From services to financial advice: When customer experience becomes a competitive advantage

At Manulife, the experience of listening to customers, understanding the pressure behind each major decision and knowing how to accompany them in important moments helps personnel have more foundation to develop into a serious consulting job, with practical training programs, clear career orientation and necessary support in the career transition phase.

Advantages of experience in the medical industry

After 12 years working in the medical field, Ms. Tran Thi Huyen Trang has witnessed many times many families facing great financial pressure when encountering health incidents. She herself has also seen relatives and friends struggling to raise billions of dong to treat diseases. Those experiences help her understand the direct link between health risks and financial plans.

The decision to switch to the insurance industry was a major turning point in her career, but she understands that she did not start from scratch. Medical experience helps her approach customers with empathy and a realistic perspective on financial pressure when encountering health incidents. Joining Manulife, she was further trained in products, consulting processes and how to analyze customer needs, and was accompanied by a management team in the early stages of career change.

Working in the medical industry helps me understand that if prepared early, many families can reduce pressure when health risks occur. Becoming a financial - insurance consultant, I want to help customers foresee those risks and have a more appropriate protection plan," she shared.

Joining Manulife in April 2020, after only 8 months, Ms. Trang achieved the MDRT title - an international standard in the insurance industry. This title has also been maintained by her continuously for 6 years. In 2023, Ms. Tran Thi Huyen Trang became the representative of Manulife Vietnam honored at the MDRT Global Conference in Singapore.

Real estate experience and success in the insurance industry

If experience in the medical industry helps Ms. Huyen Trang clearly see the link between finance and health, then 5 years of working in the real estate sector has given Ms. Bui Thi Thanh Duy a comprehensive view of finance and investment. Accompanying hundreds of customers in large real estate projects, she understands that behind each investment decision are always considerations of risks, asset preservation capacity and long-term plans for the future.

According to her, customer needs are clearly changing. As the real estate market undergoes many fluctuations, more and more people are interested in protecting assets, risk management and preparing long-term financial plans for their families. This is also the motivation that motivates her to switch to the field of financial - insurance consulting, where asset experience is expanded into consulting capabilities on protection and future planning.

Joining Manulife, Ms. Thanh Duy has more tools and methods to turn her experience working with major asset decisions into more specific advice on financial protection, suitable for the needs and circumstances of each family. Over 6 years of working as a financial - insurance consultant, she has continuously achieved titles such as MBA Diamond, MDRT... and recorded many solid steps in her career.

Previously, I often advised customers on choosing suitable assets. Later, I realized that it is equally important to help them maintain their achievements, especially when life has unpredictable risks," she said.

From service experience to a lifelong MDRT journey

Before joining Manulife, Mr. Pham Van Tam had nearly 10 years of experience working in the international hotel service industry. A professional environment and working experience with customers with high requirements help him practice customer care skills in a systematic way, especially the ability to understand needs and maintain service quality in each small experience.

According to him, one of the important skills that the hotel industry brings is the ability to put yourself in the customer's shoes. There are many needs that customers do not directly express, but service providers need to identify them through observation and listening.

When joining Manulife, that service thinking was further developed by him through training and practical companionship from the management team. For him, the value of a consultant is not in introducing products first, but in the ability to listen, identify real needs and bring solutions suitable for each customer's financial goals.

I see that the financial - insurance consulting profession is similar to the service industry in one point: you must listen before offering solutions. When you understand what customers need, you can provide correct advice and accompany them for a long time," he shared.

Mr. Tam's efforts in a professional and suitable working environment have helped him build his own customer network and stick with the profession for more than two decades. He has won the MDRT title 22 times and is currently a lifetime MDRT. This journey not only brings him a solid career, but also helps him gain more experience to share with many young consultants.

Old experience becomes new advantage

Although coming from different fields, their common point when entering the financial consulting industry is not starting from scratch. Medical knowledge helps identify health risks. Real estate experience helps understand customers' major financial decisions. Meanwhile, service thinking from the hotel industry helps improve customer listening, care and understanding skills.

Those experiences do not disappear when they change careers. Conversely, when properly trained and guided in the early stages, experience from the old industry can become a real advantage in the financial - insurance consulting profession. The important thing is that they not only understand the product, but also understand the people behind each need to protect, accumulate and prepare for the future.