MITSUI LIFE TO OPEN CALL CENTRE TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER RELATIONS

Japan-based assurer Mitsui Life is planning to establish a call centre in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, to improve customer relationships. The centre, which will employ 110 staff, will focus on contacting clients who have had difficulties with Mitsui Life in an attempt to prevent cancellations and to offer new products. Mitsui Life currently has a call centre with 40 employees based in metropolitan Tokyo. The new call centre will be managed jointly with IBM Japan and will operate on Saturdays and Sundays. The major life assurers in Japan are restricting contacts between sales agents and policyholders in order to avoid future claims for misselling. However, this has led to concerns that this lack of contact can lead to policy cancellations. Mitsui Life said that it would be running programmes over the next two years under which its 400,000 customers would be contacted in order to maintain communication channels.