Customer satisfaction

AEGON's approach to improve levels of customer satisfaction is based on four main objectives:  

• To improve the quality and transparency of the company's products and services
• To use distribution means that allow customers to access products in a way that suits them
• To deal efficiently and effectively with all customer complaints
• To help strengthen the financial literacy of those buying AEGON's products and services.

AEGON country and business units regularly measure and monitor the satisfaction of customers and, where relevant, intermediaries and financial advisors. In the United Kingdom, for example, AEGON tracks customer satisfaction through a regular monthly survey of 500 end-customers. In the Netherlands, AEGON has taken steps to improve its customer complaints procedure and undertaken a major program to gather customer feedback. AEGON's approach in the Netherlands is based on the 'net promoter score', a technique for measuring customer loyalty. Where relevant, lessons from the program may be applied to the company's other country units. Most AEGON companies have a separate department dedicated to dealing with customer complaints.

Since the middle of 2008, AEGON companies have also made efforts to further strengthen communication with customers in light of the global financial crisis. Many country and business units have communicated with customers and intermediaries directly, or published articles on their websites. In the Netherlands, a particular effort has been made to keep pension customers informed about developments in the financial markets and the potential impact on their pensions. In 2009, AEGON's customer contact centers in the Netherlands answered 217,000 pension-related questions, an increase of 30% compared with the previous year.

Overall, customer satisfaction levels at AEGON's operating units rose by just over 5% in 2009[1]. 

[1] This figure is based on surveys conducted in the following countries: the United Kingdom, Spain, Slovakia, Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Czech Republic and Turkey, representing 57% of AEGON's total revenue for 2009. It excludes the United States, where AEGON's operating companies measure customer satisfaction separately. Country units were asked to indicate overall 2009 customer satisfaction levels on a scale of 0 to 100. The weighted averages of these scores, based on the eight country units listed above, was 79, up from 75 in 2008.