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July 2022
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Hear from Our Leaders
» Message from Patrick Peck
Highlights of the Quarter
» Mid-Year Boost 2022 – Breaking new ground at the speed of light
» Celebrating the successes of our Top Achievers
» A fun and wild night at the Night Safari
Must-Knows
» Q3 Sales Challenge
» Know your Cluster Heads
» #Lifeproof your everyday while you recover
Good-To-Knows
» Building a healthy talent pipeline: Recruitment tool kit
» Q3 2022 Market Outlook – A Summary from Agency Propositions and Portfolio Management
» Great Eastern Cares: Imparting financial lifeskills to youth students – Hear from our financial representatives!
» Calendar of events
From Good to Great
» Supermom financial representative Zoe Yap – Battling cancer
» Making a difference through giving
Click here for past TGC issues.
Message from Patrick Peck
Dear Leaders and Financial Representatives,
Kudos to the Great Eastern team for a great start to the first half of 2022. I am immensely overjoyed to celebrate 1H accomplishments and the strong momentum so far with all of you. My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for your individual effort and resilience to scale greater heights, notwithstanding a highly challenging external environment.
Our recent Mid-Year Boost was an opportunity for all of us to do a mid-point check-in and re-align our goals and plans for the next half of the year. Now we can truly focus on Breaking New Ground at the Speed of Light for the rest of 2022. Beyond our strong performance so far, we must continue to Adjust, Adapt and Accommodate to master our ever-changing environment ahead.
Let’s do this Together, with GREATER urgency, so that we can all achieve our goals in the shortest time possible to finish the year strongly. Let’s all gear up and charge forward…Onward, to our goal…to be the undisputed #1 in Singapore and 1 billion!
Mid-Year Boost 2022 – Breaking new ground at the speed of light
After 2 years of movement restrictions impacted by COVID-19, we finally got a chance to organise a physical event for our Great Eastern Mid-Year Boost (MYB)! In-line with the theme “Breaking New Ground At The Speed Of Light”, we welcomed over 1,700 financial representatives at the Star Theatre on 5 July 2022 for this annual mid-year check-in. They emerged from the afternoon’s session all fired up to charge onwards with even greater urgency, towards a strong finish for the year 2022.
Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Khor Hock Seng, kicked off the afternoon’s proceedings with an inspiring welcome address to celebrate the achievements for 1H 2022 with a big thank you to the sales team. Issuing a call-out to the team to charge ahead from success to significance, he pointed to three priorities: Customer-centricity, Customer Experience and Digitalisation, underpinned by delivering more personalised and consistent quality to our customers.
Patrick Peck, Managing Director of RAFABA, then shared his winning formula to becoming the Undisputable No. 1 in Singapore with the Agency and FA teams, that is to Adjust, Adapt and Accommodate amid the challenging external business environment. Then and only can the Lion team deliver really roar-some numbers!
The ABD team then provided a refreshing take on a newbie financial representative’s first day with Great Eastern. Set against an agency meeting backdrop, George Goh, Glenn Yong and Zubaidah Binte Osman took the audience through a day in the life of a financial representative, the support given for one to progress and scale the business as well as the wealth of structured development and training programmes that the fin reps can join to increase their professional competency as they embark on a #Lifeproof career with us.
Reps from Digital for Business (Christine Cheah), Customer & Distribution Touchpoints (Cheng Heng Boon) and Operations Transformation (Stephanie Wong) also shared updates and presentations to showcase the GREAT support as always from the company for our financial reps network, to empower the sales team and help cement our position as the undisputed #1 in Singapore.
Hoorays for the following recent and upcoming initiatives:
1) An enhanced Advisor Digital Platform 2.0 (ADP) to drive greater lead generation and sales conversions online, and to level up our reps’ individual marketing and sales efforts especially to levelling up their personal branding online under an official, authorised platform powered by Great Eastern. For those who have yet to jump on the digital bandwagon, do hop on and sign up for your own ADP via the QR code now!
Mid-Year Boost 2022 – Breaking new ground at the speed of light
2) Increased touchpoints for fin reps on case submissions and track customer claims status
- A Live Chat channel for fin reps to chat with CSO online to provide resolutions on new business applications, claims, customer servicing to campaigns’ queries – Launched in Sep 2021
- Submissions of NB additional documents securely on Great Advice – Launched in Apr 2022
- A fully-dedicated Claims Specialist Team trained technically for claims servicing – Launched in May 2022
- A Prestige Partners hotline for our Prestige Partner qualifiers to service our affluent customers – Launched in Sep 2021
3) Improved policyholder communication to make it easier and more convenient for our customers
- Progressive roll out of dynamic QR code in policyholder communication letters for ease of premium payment
- Added self-help functions via Great Eastern App such as updating of credit card instructions and e-payments – No more waiting time!
- Availability of letters and notifications on Great Eastern App – Launching in Aug 2022
4) Improved customer journey with Great Eastern
- Digitalisation of NBU letters and notifications to ensure more timely updates to fin reps and their customers on their policy status – Launched
- On-boarding more banks for e-Giro and collection of upfront premiums for inforce policies will no longer be required! - By Sep 2022
- Expanded panel of specialists to more than 765 specialists on Health Connect Extended Panel – Launched on 1 Apr 2022
- Hassle-free pre-authorisation – triggered by specialist after consultation – Launching in Aug 2022
Ending the event on a high note, Head of SG Agency, George Goh announced the first ever Great Kickoff 2023 happening in Bali which brought the whole of Star Theatre down with frenzied screams and cheers from the audience!
Remember folks! We work hard. We play harder. Make history with Great Eastern and hear our GREAT Eastern roar!
Celebrating the successes of our Top Achievers
We held our Achievers of Life (formerly known as “Achievers Night”) event - our very first physical event for over 1,600 guests since 2020, at the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Expo and Convention Centre on 5 May. And what a memorable night it was for all our top performers as we celebrated the event with a loud bang to recognise their successes!
The night started off with a dazzling Light Show and Tron Dance, with Top Director for 2021, Ms Shenile Teo, leading her team for the march-in. To further ramp up the excitement in the air, we conducted an Early Bird Lucky Draw for 10 lucky winners. This was followed by our Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Khor Hock Seng, giving his welcome address.
The highlights of the night were the award presentations to our 36 well-deserved Achievers, and performances from our very own talented Agency folks - Joey Ong, Christopher Lee and Benjamin Lim, serenading the crowd with their medley of ballads, and George Goh, Head of SG Agency, belting out the popular Chinese song “Wu Kong”. However, there was no beating Mr Khor when he gave a spontaneous performance of his signature song “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi, which propelled the crowd into loud cheers and dance.
As always, the Grand Lucky Draw threw everyone into frenzied excitement in anticipation of winning the top prize – S$3,888 cash and a staycation at MBS.
We thank everyone for a successful 2021. Well done to all our Achievers!
A fun and wild night at the Night Safari
Congratulations to our Top 30 MRO Champions who joined us for an exciting and memorable ‘Evening in the Wild’ dining experience at the Night Safari, on 2nd June 2022!
The reps enjoyed up-close encounters with exotic animals and indulged in a scrumptious four-course gourmet dinner, on top of exciting games and activities, before ending the night with a guided tram ride traversing different zones that are home to some of the world’s most fascinating animals!
Stay tuned for the next bespoke dining experience for May’s MRO Champions League!
Q3 Sales Challenge
Gear up for a roar-some 2H and be part of the GREAT Kick-Off in Bali in 2023! Reach out to your BDMs/Cluster Heads to find out more!
Know your Cluster Heads
Time Out with ABD! Catch Glenn Yong, Head of ABD and his special message to our agency force. Get to know your ABD partner for GE House, GE West and GE South clusters! Remember to say “hi” when you see any of them at your clusters!
#Lifeproof your everyday while you recover
All of us have our set daily routines like ferrying the kids to school, providing meals for the family, or keeping the house clean. And the last thing we want is any disruption to our lifestyle, complicated by incidents such as illness or accidental injury, where sometimes we may have to be hospitalised for medical treatment.
Here’s where GREAT Care Benefit can help! A hospital cash plan that provides ready cash for any additional expenses or medical treatment, in the event that you are hospitalised, so you can continue to live #Lifeproof.
GREAT Care Benefit provides at least $4,000* cash to relieve any financial burdens in the event of hospitalisation. This can be used to pay for personal care, such as buying health supplements to boost your recovery, or even taking a short break away from the hustle and bustle of life, so you can focus totally on recovery.
Even better, GREAT Care Benefit comes with complimentary Dengue Fever cover. That means that if you are hospitalised for Dengue, you will receive an additional cash benefit of up to $1,000*.
Exclusively for selected Great Eastern customers. Limited time offer!
Send your PURL to your eligible customers and get them to sign up GREAT Care Benefit online! No health questions asked.
Hurry, this promotion offer is valid for a limited time only! Don’t miss out!
*Based on GREAT Care Benefit, Platinum 1000 plan.
Building a healthy talent pipeline: Recruitment tool kit
Are you looking to recruit more talent to your agency, but don’t know where or how to start? Look no further. Whether you are an aspiring leader or an agency leader, you can leverage on our Career Presentation Kit to build your talent pipeline.
The Career Presentation Kit addresses the common concerns of individuals aiming to pursue a career in financial services by providing a summary of the company’s strengths, its compensation model including performance bonus and rewards as well as a structured career advancement path to grow professionally and personally with us.
You can download this recruitment tool kit at Lifehub, under Manpower Development Dept. To find out more, send an email to Lifeproofcareer@greateasternlife.com
Q3 2022 Market Outlook – A Summary from Agency Propositions and Portfolio Management
This quarter, we downgrade our view on global equities to ‘underweight’ on a tactical 3-month basis. Similarly, as a buffer against potential downsides amid higher market volatility, we downgrade US and European equities from ‘neutral’ to ‘underweight’. We upgrade global bonds to ‘neutral’ as the risk-reward profile has improved after bond yields rose significantly in the first half of 2022.
The major central banks are determined to rein in inflation by tightening monetary policy while achieving the proverbial soft-landing. This task may prove to be challenging for policymakers. Furthermore, the global geopolitical situation has not improved mostly due to the cross-currents of the ongoing Ukraine war, in addition to China's lockdowns, and global supply chain disruptions. Investors can expect a slowdown in the global economy, giving rise to a possible recession and to take a cautious stance toward risk assets for the rest of 2022.
Great Eastern Cares: Imparting financial lifeskills to youth students – Hear from our financial representatives!
On 17 May 2022, some 20 of our financial representatives volunteered their time to teach over 250 secondary school students from Evergreen Secondary School, financial skills and money management as part of Great Eastern’s effort to do good by raising financial literacy among our youth.
This volunteer engagement is part of our Great Eastern Cares CSR programme and gave our fin reps an excellent opportunity to connect with the students on simple concepts of budgeting and how they can kickstart their financial planning.
This year, Great Eastern Cares partnered with Junior Achievement to focus on raising financial literacy among the youth through a series of interactive lessons on practical topics such as setting financial goals and making smart purchase choices according to their budget. The modules that were covered: Mirror, Mirror / Be A Success; and Keeping Your Balance / Savvy Shopper.
Here’s what our reps shared:
“I wished I had such financial literacy workshops conducted for me when I was in school. I had a fruitful morning guiding these young students on decision-making and basic personal financial management skills, as well as setting their career goals through interactive activities!”
Zatalyn Ho, Financial Representative, Innowealth
“I was glad that I made the time to volunteer for this meaningful financial literacy workshop as I had a great time with the students, sharing financial planning knowledge with them. I also gained a better understanding of the concerns of our youth through this workshop, and I am happy to know that they are very positive about their future.”
Doris Lim, Financial Representative, Altitude Alliance
To find out more about our Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and how we help the community, visit GE Cares. If you have missed this volunteer opportunity, do look out for our next financial literacy workshop or contact CorpComms-SG@GreatEasterLife.com directly to help impact young lives!
Calendar
Supermom financial representative Zoe Yap - Battling cancer
Parenting is supposed to be an exciting new life chapter for Zoe Yap, a first-time mum after trying for a child for five years. However, this initial joy was short-lived as she was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer during her pregnancy.
Catch Zoe’s compelling interview story on SPH Capita958 FM podcast series – Call me Supermom, where she shared her cancer fighting journey while being a parent to her young son.
In this interview, she also highlighted the importance of having comprehensive coverage by relating her own experience, and her strong belief in the purpose of her work at Great Eastern as a financial representative.
Be inspired by her journey and share with your customers the importance of critical illness coverage today! Check out GREAT Life Advantage and Complete MultiPay CI Plus Advantage Rider.
Making a difference through giving
Helping those who are less fortunate through giving, holds dear to Philip Loh, Director, Great Eastern. Since 2010, his agency has donated to several non-profit organisations such as Jamidiyah Singapore, the Boys Town and Caritas Singapore Community Council.
Philip said: “Giving back to the community is important to me and my team. That is why we have been making regular donations to help the underprivileged, and I am glad that we can together make a difference through our giving.”
On 7 June this year, the agency donated S$150,000 to the Catholic Welfare Services (CWS), a non-profit social organisation founded in 1959 to improve the lives of the less fortunate in the community, where Philip presented the cheque to Mr James Chew, Chief Executive, CWS.
