He said: “Service is very, very important. It is the reason why John Lewis always comes out on top because it always focuses, first and foremost, on service. It’s not rocket science. Service is a differentiator.”
As part of this strategy, Mr Kellard also added the importance of disassociating his colleagues’ work from ‘sales’.
Instead, he referred to Axa Wealth’s team as a ‘partnership’ division, which puts more emphasis on the concept of working alongside financial advisers as a team and not as attempting to push products on them that they do not want.
One of his final rules is based on the value of keeping a level head. Despite a successful year and increasing demand from advisers, Axa Wealth’s chief executive was keen to focus on the negatives and the areas still to be built on.
Mr Kellard said: “We cannot afford to be praising ourselves too much. The sectors we function in are among the worst for customer service and this is a big concern. According to a survey which we ran, the worst-run customer services are in banks, investment companies and insurance companies.”
The bad reputation of financial services in the UK is a big concern for Mr Kellard, and a constant reminder that ranking highly in a sector that ranks lowly is not enough.
He proposes that the industry get together with the regulator to help people better understand the services on offer to avoid further misselling scandals and negative press.
According to Mr Kellard, in financial services the use of “basic English” is even more important, given the technical nature and massive implications that buying the wrong product can have on the consumer.
Unlike buying an iPad, which he referred to as a straight-forward process, in finance it is fundamental that the customer fully understands the ins and outs of the products on offer.
If Axa Wealth continues to maintain its core philosophies of putting the customer first and introducing innovative products before competitors, then it certainly stands a good chance of winning more awards for its services in years to come.
For now, however, Mr Kellard said there was still a long way to go and a great deal more to achieve before cracking open the celebratory bottles of champagne.
Daniel Liberto is a reporter for Financial Adviser
