Royal & Sunalliance (R&SA) did not treat its
corporate clients as well as it should have in the
past and is encouraging clients to tell it where it
went wrong.
The insurer has launched a marketing and
communications programme called Open Mind aimed at the
large company sector in a bid to remedy the situation,
customer marketing and communications head Chris Smith
has said.
Smith said: "We haven't been engaging clients in the
right way so Open Mind is the start of us encouraging
people to come to us and let us know what they think."
The programme's web-based forum was launched last
week, featuring pieces by R&SA on issues facing the
market such as terrorism and capacity, and an
invitation to clients to comment, direct advice and
requests to R&SA and share information.
Smith admitted it would take some time to turn some
clients' opinions around, saying the insurance
industry had been guilty of being dictatorial in the
past.
"There's an element of cynicism, people saying we've
told you these things before and you won't change," he
said.
"We've got to demonstrate that we'll act on what we're
hearing, not just file it away as we may have done in
the past."
The comments gathered from the forum and face-to-face
talks at events such as the Airmic conference will
culminate in a customer and broker event in October,
where R&SA will demonstrate how it will take the
advice forward.
The event will also act as a forum for the discussion
of further ideas for improvement.
Smith said it was vital R&SA delivered on promises
made through the programme because failure to do so
would impact heavily on the insurer's credibility.
"We've really got to deliver something different as a
result of this feedback," he said.
"These companies are fed up with giving the same
messages and never seeing it acted on."
Smith encouraged R&SA's clients and ex-clients to
visit him at the R&SA conference stand to discuss the
programme.
