Avbob Funeral and Assurance Services, a brand that has delivered insurance and funeral services over the past 89 years, has partnered with specialist call centre and communication company, Inter-Active Technologies. The full service outsourcing agreement enables Avbob to significantly extend its reach into new South African markets by tapping into Inter-Active Technologies' infrastructure, technology and skilled resource base.
According to Avbob Marketing Manager, Theo D"onges, with over one million policyholders and 140 parlours nationally, as well as so many years in business, Avbob is a well established brand. “A recent Sunday Times article named us the sixth most popular brand in the insurance industry - quite a feat for a company that focuses on funeral policies, life cover and saving plans," he says.
Initial sales projections called for Inter-Active Technologies to submit at least 500 validated sales by the fourth month. "Having reached month four, the Inter-Active team has almost doubled these projections, having clocked up more than a thousand sales," says D"onges. “We foresee this collaboration unlocking substantial value within our business with regards to new clients and sales volumes.”
Inter-Active Technologies also developed a customised front-end form, enabling Avbob to upload all sales data daily. "Technologically, the offering is cutting edge," adds D"onges, "but it is backed by Avbob's one-on-one service knowledge. It doesn't replace our field service agents, but broadens our sales and marketing scope."
Inter-Active Technologies Major Account Executive (Sales), Anwar Asmall, says that funeral cover has traditionally been sold by agents/brokers knocking on doors and signing up policyholders. "Dealings have mainly been with the lower LSMs, however, tough economic conditions now find the aspirational emerging market looking for more affordable policies to ensure their families are not left with funeral debt on their passing," Asmall explains.
In taking a decision to engage with the Avbob brand, Inter-Active Technologies conducted market research and a feasibility study before embarking on the campaign, which has proven so successful to date."
"Inter-Active Technologies has embraced the collaboration, particularly the quality assurance aspect," explains Asmall. "The industry standard is one quality assurer (QA) for every 26 agents, and insurance industry compliance requires one for every 10 agents. We are currently running one QA for every six agents and measuring every sales call. It's not an easy thing to do, but is valuable for our clients and therefore, valuable for Inter-Active Technologies."
Commenting on Avbob's focus on protection of client information, Avbob Area Manager for Johannesburg, Gladwin Madlala, says: "We have always ensured extremely tight security regarding our clients' information and will continue to do so. The call centre partnership has involved a lot of agent training and critically, an understanding of our company and the services we provide. We view Inter-Active's call centre agents as our brand ambassadors."
"The biggest advantage," Madlala says, "is that Inter-Active extends Avbob's marketing arm by accessing clients not yet part of the Avbob marketing strategies. This relationship further increases our ability to service both existing and new clients."
Inter-Active Technologies has already identified new business and sales driving opportunities. As a registered Wireless Access Service Provider (WASP) on the mobile network operators, the team is in discussion with Avbob about running SMS and other mobile campaigns. “Trends indicate that this may be extremely-beneficial for approaching target markets," says Asmall.
In looking at the broader picture and future growth, Asmall concludes: "We are not just a call centre, a technology company or a training company. We are a holistic solution to sales and marketing for our clients, using the call centre as a core. We are certain that our offerings, combined with Avbob's will see this partnership grow from strength to strength."
Notes to the editor
There are numerous photographs specific to this press release. Please visit http://media.ngage.co.za and click the Inter-Active Technologies link. The photographs are listed underneath the heading 'Avbob partners with Inter-Active Technologies call centres.
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