Happy customers are also the most profitable
Am I happy? How might the insurance industry fare in terms of its overall level of contentment? These were just two of the questions that formed in my mind as I watched a report on the subject of happiness on EuroNews yesterday.
The news channel was extolling the virtues of the Bhutan government’s decision to place happiness at the heart of its policy-making. That particular government must consider every policy for its effect not only on Gross Domestic Product, but also on ‘Gross National Happiness’ or GNH – a concept introduced by the country’s fourth king.
Exponents of GNH argue that real progress in human society can only occur when material and spiritual development happen alongside each other, such is their interdependence.
Gross Domestic Product has long been used to measure a nation’s economic health, but greater wealth doesn’t necessarily mean greater happiness. Increasingly, academics and governments have been contemplating how to develop a measure of happiness that could be used along with other economic indicators to chart the ups and downs of a nation’s well-being.
It’s an arresting thought and were we to extend it into the insurance industry what factors might we measure to produce a happiness index? Might happiness be reflected in an industry where the giving of advice is highly valued, where products and services are well designed and properly sold to customers that fully understand them? Might it take into account customer loyalty and the degree of market penetration of a product? What about the financial health of firms or a willingness to pay claims?
How about considering industry recruitment levels, staff retention and the willingness of individuals to go on and study for professional qualifications? Or even what insurance businesses put back into the community. Happiness is so subjective a state that it’s fraught with difficulties even trying to define it, let alone measure it. Those of you up to your neck in the treating customers fairly initiative may empathise with this last point.
I won’t top any industry happiness scale just yet. I’ve tried hard not to be a prophet of doom when looking at the year ahead, but worsening economic conditions, plunging premium rates and rabid competition make it difficult not to be gloomy. Health, wealth and happiness – is how the old mantra goes.
We should never forget that happy customers generally make for happy businesses. Get the customer’s contentment quotient right and health, wealth and happiness should flow for all.
