In the insurance industry, more and more transactions are going digital, and customer expectations are constantly changing. To fulfill these, digital innovations in the industry are therefore crucial. Radoy Stoyanov, Financial Services Executive at DIGITAL, explains how insurance providers put their customers first, highlighting four key trends.
The insurance industry is considered somewhat conservative regarding digital: For a long time, it relied on legacy system infrastructures that only allowed technological innovations regarding optimizing operations or risk management. However, since customer expectations are constantly changing and most transactions will only take place in the digital space in the future, insurers must also follow suit and upgrade digitally.
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Insurance Services With Self-Service Benefits
During the contractual relationship between insurance providers and policyholders, there are two key moments: customers take out a policy and want to assert their claim in the event of an event. In the meantime, digitally savvy users expect to be able to use these services online at any time via user-friendly applications. According to several surveys, the majority prefer online research to find out about the wide range of offers, conditions and prices of insurance and take out the insurance of their choice.
Fast online contracting can be crucial in a world where consumers use comparison sites to find insurance that meets their needs. In the event of a claim, self-service features help users report the issue and file a claim. This also reduces administrative effort and gives insurance agents more time for customer advice and other value-adding activities.
Customer-Centric And Personalized Offer
Hyperconnected consumers expect providers to know them and use all the data at their disposal to put their needs first. This requires the use of modern data integration tools. Customer data platforms bring the data from all business areas together centrally – be it data from CRM and claims management or unstructured data such as documents and correspondence. This gives insurance agents a meaningful insight into each customer.
The insights from this form the basis for cross- and up-selling or optimizing consulting and support services. For example, relevant offers and information about new products can be automatically displayed to customers. The system can also inform policyholders in good time about contract extensions or updates and obtain feedback.
The Intelligent Workplace
A poor digital service experience can also lead to a loss of customers. The workplace has to be right so that employees can benefit from customer data and their insights in what has hitherto been a highly product-oriented environment and can offer policyholders optimal services.
This includes using an AI-driven, user-friendly tool that automates processes, increases productivity and promotes internal communication with other business areas. Regardless of department and role, every employee has the same access to real-time data. On the one hand, this accelerates the decision-making process; on the other hand, it forms the basis for a holistic overview of customers and individual advice and support.
More Efficient Cooperation With Brokers And Partner Companies
When considering customer-centric services in the insurance industry, brokers and partner companies should be more noticed. But a good partner ecosystem also impacts customer relationships and satisfaction. Therefore, insurance providers must standardize communication and other business-related processes with brokers and partners and make them more efficient.
Automated B2B portals and interfaces are ideal for this, for example, through which all parties can exchange relevant insured personal data and documents across the entire value chain. the organization BiPRO promotes such an integrative approach; at the European level, this is represented by EIOPA’s initiative for available insurance.
Insurers want to sell their products and boost sales but must pay attention to customer needs and satisfaction. This is no longer possible today without technologies such as customer data, modern cloud platforms, and artificial intelligence. However, the technical equipment is only one side of the coin: Digital transformation cannot be fruitful without the proper corporate culture foundation. Managers must drive a cultural change and, along with it, an order-oriented approach in which customers are the absolute focus.
