting on the phones and taking queries from brokers and customers."

What became clear from November's exercise, he said, was that the claims operation was too "paper dominated", so AXA will push brokers to become fully EDI compatible.

Fairchild will be working on behalf of corporate partner Marks & Spencer on the day taking phone calls and actively answering queries.

He will be joined in the intermediary service unit (ISU) by AXA's director of P&C solution delivery Ian Pinnock and HR director Faran Johnson, plus six other managers.