As for many fields, the customer’s experience in business is essential to success. This is especially true for the insurance industry, where policy values and customer retention rates drive profit. Yet the insurance field is littered with unique communication obstacles which can make the path to satisfactory customer experiences a tough one to follow.
Sometimes viewed as a grudge purchase, customer perspectives of insurance are often tinged with resentment over high monthly fees for an indefinite payout, making trust is low and hard to build: according to an Accenture report, only 20% of customers finding their insurer trustworthy. In the event of a payout arising, customers typically require fast, promising results from a company with which they’ve had limited contact. Such customers will have already endured stressors leading to the need for insurance, requiring an even higher standard of customer service from the insurer.
In addition to the natural challenges faced, new technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and personalised chatbots are changing public standards of satisfactory service. As enhanced customer experience is what most insurance executives seek to improve, according to a report by Insurance Nexus, it’s a vital aspect of business which innovative solutions like omni:us can help in several ways:
1. Convenience
Technology drives convenience, and the same rings true for insurance: 79% of consumers worldwide say they will use a digital channel for insurance interactions over the next few years, according to Raconteur. The rise of mobile-first technology, including apps, means that consumers have come to expect seamless interactions in all areas of their lives, and insurance is no exception.
2. Immediacy
From policy choice to payout, customers are always looking for responsive companies to trust, so digital solutions that work to speed up any part of the process are key. Solutions that rely on NLP to read, understand and extract useful information from documents can automate the labour-intensive aspects of insurance practice, helping traditional companies reduce customer wait times with faster processing.
3. Accuracy
As EY points out, rising consumer expectations and an increased willingness to switch to new providers are forcing insurers to be more accountable, transparent and effective. Wrongly denying a payout in a time of need is a nightmare for all insurers and their customers. Luckily, technological innovations cut down on human error while increasing accuracy, preventing incorrect decisions on behalf of customers and fraudulent claims for insurers.
4. Transparency
With customer trust already difficult to achieve, insurers should understand the customer’s reluctance towards insurance as a grudge purchase and provide options for decent coverage at costs as low as possible, an opening where AI technology can greatly simplify the application process. Relying on AI to extract all relevant data from various policies and produce an in-depth comparison within minutes services customers to a higher degree while freeing up brokers for customer-facing interactions.
5. Excellent Customer Service
Ultimately this will be on insurers to provide and a human element is always needed, as EY’s latest surveys show that 40% of consumers decide to continue insurer relationships based on the quality of the experience. Luckily, with all the free time AI solutions and new technology can create for businesses once labour-intensive tasks are automated, this will be even easier to deliver.
? Interested to learn more? Have a look at how omni:us is augmenting policy comparison systems with AI here.
? iStock/erhui1979
