Philam Group inaugurates digital one-stop shop customer service center at BGC

With the recent opening of SPARK by Philam Group at Bonifacio Global City, Philam Life proves to be the leading innovator in the life insurance industry.

SPARK by Philam Group is a state-of-the-art customer service center that offers fully digital and personalized services. It serves as the pilot office of all the company’s flagship stores that will open soon in key cities nationwide.

 “We are all very privileged to be part of this important milestone in our history. This customer service center is the pilot office of all our flagship stores, which we will open in the coming months in key cities nationwide,” Philam Life CEO Ariel Cantos said during his opening remarks.

SPARK makes use of technological platforms to make services faster and easier for customers amidst the sleek interiors of a modern-day office. It showcases the company’s latest technological capabilities such as the online customer portal called e-Plan, the Agency Portal for Philam Life financial advisors; and My PAMI Investor Portal, for the company’s mutual fund customers.

 “Our innovation this time focuses on giving our customers the best experience. We are transforming our customer service centers into one-stop shops to make sure we cater to their growing and differentiating needs in this fast-paced environment. What makes it different is that we have expanded our services to the entire Philam Group including agency, bancassurance and mutual fund business transactions.

“This shows our commitment to make significant investments into setting new industry standards in customer service and financial advisor practice in the country. We have the capacity to do this being the strongest life insurance company with solid foundation of consistent financial growth in key metrics that matter to our customers,” Cantos added.

SPARK by Philam Group derived its name from the light that has ignited a flame in transforming the culture of customer service experience according to Philam Life Chief Life Operations Officer Richard Bracken.

“SPARK is the outcome of our extensive series of customer relationship studies that were devised to understand our customers in terms of ways to make it easier for them to do business with us. The key findings guided us in working our way to reinvent and improve the face of customer service. Bracken said

“At Philam Life, we believe that everything should start and end with the customers. This portal has a human centric design, which means that this was designed by the customers for the customers. For example, one of our key findings revealed that 90% use mobile devices for online activities, so we have made e-Plan to be mobile-optimized.” With the help of our customers, Philam Life’s e-Plan has become the customer portal with the most comprehensive digital platform in the market today," Bracken said.

The customer portal E-plan is another newly-launched product which allows Philam Life clients to manage their policy details and transact, anytime and anywhere, transforming the level of customer service beyond the traditional face-to-face transactions.

But for those who prefer face-to-face transactions, Spark has customer service representatives to help customers with their inquiries and policy concerns. There are digital ambassadors who can guide them on the use of the digital platforms available in the center. In addition, an Advisor for the Day is present to conduct financial needs assessment to customers looking for solutions for their real life needs.

The one stop customer service center also dedicated a special corner called Philam Vitality – the first of its kind in the Philippines and the only full-scale wellness program offered by Philam Life to promote healthy living. Through Philam Vitality, members earn points, discounts, and rewards for living a healthier life.

Philam Life has been changing the way of doing things this year according to Cantos. In April, it launched Genesis, a modern state-of-the-art facility for its financial advisors. Genesis provides sales support tools and platforms, technological tools and development programs that our financial advisors need to help fast track their journey to become premier agency leaders and elite members of the global MDRT club. 

The company has also started modernizing the look and feel of our agency offices through the Agency Office Transformation program, providing technologically-enabled facilities to support recruitment and boost growth and productivity of its agency force.  

Going full digital, Philam has introduced the iPoS or ‘interactive point of sale,’ wherein customers are engaged in an interactive sales process using a tablet, making policy application fast and easy. Introduced along with the iPOS is the Interactive Mobile Office (IMO) which gives Philam Life advisors and leaders office functionality in their iPads, including activity management system, e-recruitment, business planner, training videos, and leads and campaigns management.

“We have been innovating based on what our customers and advisors need and more importantly, what they want, given the changing times. And we are able to accomplish all these because Philam Life has the capacity and resources to make our plans into reality,” Cantos stressed.

For the past six decades, Philam Life has been the dominant player in the Philippine life insurance industry. In 2015 alone, Cantos said, the company paid over Php131B in insurance benefits, and over Php10 B in education benefits. Philam also ranked first in the metrics that matter to our customers: Php 236.4B in Total Assets, Php 88.7B in Net Worth, Php 7.4B in Net Income. 

“Our financial strength allows us to make significant investments into expanding our distribution channels and setting new standards in customer servicing.  By transforming our facilities like this flagship store, we are sending a strong message to our customers – that we are serious in transforming the way we do business that will benefit and delight our customers and advisors,” Cantos explained. 

The Philam Group is part of AIA, the second largest life insurance company in the world by market capitalization. With its vast resources and strong support from its parent company, Philam Life promises to continue to invest to create more positive changes in the years to come.