What do you think is the most important differentiator in the insurance industry that makes you competitive? No it’s not pricing, or product quality.
It is Customer satisfaction!
And, given the current market conditions and stage of development that consumer industries are in, I am sure most of you are also starting to think the same way. Our customers are telling us that there is decreasing customer loyalty and rising customer attrition rates. And, this is requiring them to focus on doing their best to attract more customers, while they retain existing ones. And as the industry becomes highly competitive, insurance companies need to proactively interact with their customers and constantly focus on strategies to enhance value offered to them. Of course, the expectations and demands of customer may vary by business line, by geography, by type of customer – and these expectations change with time, sometimes very quickly. From these, we have picked 3 key expectations that customers widely demand. We have also talked about how insurers can meet these demands to get to a perfect 5.0/5.0 in their customer satisfaction (C-SAT) scores.
- Customers Expect Speed
Speed has become a key essence in determining C-SAT scores. Catering to customers in the shortest time, at all times across the insurance value chain, whether it’s for taking a new policy, renewing or making a claim is now essential. Speed translates to quicker response when they call in, or contact the insurer through digital channels, or when they are waiting for action from the insurer. One practical way to address this challenge is operating at the highest levels of efficiency, and eliminating operational redundancy to drive speed. Most insurers, both new and old players, have already started streamlining their core operations through process redesign, to eliminate ‘’non value adds’’, by replacing legacy systems, and by using digital technologies to transform existing operations. They are actively investing in leveraging automation using robotics, for instance. This can be done in-house, but some of the insurers are simply partnering with third party service providers, who may already possess the skills, technologies and experience and to do so, and this requires no upfront investments by the insurer, so this may be the best practical path for many of them.
- Proactive communication using omnichannel & multichannel technologies
Proactive customer communication certainly makes a big impact on C-SAT scores. Insurance companies need to embrace proactive communication with their policyholders. In the digital world that we are in today, this boosts the need for a multichannel contact center to manage not only incoming requests from policy holders and partners, but also for driving proactive outbound communication With multichannel mechanisms including email, chat, web self-service and voice widely available it is now easier to communicate with policyholders. Proactive communication also provides the avenue for upselling relevant insurance products and thus growing your business.
- Customized Products
In a world with intense competitors, with fintech competing for the same business through multiple channels, there is a need to understand the prospect and customer information that may be available. An insurance company that leverages data analytics to predict the needs of the customers has a better chance of signing up a customer through customized communication and tailored products. Gaining intelligent insights on customer behavior and their preferences and needs, helps insurers deliver the most relevant products to a prospect or to upsell to a customer. In addition analytics is also being leveraged to shorten claims cycle times, thus driving higher customer satisfaction By offering customers what they actually need, and by offering these products and services at the time that they need them, helps insurers increase customer retention rate.
As the insurance industry continues to shift toward customer-centricity, successful insurers are focused on providing exceptional customer experience by delivering significant operational efficiencies. A large part of this is being achieved by partnering with third party service providers like Coforge to help them elevate the customers’ experience and to grow their businesses. Coforge is a global provider of digital platforms and business process solutions across industries helping clients transform their businesses. Our 20 years of experience, and working with Insurance operations can help improve the C-SAT scores of your organization by providing speed, accuracy and customized interaction through our insurance operations support services and omnichannel contact center solutions.