3 Key practices to drive customer engagement in insurance

Historically, the insurance has been known as a conservative and relatively slow-moving industry. Still, the evolving customer needs have created a significant shift as companies across the industry are putting the emphasis on customer-centric services, adopting various technology integrations and innovations to improve operation accuracy and efficiency.

Living in the digital era, though, means that we are constantly and continuously bombarded by information. It’s not only the eight o’clock news and the morning newspaper, it’s the 50 to 100 emails a day we get, the pop-ups and ads when we browse on the internet, and the “who knows how many” notifications, messages and alerts we receive on our smartphones, tablets and other connected devices. Which email to respond to or whose push notification to read first? It’s a jungle out there, and certainly many of us lack a Tarzan-like perspective.

Now, think about your policyholders. They are experiencing exactly the same thing – information overdose. The information they receive from your organization is one of many. And as you can imagine, a lot of your beautifully crafted messages remain unopened or thrown away. So, how to make sure that your message reaches the customers in a way they actually are eager to receive your message? Do you think that your relationship, as an organization, is strong enough to ensure that your customers will actually read rather than dismiss your message? Ask yourself, does your organization stand out from the crowd?

Nowadays, it all comes to building emotional connections with the customer. Think about your family – why do they always reciprocate and come back to you? Easy, because they care. Now the question is, how to make your policyholders care about you as an insurance provider. Here are three practices seen across industries that insurance companies should undertake to foster long-term relationships with their customers.

Social media is a tool and a conversational verb.

Social media is more than a megaphone for shouting out to the worlds what’s going on in the life of your insurance company or for pushing your products. It is a tool that allows for an ongoing contact with customers. So stop the aggressive marketing pushes and start a conversation. Take for instance one of the global leaders in computer technology software – Lenovo , that has leveraged social media data to discover new customer trends and deliver more value to their users. By turning their social media platforms into customer- rather brand-focused, and fostering a conversation with their customers online, Lenovo has managed to provide useful and relevant products.

Simplify the customer experience.

Believe it or not, people don’t want to spend their time in insuring themselves against something that they don’t want to happen. Trends in insurance are focusing on simplifying the policyholder’s experience, enabling a quicker exchange of information and a shorter claim report to response process. Most major insurance companies already offer mobile apps to meet the demand for digital services. These apps ensure easy access to accounts, insurance quotes and claims support. Tools like Kofax and    CumulusPro already provide such support by allowing the customer to easily scan and convert bills, receipts and claims into digital documents and conveniently share them through the likes of Google Drive or Evernote.

Have a personality.

At Zendesk , the leading cloud-based customer service platform, they figured that sounding fancy and sophisticated hardly brings in new clients. The general truth is that people like talking to other people. And if you ask a customer whether they prefer to talk to a smiling, friendly human being or a virtual customer desk service, they would choose the former option. Indeed, insurance language is full of specialized terms that most times make it difficult for the regular person to comprehend fully. So when having a conversation with your customers, don’t be afraid to be more personal, original and less robot-like.

So concluding, it is important for insurers to understand the importance to adapt to the current digital environment and invest effort in establishing an authentic, meaningful and engaging conversation with their customers.

To hear more about this topic, you are invited to join the upcoming webinar; please register here https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8798904843488631298 or email jennifer.vanlent@spigraph.com.