In today's competitive short-term insurance market environment it has become crucial for financial organisations to provide customers with consistent high level of service. Communication between insurers, the broker channel, and their clients is the key element and what sets one provider apart from another. An immediate channel of personalised communication is a real differentiating factor. In early 2004 Santam set out to launch an SMS alert service for both its brokers and clients that would provide them with more rapid and proactive communication at each point in the claims cycle. They wanted to develop the service and deliver the benefits to clients as rapidly as possible. Clickatell would prove to be invaluable in providing the means to make it happen.

The Solution

Clickatell's SMS alert service. The key to the project was providing the link with Santam's back-end systems, as well as developing the correct set of business rules to initiate an SMS at the relevant stages in the cycle.

Clickatell's interfaces are so flexible and user-friendly that it required little integration or effort from the insurer and Clickatell effortlessly combined Santam's systems and the mobile messaging carrier's cutting edge mobile messaging gateway to provide Santam with a single point of seamless integration with their existing software through the SMS gateway.

The Results

Santam's clients were benefited immediately by receiving proactive communication relating to their claims. With clients being proactively informed of events at all times throughout the process, it saves them the hassle of having to follow up on things themselves, and giving them overall peace of mind in what is typically a trying time.

• Up to date and transparent communication
• Building increased client satisfaction and loyalty through the immediate and proactive communication of information that is appropriate to the user
• Reduced costs, both by channelling communication through the lower cost SMS medium, and by relieving pressure on high-cost channels such as contact centres
• Driving the accuracy and reliability in its communication efforts through direct integration into back-end systems and being able to track the delivery of each message sent

For Santam, the success of the service has been proven through the 500% growth in uptake in less than a year - from some 5,000 messages sent each month at launch, to 25,000 messages per month today.