The time to expand customer experience is now

Insurers applying customer service tactics, strategies and technologies faced a major hurdle before the COVID-19 pandemic. Sometimes it was hard to quantify the results of each initiative and challenging to prioritise which one to do next.

The pandemic changed that, says Kelly, the creator of three customer experience companies. Since consumers adapted to digital communication for other purposes, it naturally extended to insurance. “Text and email dialog between insurers and their insureds began to explode,” she says. Customers love receiving updates and, when applicable, notice of available electronic checks, she adds. Consumers are finding digital communication more efficient – and that improves loyalty-building customer experience.

Bolstering customer experience is also improving process efficiencies that, in turn, boost customer experience even more. For instance, maintaining current customer information has always been a struggle for insurers. Since consumers have become more comfortable communicating through digital means, Kelly says, now is the time for insurers to enhance the customer experience digitally.

Kelly offers five tips to help insurers boost customer experience.

#1 Meet customers where they are

“You have to meet them where they are,” she says. And that requires an actual multi-channel strategy. This approach, she adds, helped one insurer notify customers in the US Pacific Region about a new fire-retardant gel available to protect homes. The insurer made automated calls that left a text message with a link for obtaining the risk mitigation measure. Besides enhancing customer experience, the effort saved the insurer loss and administration expenses.

#2 Use old communication channels to guide customers online

The re-emergence of the QR code, for example, is a “fun” method insurers can encourage customers to get onboard digitally, Kelly says. As QR codes became more commonplace at restaurants, people grew more comfortable with using them. Insurers that historically relied on mailers to reach customers sent a postcard with a QR code to guide customers online. “More than 75% of customers said, ‘this is so much better, thank you,’” she adds.

#3 Start collecting both customer consent and preference

As more laws protect access and grant personal data rights to consumers, Kelly says, “you have to get to the place where you have consent on file.” By obtaining express consent, insurers can easily send customers proactive text messages instead of always waiting for them to reach out first.

#4 Determine the system of record

“You cannot have a scenario where your policy administration system is your customer relationship management software,” Kelly says, which is common practice among insurers. “At least have a system architecture that defines the workflows and who owns the system of record,” she adds, complete with defensible time and date stamps that illustrate when a customer takes action.

#5 Measure results

“When it comes to any change, it is critical to have a baseline and to measure what matters,” Kelly says. “I could not say enough about why it is important.” Cost-benefit analysis does not suffice, she adds, because it does not capture intangibles. “You can measure customer satisfaction, but it Determine the system of recordis not nearly as good.”. Kelly is a big fan of the Net Promotor Score because “it works.” Furthermore, insurers should not wait until their customer experience initiative is perfect before measuring it.