Strengthening our strengths.
Text Jens Wiesenhütter
Photos Remo Stalder, Helvetia
Becoming a Local Customer Champion in the hotly contested Swiss insurance market: this is the ambition that the #TeamHelvetia has set itself. Martin Jara, CEO Switzerland, explains what added value customers can expect from Helvetia and why direct customer access represents the key to success.
Martin, what does the new strategy mean for the Swiss market?
We are pursuing the clear ambition of positioning Helvetia as a Local Customer Champion and Global Specialist. In keeping with the strategy´s guiding principle of “Driven by Strength”, we as the Swiss market are turning our attention to our strength in the area of direct customer access. We are also drawing on our extensive expertise, for example in the European partner business, as a means of contributing to our positioning as a Global Specialist at an international level.
What is your objective, your vision for 2035?
We want to become a Local Customer Champion. From a customer perspective, this means that they feel secure with Helvetia, as they are safe in the knowledge that they have a strong and enthusiastic team behind them. They feel that Helvetia knows them and makes it easier for them to find solutions together. Helvetia has the right answer – throughout their lives. And they would recommend Helvetia to others. At Helvetia, we are convinced that personal advisory services will continue to be of great importance in the future. In this area, we will build on a high level of credibility, local proximity and considerable customer trust and supplement these aspects by offering further contact options, including on an inbound, outbound and online basis.
How will we achieve this?
We already have many of the prerequisites in place for becoming a customer champion. We now need to utilise this. Examples of this include ensuring the consistent use of our digital resources in our advisory services as well as making sure that all contact options, including our outbound, inbound and online services, interact optimally with the provision of personal advice. To allow us to focus on this, at the start of the new strategy we consolidated those units with direct customer access within the Sales Network unit headed up by Simon Weiner.
“With 160 years of experience, we are an important source of expertise.”
We also need comprehensive knowledge of our customers that we can draw on at all times in all our customer interactions as well as more pronounced analytical skills that allow us to actively recognise customer needs. This will enable us to improve our end-to-end service quality and the customer experience with Helvetia on a sustainable basis.
50+ is an important element of the Group strategy. How does Helvetia intend to reach this hotly contested target group in Switzerland?
In a small, saturated market such as Switzerland, it goes without saying that it is important for us to first have a competitive offering in place and provide an outstanding service for the general public and SMEs.
However, in order to allow us to utilise our strengths in a targeted manner, we also want to place an emphasis on particularly important and attractive segments. For example, we want to establish ourselves as the preferred partner for customers aged 50+ when it comes to preparing for and organising their retirement. Under no circumstances do we want to leave this business to our competitors. Our strength lies in our unique offering, comprising insurance, pension and real estate solutions. A quarter of our customers are homeowners. When retirement needs emerge at the age of 50+, we make targeted use of our wide range of services and draw on our valuable expertise in offering advice. We also support them in transferring their assets to the next generation and advise them, in turn, on all matters relating to insurance, pensions and home ownership. To keep the flywheel in motion with respect to real estate and the 50+ generation, we of course need to continue attracting young people and retaining them.
Helvetia is becoming increasingly international, but Switzerland remains the biggest market. To what extent will customers in Switzerland benefit from the increasing internationalisation?
Increasingly doing things where we do them best will allow us to focus on what is most important to us in the respective country markets: direct customer access. Our customers in Switzerland will also benefit from this.
Enhanced collaboration across national borders represents an important part of the strategy. How will Switzerland contribute here?
With 160 years of experience, we are an important source of expertise. For example, in the areas of pricing, underwriting and portfolio management. We will make this expertise available to all units in order to advance ourselves as a Group in terms of our technical expertise.
Doesn’t every insurance company claim to be close to its customers? What sets us apart from other providers in Switzerland?
What makes us stand out is the consistency with which we do things! We are simply better than the competition not only because of our products, but also because of our services and consulting. Our high standards in terms of quality and the commitment we all show are felt by our customers. This makes them feel more closely connected to us.
What allows us to succeed here?
This has a great deal to do with our culture. Our company places a strong focus on the services it provides and ensuring a strong common identity as #TeamHelvetia. What we still need to work on are our processes to deliver this unique service even more efficiently in our customer interactions. And we need to challenge each other. That is the only way to become a champion – and we expect nothing less of ourselves than to achieve this goal.
How will you contribute personally to achieving the strategy?
As CEO, I will lead the way. I want to embody the standards that we demand and push forward the necessary initiatives. At a personal level, I will study our customer feedback even more intensively in the future. On the one hand, to keep reminding myself of where our strengths lie and, on the other, to recognise where we still have room for improvement.
