There are a lot of moving pieces in insurance — distribution, policy administration, claims management, customer communications, agent relations — we could go on. What’s more is that each of these components has its own set of complexities. With so many variables to consider, providing a customer experience that builds loyalty and trust now, and in the future, can be difficult.
Customer experience consulting firm, Walker Information, Inc., has conducted numerous studies on how to better serve the needs of both B2B and B2C customers. In fact, the study Customers 2020 conducted in 2013, was designed specifically to gather and report on information that could be used by forward-thinking companies with insights to plan for the future.
Despite having no knowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic would bring in-person commerce to a halt in 2020, the study participants identified how businesses could prepare for, and meet, the customer expectations in that exact scenario.
Customers 2020 revealed three core customer expectations — personalization, ease, and speed. Which begs the question, if this information was readily available in 2013, why were so many insurance carriers unprepared to meet customer needs digitally in 2020? Ask any insurtech and the answer is simple, incumbents have long-dreaded change. So much so that an entirely new industry was created to give them the support and nudge they needed to defragment the customer experience and create a cohesive customer journey.
Here are three principles from the study that insurtechs regularly apply to deliver on personalization, ease, and speed for insurance customers:
1. Forget silos, focus on the entire customer journey
Putting the customer experience first requires a fundamental shift from single interactions to a comprehensive focus on the entire customer journey.
Many insurtechs are designed to streamline every phase of the insurance lifecycle from distribution to claims. The misstep many incumbents have taken is to digitize just one or two elements within the journey leading to customer confusion and poor customer experiences.
There are insurtechs capable of getting you up and running in a matter of weeks, not years, with a fully digital insurance product. Take advantage of their strengths — combined with yours — to provide a seamless customer journey that feels personalized to each individual.
2. Create customer-centric experiences
Leverage technology to streamline the customer experience and make a lasting impression. Gone are the days of a customer having to pick up the phone or wait 30 seconds for a quote. Modern insurance infrastructure drops quote times down to milliseconds while increasing accuracy.
Leverage first- and third-party data to provide your customers with the convenience of pre-filled applications that simplify buying insurance into a frictionless, personalized customer experience.
3. Change quickly, and be good at it
Customer demands are constantly evolving. If you can’t meet these demands, your competitors will.
Avoid customer churn by staying up-to-date with the latest customer purchasing trends — know what, when, how, and why they purchase insurance. Proactively improve your insurance application flows to match your customers’ expectations and deliver a delightful experience.
Contact us to learn more about Sure and how we can digitally transform the customer journey for your insurance company.
