INTHEBLACK February 2023 - Magazine - Page 19
Chanmugam’s work at the time was
oriented around building trust and
relationships, which he describes as a
“customer-led strategy” to get back on top.
Chanmugam also ran Vodafone’s corporate
strategy development, program management
and transformation office, to reset “the
vision and direction of the business”.
Working closely with the board and
management team, he helped to secure A$5
billion in extra funding from shareholders.
Chanmugam also developed the annual
operating plans each year and tracked
actual turnaround performance against
the commitments the company made.
By the time Chanmugam left in 2017,
Vodafone was the leading provider in
customer satisfaction in Australia, as
measured by net promoter score, and was
net positive A$500 million, he says.
If there is any commonality to his work,
Chanmugam says it is about managing large
sets of customers in consumer and business
environments, using best-in-class technology.
After a stint as executive general manager
of customer experience at CBA’s Bankwest
business in Perth, he is now executive general
manager – group customer advocate at
Suncorp Group.
“Everywhere I have worked, there has been
the challenge of improving multiple channels
including the digital experience, the contact
centre of the organisation and, of course, the
old bricks and mortar – the physical branches.
The products and experience may be different
between telcos and banking, but these things
remain the same.”
STRATEGY MEETS TECHNOLOGY
To some degree, Chanmugam’s role at
Suncorp Group encapsulates everything
he has done up until now. Part of the job
includes fielding and managing customer
complaints – an admittedly difficult task.
Chanmugam prefers to see the glass as half
full – it is about improving systems, so that a
customer’s experience is as fair and transparent
as possible.
Suncorp Group is undergoing a partial
metamorphosis, transitioning from bank
assurance into a pure general insurance entity.
“It’s our job to understand the challenges
some of our customers might be facing,
and you won’t get that without speaking
to them. That’s always at the heart of my
job – to listen, learn and act.”
ANDREW CHANMUGAM FCPA, SUNCORP GROUP
Chanmugam believes that success hinges
on a customer-led strategy backed by good
technology.
“We have focused on building operational
resilience across our business, from sales
to claims, by leveraging digital and data,
automation at scale, partnering and
modernising our technology platforms to
be as efficient as possible,” he says.
There are also new, more customer-centric
ideas coming into the business. These include
parametric insurance, where policyholders
set their own levels of cover for specific
events, and usage-based insurance, where
the behaviour and level of use dictate the
cost of premiums, which is most widely
used in setting car insurance cover.
Recent insurance innovations include
building digital claims experiences, allowing
digital lodgement and leveraging geospatial
technology to identify disaster-affected
areas to help deploy early responders. Given
the recent floods and fires that have raged
through Australia, this has been an important
breakthrough.
In all this, Chanmugam says, innovation
means nothing if it is not customer-centric.
He is acutely aware that Australia and the
world are in a highly inflationary environment.
Many people are experiencing pressure from
the cost of living.
“We get the reports and the data, but until
you speak to a customer or jump on a call at a
contact centre and hear customers at the edge,
you don’t really know what is going on out
there,” he says.
“It’s our job to understand the challenges
some of our customers might be facing, and
you won’t get that without speaking to them.
That’s always at the heart of my job – to listen,
learn and act.”
READ
an INTHEBLACK
article on
optimising the
customer
experience
BORROW
The Age of Agile:
How Smart
Companies Are
Transforming the
Way They Work
from the
CPA Library
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