When it comes to how plan sponsors and participants view participants’ “customer experience,” there are far more differences than similarities, Warren Cormier notes in his column in the most recent issue of NAPA Net the Magazine.
The main driver of differences in customer satisfaction, Cormier writes, is their level of satisfaction with the products and services they receive from the plan’s record keeper. In turn, this is shaped largely by the different ways in which plan sponsors and participants first formed their relationship with the record keeper: the plan sponsor via a detailed proposal/finals presentation process emphasizing the right fit in terms of brand, product lineup and interpersonal relationships (among many other things); and the participant via a group meeting, memo, enrollment kit or benefits handbook.
The point: The participant is not engaged with the record keeper at the brand, product or partnering levels. If a participant experiences bad service or a bad product, they have no option other than leaving the plan, which is really no option at all, says Cormier. This creates what he calls “toxicity of unhappy participants” in the plan that builds up over time.
Cormier offers this advice to advisors and record keepers: “Encourage (and possibly assist) plan sponsors to keep their participant feedback loops open as wide as possible to detect the need for quality improvement.” To learn more, read the entire column here.
