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| October 28, 2015 | |
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| Thanksgiving already seems so long ago! Here in Ontario the temperatures on Thanksgiving weekend were in the twenties! It was like one last celebration of summer! Fall is such a pretty time of year, but. I'm sad to see summer end. I saw recently saw holiday decorations being put out in stores…and it’s not even Halloween yet! Why is everyone in such a hurry to start the next season? Are we always looking forward? What about stopping and being present right now? We're so busy planning what's next we forget to stop and look what's going on around us and we miss out. I’m doing my best to take in every beautiful moment of fall; the leaves changing to vibrant reds, yellows and oranges, the sound as they swirl down from the trees, and of course, pumpkin-flavoured everything!!! However, one of my favourite parts of the season is celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family, and I hope you were all able to do just that; and if you were lucky enough, I hope you enjoyed a fantastic meal as well! Although it was a few weeks ago, I would like to thank each one of you for choosing to partner with Manulife. We know you have choices and we're thankful you've chosen us. I’m happy to share that the ongoing development of our e-application platform is going well and we're planning a pilot in early 2016! Watch for more information letting you know how you and your advisors can be a part of it! Keeping with the theme of change, through our recent Call Centre transformation project, we've learned from some of our many customers that there is some frustration with the technology. I can assure you that our goal with investing in this leading edge technology was not to frustrate callers, but to provide a better customer experience when you need to reach us. We know that callers have struggled to get to the right place the first time and ended up being transferred. To help with this, we recommend using basic words and phrases to state the reason for your call, so that the technology will work in your favour. For example, if you’re calling about Investment business, state “Investments”. By keeping it simple, the system knows exactly where to direct you. Additional details about the purpose of your call can be given to the customer service representative once your call has been routed. Providing the policy number that you’re calling about is also very helpful. Please remember to state each whole number separately and avoid combining numbers such as “twenty-three” or “forty-one”, etc. If you have a general question that doesn’t relate to a policy number, you can state more general topics such as “hours of operation” or “marketing material”, as a couple examples. One final suggestion I have to make this experience a more positive one is to avoid getting angry or yelling at the system - it can’t measure moods and temperament! If you state the reason for your call by indicating the line of business and you provide the policy number, things will work as they should. Over time, the system will become more intelligent as we build our library of response that determines the caller intent. We also have several enhancements planned over the coming months to improve the experience further. We appreciate your continued patience and support as we work through changes and enhancements that we could only know about through your feedback. You can also access and share a helpful IVR user guide we have prepared to help you and your advisors enjoy a smoother transition. In closing, I ask you this: What are some recent compliments you've received? Featured News We’re aligning Insurance compensation to servicing advisor for client-requested advisor changes We’re updating the service model of our in-force Insurance and Investment contact centres Insurance and Living Benefits Year-end deadlines for your 2015 Insurance business Pricing review: Face amount adjustments for Estate Partner insurance policies Pricing review: Rates not changing for Adjustable Whole Life insurance policies Performax Gold enhancements help make it easier to do busines Risky Business: Two new ways we’ve made the buying process better New and Improved policy endorsements for Manulife Legacy products New applications for Personal Accident Disability Insurance (PADI) Manulife Investments We're listening...Online Transactions SWP changes Action Required for clients age 71 as of December 31, 2015 Manulife Bank PEFP requirements updated on Banklink Learning & Development Self-serve training: Transfer your clients to income plans with Online Transaction Have your clients turning 71 this year moved their registered savings plans to an income plan yet? This self-serve module will demonstrate how to use Online Transactions to easily convert your clients’ existing Manulife Investments’ RSP contract into a RRIF, or their LIRA into a LIF, PRIF or RLIF. New self-serve: Working with Manulife Investments locked-in contracts Watch our self-serve module to learn how to effectively manage and administer Manulife Investments locked-in contracts such as Locked-in Retirement Accounts (LIRAs) and Life Income Funds (LIFs). We will review the key administrative best practices for managing locked-in contracts and where to find forms and resources to help you administer locked-in contracts more efficiently. New self-serve module: In Good Order tips and tricks for Manulife Bank This module will provide you with best practices for submitting paperwork and how to get the most out of your administrative experience dealing with Manulife Bank. This session will review common challenges with paperwork, show you how to submit In Good Order applications and provide tips for avoiding processing delays. New job aid: Anti-money laundering (AML) For insurance products, both the insurer and the agent have legal and regulatory obligations to collect certain client information for AML purposes. Failure to provide this information in-good-order can result in policy restrictions, client frustration and delayed or clawed back commissions. Refer to our AML job aid for help completing forms in accordance with legislation and to avoid processing delays. | |
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