How Stitch leveraged consumer insights for a competitive edge in multiple sectors
Old Mutual — Yazi Case Study
YAZI CASE STUDY
Quarterly NPS & Employee Research at Scale via WhatsApp
How Old Mutual piloted WhatsApp-based surveying to collect thousands of customer and advisor feedback responses, replacing telephonic interviews with a faster, richer channel.
2,800+
Customer survey responses collected
33%
Customer response rate from WhatsApp
87%
Message read rate
Client
Old Mutual
Industry
Financial Services
Location
South Africa
Duration
Quarterly (pilot)
Project Overview
Old Mutual runs two major quarterly research programmes across its advisor distribution network: an Advice NPS study measuring customer experience with financial advisors, and a Net Employee Score (NES) survey capturing advisor and manager satisfaction with internal support services. Together, these programmes cover thousands of respondents each quarter and feed directly into executive and board-level reporting.
To evaluate WhatsApp as an alternative to their established telephonic surveying approach, Old Mutual's research team partnered with Yazi for a structured pilot on their Tied Advisor channel. The pilot ran both studies in parallel, with the explicit goal of producing a like-for-like comparison against existing methods.
The Challenge
Old Mutual's existing research operation was well-established but carried inherent limitations that constrained how far the programme could scale and how rich the resulting data could be.
Telephonic Fatigue
Customers increasingly screen or decline phone calls, making it harder to achieve target response volumes through traditional telephonic interviewing.
Scale Across Channels
The programme spans multiple distribution channels with thousands of surveys monthly. Scaling telephonic capacity in proportion is operationally intensive and costly.
Manual Operations
The existing process required significant manual coordination — scheduling calls, managing agent capacity, and chasing non-respondents through repeated attempts.
Limited Data Richness
Telephonic surveys capture structured responses but lack the depth of written verbatim feedback — customers express themselves differently when typing in their own time and language.
Before Yazi, Old Mutual relied exclusively on telephonic interviews for their quarterly research programmes. While effective, this approach was capacity-constrained, operationally heavy, and lacked the geographic data enrichment and verbatim depth that a digital channel could provide.
The Solution
Yazi configured two parallel WhatsApp survey campaigns — one for customer NPS (10 questions) and one for the internal employee satisfaction study (30 questions, split by advisor and manager cohorts) — each designed to replicate the existing telephonic methodology for direct comparison.
Phased Rollout with Legitimacy Building
The launch strategy prioritised trust. A pre-launch WhatsApp notification was sent days before the survey invitation, and Old Mutual's customer-facing staff received internal communication so they could confirm legitimacy when customers asked. Sends were phased across batches with reminders from day three for incomplete responses.
Dual study design: The customer NPS survey targeted approximately 19,500 contacts with a 10-question instrument. The internal NES survey covered 1,846 advisors and managers with a 30-question instrument, split into two role-specific campaigns to keep the experience manageable for respondents.
O
Old Mutual Feedback
Old Mutual
Today
Hi! Old Mutual would love your feedback on your recent experience with your financial advisor. It takes less than 3 minutes. Complete the survey for a chance to win a R5,000 prize draw. Tap below to start.
09:15
Start
Opt-out
‹Question 1 of 10
Was your adviser able to answer all your questions about your recommended policy?
Yes ✓
No
Managed by the business. Learn more
Results
Strong Engagement Through WhatsApp
The customer NPS survey achieved a 33% response rate — on track to meet Old Mutual's target volume. WhatsApp's high visibility was the primary driver: 87% of delivered messages were read, giving every invitation a genuine chance of conversion. This compared favourably to the declining pickup rates of telephonic outreach.
Customer NPS — broadcast engagement funnel
Rich Verbatim Feedback
One of the most striking outcomes was the quality and depth of open-ended responses. Customers wrote detailed, expressive feedback in their own words — often in their home language — giving Old Mutual a granularity of insight that structured telephonic surveys rarely capture. Over 2,100 individual written explanations were collected on the follow-up "why" question alone.
She explained everything in a way that makes me understand she has clear knowledge on what she was being asked.
Was very informative, went through the policy step by step and what it contains.
She was patient during her explanation and gave me the opportunity to ask questions.
He explained everything patiently and gave me advice on the importance of investment.
She explicitly performed my needs analysis and gave me a view of my current position, with her advice on how I can effectively plan.
The adviser was like an open book, not rushing — just pure detailed conversation.
Customer verbatim responses: A sample of open-ended feedback collected via WhatsApp. Customers wrote detailed, natural-language responses in their own time — a depth of insight rarely achieved through telephonic surveying.
Platform Capabilities
The Yazi platform gave Old Mutual's research team real-time visibility into response collection, regional breakdowns, and individual participant journeys — without waiting for a vendor to compile reports.
Operational Efficiency
Two parallel studies managed from a single platform
Phased batch sends with automated reminders
Real-time field tracking with twice-weekly updates
Regional and branch-level breakdowns available immediately
Data Enrichment
Geographic and branch data attached to every response
Role-based branching for advisor vs. manager cohorts
Open-ended verbatim feedback in respondents' own language
Regional analysis beyond what the previous approach offered
Table DataGraph DataTranscripts2,800+ responses
OM-NPS-0847
OM-NPS-1203
OM-NPS-0519
OM-NPS-2087
OM-NPS-1456
OM-NPS-0932
OM-NPS-1678
Question 1
Was your adviser able to answer all your questions about your recommended policy?
Response
Yes
Question 2
Why do you say so?
Response
She explained everything clearly about the investment and gave me options I didn't know existed. Very patient and professional.
Question 3
Did the advice received meet your financial needs?
Response
Yes
Yazi platform — response data view: Old Mutual's research team could access individual response transcripts and aggregate data in real time, with regional breakdowns and response tracking available without waiting for a vendor report cycle.
Before vs. After
Telephonic Surveying
Yazi on WhatsApp
Survey delivery
Agent-dialled calls, limited by capacity
Batch WhatsApp sends, 100k+ per day
Response window
Must answer during the call
Respond in own time, any hour
Open-ended feedback
Agent transcribes verbal answer
Customers type in own words and language
Geographic data
Limited to what agent records
Branch and regional data attached automatically
Field visibility
Periodic vendor reports
Real-time dashboard with response tracking
Reminders
Manual re-dial attempts
Automated follow-ups to non-completers
Dual-study management
Separate vendor workstreams
Both studies on one platform
Impact
For Old Mutual
The pilot demonstrated that WhatsApp surveying can achieve comparable response volumes to telephonic methods while delivering richer qualitative data, automated geographic enrichment, and real-time field visibility. The approach positions Old Mutual to scale across all distribution channels with a process that requires significantly less manual coordination once established.
For Old Mutual's Customers
Customers engaged on a channel they already use daily, in their own time and their own language. The short, mobile-first format reduced the friction of participation — no more scheduling a call or being interrupted at inconvenient times. The result was feedback that was more detailed, more natural, and more representative of the full customer base.
"
We achieved a 33% response rate on our customer NPS survey through WhatsApp — and the quality of feedback was genuinely different. Customers wrote detailed, thoughtful responses in their own words and their own language. That's a depth of insight we weren't getting from telephonic interviews.
We ran two parallel quarterly research programmes through Yazi — a customer NPS study across nearly 20,000 contacts and an internal employee satisfaction survey — on a single platform. The process largely runs itself once it's set up, and we had real-time visibility into responses from day one. That's a step change from coordinating telephonic fieldwork.
— Kevin Neeson, Head of Business Research, Old Mutual
Conclusion
Old Mutual's WhatsApp pilot confirmed that a digital-first survey channel can meet the rigour requirements of an enterprise quarterly research programme while unlocking depth and scale that telephonic methods struggle to match. The 33% customer response rate, 87% message read rate, and thousands of rich verbatim responses demonstrated that WhatsApp is not a compromise — it's an upgrade.
With the pilot covering a single distribution channel, the path to full-scale deployment across Old Mutual's broader advisory network is clear. The infrastructure, the methodology, and the proof points are in place.
Ready to run your next research project on WhatsApp?
Discover how this comprehensive report helped Stitch gain a competitive edge by leveraging detailed consumer insights in the e-commerce, travel, and insurance sectors, targeting high-income South African consumers.
Objective
Stitch wanted to create three sector-specific consumer insight reports targeting large enterprises in the e-commerce/retail, travel, and insurance sectors in South Africa.
Background
Stitch approached Yazi to develop detailed consumer insight reports aimed at high-income consumers in South Africa who regularly shop online in sectors such as e-commerce/retail (e.g., Shoprite, Mr. Price, Pick n Pay), travel (e.g., Travelstart, Motus, Airbnb), and insurance (e.g., Outsurance, Momentum). The goal was to update previous reports with more specific, current data and to explore open-ended questions to gain deeper insights.
What Stitch Wanted to Find Out
Stitch aimed to understand the shopping habits, preferences, and perceptions of high-income consumers in South Africa. They were particularly interested in:
The reasons behind consumers' online shopping behaviour.
Platforms consumers prefer for shopping, travel, and insurance.
Open-ended feedback on their experiences and expectations.
Methodology
Yazi used its Survey software to conduct four surveys, each targeting a different segment of the high-income consumer market. Each survey included approximately 300 respondents and was completed over one month. It allowed respondents to answer open-ended questions, providing rich qualitative data through text and voice notes.
The insights gathered from the surveys revealed significant trends and preferences among high-income consumers, particularly in their payment experiences.
Yazi Method Effectiveness:
Fast: The data collection was completed quickly, meeting the project's tight timeline efficiently.
Ability to Collect from Multiple Segments: The survey reached diverse segments, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of different consumer groups.
Setup Quotas for Even Distribution: Quotas were implemented to ensure that segments were evenly distributed within the sample, leading to balanced and representative data.
The insights gathered from the surveys revealed significant trends and preferences among high-income consumers, particularly in their payment experiences. The Yazi method proved highly effective, delivering the following benefits
Top Insights from the Report:
E-commerce Growth Across Categories: E-commerce is expanding rapidly across various categories, with adoption seen across different income groups. Adoption is widespread across different income groups, with the average South African spending around 10% of their income online.
Importance of a Fast and Easy Checkout Process: The most critical factor for consumers is a fast and easy checkout process, which influences their loyalty and shopping decisions. When choosing between platforms, three of the six most common reasons cited by consumers were directly related to the payment experience.
Card Payments Dominance with Emerging Alternatives: Pay by bank and Capitec Pay are increasingly popular among consumers, reflecting a shift towards more efficient and cost-effective payment options. This indicates an openness among South African consumers to adopt new payment methods that meet their evolving needs
The Yazi method's efficiency and ability to reach a diverse audience quickly, while ensuring evenly distributed segments, provided Stitch with high-quality, actionable insights to inform their strategies and better understand consumer payment experiences.
Impact
The reports generated for Stitch performed exceptionally well, leading to high satisfaction and subsequent projects. The impact of Yazi's work on Stitch can be highlighted in several key areas:
Positive Reception
LinkedIn Engagement: The LinkedIn post sharing the report received 21 likes, indicating strong engagement from their audience. Thea, Stitch's Head of Marketing, commented, "The reports have been performing super well - really happy with where we landed there."
Sales Asset: The reports have been used effectively as marketing and sales material. Stitch has marketed these reports through LinkedIn paid ads, demonstrating their value as a powerful sales asset.
Contribution to Revenue
Sales to Target Clients: The insights from the reports directly contributed to sales efforts, helping Stitch secure business with major enterprises in South Africa, including those in the e-commerce/retail , travel and insurance sectors.
Authority in the Industry: By leveraging the detailed and insightful data from the reports, Stitch has positioned itself as an authority on payments in South Africa, further strengthening its market presence and credibility.
Strategic Positioning
Enhanced Credibility: The high-quality data and insights provided by Yazi have bolstered Stitch's credibility, helping them stand out as leaders in the payments industry within the country.
The collaboration with Yazi has not only helped Stitch achieve its immediate research objectives but also played a crucial role in enhancing its market position, driving sales, and establishing authority in the payments industry in South Africa.
The collaboration with Yazi has not only helped Stitch achieve its immediate research objectives but also played a crucial role in enhancing its market position, driving sales, and establishing authority in the payments industry in South Africa.
Summary
Yazi's survey software proved valuable for Stitch, delivering detailed, nuanced insights efficiently and cost-effectively. By leveraging WhatsApp for high engagement and real-time adaptation for relevance, Yazi provided Stitch with the high-quality data needed to inform its strategies and target major enterprises effectively.
The reports have been performing super well - really happy with where we landed.