How Insurers Can Improve Customer Experience
Digital transformation is happening fast in today’s world! And customer experience is now a key brand differentiator in most industries, including insurance. So, to remain relevant and competitive, insurers must invest in innovative digital technologies and processes, such as innovative digital customer communications, to enhance customer experience (CX).
We have selected three articles that discuss how insurance customer experience can be improved, also read about current trends and how to meet the expectations of today’s consumers.
Scott Biel concludes with great advice on how insurers can leverage digital customer communications to enhance customer experience (CX)
We can help drive your CX initiatives with innovative digital customer communications. LET’S CHAT
Three Surprising Insurance Industry Trends Shaping Customer Experience
The article highlights three (surprising) takeaways from the report “Empowering Consumers and Agents: The New Basis of Insurance Competition.” They are:
- A “superior claims process” is now essential
- A “customer expectation gap” exists between insurers and customers
- Insurers’ confidence in customer experience belies their actual level of digital maturity
Read further to learn more, and if you want more details, there is an option to download the full report, as well as a link to a webinar if you would prefer to watch an analysis of the findings. READ MORE
Insurance Customer Experience: Meeting the Expectations of Today’s Consumer
We read that the insurance industry is still in the ‘early adoption’ stage of digital transformation. This is despite the fact that consumers have already been exposed to and therefore expect the fast, personalized service that digital offers across all communication channels.
Nine technology steps have been identified that will help insurers improve customer service experience. They are:
- Ensure a cross-channel personalized experience
- Provide a connected customer journey. According to Salesforce, “80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its product/services”
- Pledge data accuracy and privacy
- Provide consumers choices for how to buy – and when
- Utilize chatbots
- Offer mobile apps
- Recommend products
- Be at the forefront of automation
- Explore using voice-activated devices
Read further to learn more and discover four personal elements you can employ to improve the customer service experience, as well as real-life examples of ‘high-quality customer experience in insurance.’ READ MORE
Customer Experience (CX) in Insurance for The “Now” Generation
In this article it is noted that, to remain competitive, insurance organizations “must focus on delivering CX in more intuitive and innovative ways.” This is to satisfy the needs of the ‘now’ generation, which expects the same experience from their insurance provider, as they are getting from other digital service providers.
“81% of companies expect CX to be the key battleground in the race for market dominance. Meanwhile, a McKinsey study shows that a whopping 70% of consumers base their opinion of a business on the quality of its CX.”
In this article, you will learn why CX should be a key consideration for the insurance industry today. As well as how the key drivers of CX, namely digitization and automation aid in streamlining the claims process. And read more about the nine CX interventions an insurance organization can implement today, namely:
- Move from Paper to Digital Documentation
- Move to eForms to Shorten Sales Cycles & Improve Closure Rates
- Eliminate Time-consuming, Frustrating Errors with eForms
- Reduce Customer Rework, Legal & Compliance Issues with eSignatures
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by Completing Processes in RealTime
- Go Digital to Speedup Binding Cycles/Time To Commission Payout
- Improved CX is a win for Business Productivity Too
- Eliminate Misunderstanding Risk & Frustration: Ensure Customer Get Coverage they Want
- Offer Unparalleled Convenience. READ MORE
Insurers need to move away from ‘cost savings’ and focus on insurance customer experience
Traditional insurance companies are under pressure to bridge the customer experience gap. Insurers are known to place too much focus on efficiency outcomes, like automation and cost reduction, and not enough on optimizing the customer experience.
The problem becomes worse when decisions are made by solution architects and IT, rather than specialists who understand insurance customer experience and how it drives customer engagement and loyalty.
The result is a cost reduction exercise that is packaged as a CX project. So, it’s highly likely that the outcome won’t be an enhanced CX. To stand out in today’s digital-first world, insurers need to differentiate themselves by making investments in CX. This should be their number one priority, as CX is now the key competitive differentiator – over product and price.
A good place to begin is to review and align the digital communication strategy. If customer communication helps enhance CX – this will become a key differentiator.
Here are some strategies to consider:
- Digitize the customer communication experience by offering customers the option to receive bills, policies and other communication by email or online
- Track customer behavior to improve the relevance of customer communication and create personalized communications which drive customer engagement, loyalty and ultimately, customer experience.
- Insert custom offers into transactional messaging. Customers appreciate relevant marketing information that is personalized according to their interests and life stage.
