While data and analytics have captivated other industries in recent years. Data-driven insights have long been the bedrock of the insurance industry. Even so, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about lessons that will most likely reshape the future of insurance.
Consumers are reevaluating their own risk management and scout for remedies. It can be difficult though to differentiate between insurance policies and financial services products. Therefor many insurance carriers compete on policy pricing instead of trying to maximize lifetime costumer value.
Consumer surveys consistently show that consumers do not trust the insurance industry*. This makes it hard for carriers to meet and exceed customer expectations and harness new growth. In an attempt to improve consumer trust and perceptions the majority of carriers employ Customer Experience Officers and look for ways to innovate the core business. Real-time insights, optimized workflows and automated services will help prepare for the future. However, this requires new skills, technology and a shift in culture. The carriers that manage to become an essential part of their customers lives through seamless, secure and personalized services will ultimately win.
In recent years insurance carriers have invested heavily in cross operational consumer experience initiatives. Most initiatives fall into the category Customer Service, but also areas like Claims, Customer Onboarding and Renewal are under scrutiny.
The insurance industry is using new technologies to redefine itself and establish a new roadmap for future success. Digital transformation helps change business models and the customer experience to better benefit policy holders in their daily lives.
Insurers have always aspired to be part of their customers’ daily lives, not just an annual renewal reminder in their calendar or a frantic phone call during an emergency claim. Technology has finally caught up with the transformative needs of the industry, allowing carriers to reimagine customer engagement at all touch points throughout the customers journey. However improved customer experience is just the beginning. To stand out, successful insurance companies need to address policyholders' challenges and issues in somewhat near real-time to appear as a trustworthy companion in the policyholder's life.
A good example of using modern technology to improve the credibility and trust among policyholders, is WTW’s Mobile Inspection – an ongoing, automated process of analysis, evaluation, and reporting. Based on the current circumstances of the policy holder, Mobile Inspection offers recommendations for risk mitigation and optimization to improve insurance policies and reduce costs.
What if you could easily build and deploy workflows that would help you anticipate policyholders’ needs and aspirations? And what if such workflows could help you utilize existing data points to improve your customer’s experience and perceived value? What if you could create a digital assistant, working to protect policyholders’ assets while impowering you and your team to deliver unmatched customer service and support? What if you could use real-time data to alert policyholders of impending weather conditions and give them reliable predictions of how their properties would perform.
Now imagine that these capabilities provided you a single view of the policyholder across your entire business.
* IBM Institute for Business Value