Client experience

We are both increasing and personalizing our Client outreach in ways that make the most sense to each Client. That could be through an advisor, in person, or by phone, videoconference, email, digital apps, text or social media.

We’ve also made substantial improvements in the way we communicate with Clients. Since 2016, we have worked to apply plain language principles across our business, from our prospectuses to our Client forms and letters. Plain language is our priority because we want Clients to easily understand our materials, plans and products. We want to help empower them to make the right choices by offering the clear, concise information they need. To learn more, refer to our case study, “Words Matter”.

The fair treatment of Clients is an integral part of our ethical culture. We, and our third-party representatives, are committed to keeping Clients top of mind when designing, marketing, selling and delivering our products and services. We all have a responsibility to consider our Clients’ interests in all stages of the product life cycle and to ensure our products and services provide fair value to them.

Our compensation, commission and incentive structures help encourage good sales practices.

We strive to communicate in ways everyone can understand and in ways that aren’t misleading. We want people to know the key facts (including benefits, risks and costs) about our products and services, so they can choose what’s best for their needs. 

We take Client concerns and complaints seriously. They are opportunities for us to learn and improve, so we get things right, and create positive experiences.

Across Sun Life, we have clear channels and processes to receive, track and address concerns and complaints. For example, in Canada, our goal is to resolve Client problems within our problem resolution teams. When this isn’t possible, our Client Advocacy team works with Clients and our internal problem resolution teams. Our social media team also tracks online comments and facilitates responses to Clients within one business day. 

We measure our success in delivering a great Client experience through several metrics, including:

• Client experience index: This index measures a Client’s overall experience from all their interactions with us.
• Business performance outcomes: At the beginning of the year, each business is responsible for identifying and committing to measurable Client outcomes. This emphasis on outcomes ensures a strong focus on service delivery.

These two factors make up 25% of our annual incentive compensation. We also monitor Client join-and-leave rates, complaints and problem resolution results.

We also strive to capture Client feedback at specific moments and points of contact. This ‘event-based listening’ helps us get input about Client experiences during onboarding, insurance or plan renewals, call centre interactions, and other engagements with Sun Life representatives or services.