Zimnat has found an innovative way to interact with and entertain its clients during the Covid‑19 lockdown, by holding online cocktail parties, which it has branded Gungano/Umhlangano Online Cocktail Parties.
The first of these was held on Friday for Zimnat Life Assurance corporate customers. More will be held in the coming weeks.
Invitations to attend the online cocktail party were sent out earlier in the week. Food and drinks were delivered to each invited client’s preferred location 30 minutes before the online party began.
The online cocktail party was run in a similar way to normal client cocktail parties with food, drinks, entertainment and customers able to interact with the organisation’s management team.
It is believed to be the first Zimbabwean company to hold such an event. It is certainly the first within the country’s insurance services industry to do so.
Zimnat group marketing executive Tatenda Marongwe said the idea was inspired by the realisation that Zimnat needed to maintain its engagement with customers, regardless of the Covid-19 pandemic, to provide them with much needed reassurance.
“Because of the value Zimnat places on keeping its customers engaged, we decided to find an alternative to the cocktail parties we usually hold for them and not allow the pandemic to prevent us from interacting with them.
“We believe in dancing in the rain. That’s how the concept of the Gungano/Umhlangano Online Cocktail Party was born. Today’s event was the first such online cocktail party. It was so successful that we will continue to hold such events for various clusters of clients until such a time when we can once again meet with them physically,” she said.
“It has been a difficult time for us all, including our customers. We realised that at some point we needed to work around the new normal and find ways to continuously engage with our customers, as we continue to make their lives better,” she added.
Zimnat has put in place protocols, in line with World Health Organisation recommendations, to play its part in contributing to efforts to flatten the Covid‑19 curve. Most employees are working from home. Customers are being encouraged to minimise visits to Zimnat offices, making use instead of virtual platforms for all enquiries.
The Zimnat Group, which is a diversified financial services group associated with Sanlam, the largest non-banking financial services group on the continent, incorporates Zimnat Life Assurance, Zimnat General Insurance, Zimnat Financial Services, Zimnat Asset Management and the Funeral Services Group.