BCP PlayBook: Sun Life ASC aced resilience by taking offline insurance processes online quickly

The COVID-19 crisis has hit businesses harder than ever before. Although many large companies had a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in place that they can fall back on in case of emergencies, but they fell short of expectations during this unprecedented crisis. In fact, sustaining the Business Continuity amidst the lockdown, social distancing, adapting to the 'New Normal' of remote work didn't quite go without hiccups for organizations across India.

Through the CIOL 'BCP PlayBook' series, we will try to give you a glimpse into the strategic Business Continuity Plans of various organizations across industries including the plan, the execution, the benefits they got from their updated BCP initiatives.

Today, we will take you through Sun Life’s Asia Service Centres' (ASC) BCP initiatives.

In the video below, Gaurav Mishra, Chief Operations Officer, ASC & Site Head, ASCP, Sun Life Financial tells how the company took control of the sudden crisis by taking measures ensuring uninterrupted services and support for the Sun Life's customers around the world. 

(Please click on the image to watch the video) 

COVID-19 crisis and the ensuing lockdown created several challenges and financial difficulties for many sectors, and insurance is no different. The crisis has made insurance companies revisit their insurance distribution strategies and look for more non face to face engagement models of selling insurance.

Due to the lockdown, the advisors were facing difficulties in selling policies as they were unable to step out to meet the clients. Hence, Sun Life ASC's technology teams across Philippines and India launched a digital sales systems in Hong Kong, Philippines, and Indonesia enabling its clients and advisors to discuss and purchase solutions virtually from the safety of their own home.

Fulfilling unforeseen client requirements resulting from the crisis was also a formidable challenge for the servicing teams. They had to enhance support for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in a variety of ways including extending coverage to hospitals and clinics that may not have been covered; extending benefit limits or offering additional cash benefits to cover hospital expenses; and offering continuation of coverage for lapsed policies due to quarantine or hospitalization.

The company worked on a war footing to enable all its staffs both in India and Philippines to work from home during the lockdown to ensure operations remain unaffected and it is able to provide the same level of services 24x7 to the clients around the world.

Alongside the traditional contact center channels, Sun Life Financial also extended its client service team across a host of new channels - Whatsapp, FB Messenger, and website chatbots, etc. enabling real time response at every touchpoint.

Key Benefits:

Transformed insurance distribution

Cut down on face-to-face engagement model of selling insurance

Created virtual sales tools

Enabled omni-channel customer service

"Covid, or no Covid, BCP is important to build resilience"  

Also Read:  

https://www.ciol.com/bcp-playbook-mindtree-bet-co-innovation-reskilling-spring-back-normalcy/