SIPP and SSAS retains Investor in Customers Silver Award

We have once again retained our Silver Award from Investor in Customers (IIC) which recognises the ‘outstanding’ experience we provide for our self-invested pensions clients.

The award follows an in-depth, independent assessment by IIC of clients' and advisers' views. Overall, we scored 7.36 out of 10 to achieve the Silver Award.

The assessment tests four key principles of: 

• understanding client needs;
• meeting client needs;
• delighting clients; and 
• engendering loyalty.

IIC also assesses and compares the internal views of staff to identify how embedded the client is within the company’s culture.

Sandy Bryson, IIC Director, said: “IIC is the UK’s leading assessor and award provider of customer experience which conducts rigorous benchmarking exercises. 

“The team at IIC is so pleased for Barnett Waddingham achieving another great result which clearly demonstrates the hard work and commitment by the self-invested pensions team to delight their clients at every opportunity.”

Assessment highlights

Among the highlights of the assessment results was the increase in Net Promoter Scores among SIPP and SSAS advisers. The measurements of customer loyalty, which describes how likely advisers are to recommend BW to others, were 36% for SSAS advisers and 48% for SIPP advisers, up 12% and 25% respectively from 2019.

Scores by SIPP advisers also increased in several key areas, including ‘gold standard’ ratings for responses to these statements:

• The company's products/services certainly match the needs of my clients
• I trust the company's staff to behave with fairness, integrity and honesty
• The company provides consistently good ongoing service and support
• The company can be relied on to do what's right for its customers

Improvements in scores by SSAS advisers included high ratings for these statements:

• The company tries to make everything as straightforward as possible
• It is a pleasure dealing with Barnett Waddingham
• Staff are friendly and willing to help
• Staff are knowledgeable about the services they provide

Julia Bassett, Partner and CEO of BW SIPP LLP, said: “We are delighted to retain the Silver Award which means the client experience we offer continues to be rated as ‘outstanding’.

“Inevitably, not all aspects were equally strong and our priority now is to review all of the invaluable survey feedback so we can identify further ways that we can improve our service clients.”

What our clients said…

"They have proved themselves to be an excellent company with knowledgeable and proactive staff."

"I have recommended people to use your services in the past and I will continue to do so as I find the service exemplary in every way."

What advisers said…

"The way their products are structured are very focussed on client experience. Their staff are very engaging and knowledgeable and are always very prompt at responding to queries."

"I've been working with Barnett Waddingham for a long time and everything works well without any issues."

Following the assessment, we are focusing on delivering continuous improvement for advisers and members. We have taken the opportunity to contact clients who highlighted any issues during the survey and who requested follow-up calls so that we can address their individual needs.