To build partnerships based on trust and to provide "safety and security" that truly is based on customers' points of view, the company endeavors to mutually improve the quality of operations through smooth communication with agents.
The Roles of Agents in the Tokio Marine Group
In auto insurance and life insurance, for example, the roles of agents in the Tokio Marine Group are to protect customers from risks by providing various kinds of insurance products and services as intermediaries between customers and the insurance company. Agents are carrying out a broad range of consulting activities such as introducing optimal insurance tailored to the needs of each customer and quickly supporting customers to provide security for customers in the event of disasters or accidents.
For agents to be indispensable persons truly relied upon by customers, every member company of the Tokio Marine Group has been proceeding with initiatives directed toward its agents such as various kinds of training, the construction of administrative systems and management support.
Working Together with Agents on Initiatives to Improve the Quality of Operations
Tokio Marine & Nichido formulated quality standards for agent support capabilities that are expected from its employees specifically based on "Anshin (reassuring) quality," basic standards which are indispensible in terms of products and services provided to customers. At the same time, since 2007, we have been conducting dialogues with all agents and checks on the standard's satisfaction levels and working toward making improvements in applicable areas. From fiscal 2010, we have shifted toward "risk-based" initiatives, which promote improvements based on deficiencies of quantitative indices while also striving to steadily ensure quality in our daily operations. In doing so, we are working to enhance quality together with agents and expand customer support by ensuring "Anshin (reassuring) quality" for all customers.
Nisshin Fire has also established its "Customer Standards" for agent operations such as the procedures for concluding insurance contracts, an explanation of products and actions to be taken when an accident occurs, and has been proceeding with initiatives so that all its agents across Japan may provide customers with uniform and a high level of services. Additionally, although agents' commissions were conventionally determined by considering the level of contribution and other relevant factors in addition to the size of premiums written, Nisshin Fire drastically changed the structure, whereby the company will conduct an evaluation of "level of achievement of operations as an agent in terms of providing services and support for customers" to decide agents' commissions. In this respect, the company has shifted the concepts from "scale" to "function" and from "quantity" to "quality," thereby adopting an "agent commission system based on the customer's perspective" that is aimed at raising the quality of insurance sales.
Sharing Information with Agents
TNet top screen
Tokio Marine & Nichido is developing the agent's ICT system TNet* in order to readily provide functions that are related to insurance administrative procedures as well as product information and sales tools that are necessary for agents as they respond to customers. In August 2009, as a means of enhancing the quality of customer response, we started to mutually share the records of responses between customers and agents, and between customers and customer centers. We will continuously endeavor to enhance communication between agents and Tokio Marine & Nichido through successive advancement of TNet to provide services that will further achieve customer satisfaction.
*TNet is an online agent system provided by Tokio Marine & Nichido since May 2008 with the intent of supporting agents in enhancing the quality of insurance business operations and increasing operational efficiency.
Business Administration Management Support for Agents
Tokio Marine & Nichido is introducing Agent Compass as a business administration management support tool based on the difficult circumstances of agency managers to easily comprehend management issues and other relevant problems in line with a shift toward more complex operation processes accompanied by the growth in size and organizational development of agents. This compass serves as a management support model that enables agent management issues to be visualized using quantitative and objective indicators, analysis to be conducted on relevant issues and initiatives to be undertaken to resolve issues according to business processes. By centralizing support measures to resolve agents' management issues and incorporating all these mechanisms into the agent system TNet, we seek to further enhance communication with agents and employees and improve agents' quality of operations and customer services.
Comments from Agents Promoting Initiatives to Enhance Quality
- Using the compass to realize visualization has enabled us to share within business offices our outlet's management issues and efforts to address these issues as well as the status of progress. At the same time, since we are also able to share these aspects with the company in a timely manner, it also leads to initiatives toward making improvements based on the same point of view.
- All members are undertaking initiatives under the slogan "Let's become the NO.1 Agent in Japan in terms of compass analysis indicators!" We aim to further boost customer satisfaction through this initiative since indicators are equivalent to the quality for increasing customer satisfaction.
(Agent in Toyohashi Branch Office, Aichi Prefecture; Miyachi Total Insurance Office)
Relations with Customers "Initiatives to Improve for quality of products and services"
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