"Time for insurance companies to face digital reality" - a research undertaken by McKinsey in 2017 noted that insurance companies need to improvise on their efforts to not just revolutionize but evolve the way they take up customer experience in future. According to McKinsey, focus on CX by insurance companies along digital transformation will go a long way in making clients happy and ultimately win their loyalty.

With the advent of driverless cars, the rapid emergence of Internet of Things (IoT), availability of Data Analytics and machine learning there is a huge pressure on insurance companies to chart their way towards a digital transformation. A common fear that looms is the new entrants will do to the existing ones what Uber has done to commute, Amazon to retail and robotic advisors to investment and wealth management.

Charting out the way towards digital transformation is critical for survival of insurance companies. Such companies who don’t opt for digital transformation by offering excellent customer experiences may cease to exist in near future given the race for improvised and efficient CX solutions.

So the question is, what are the steps that insurance industry can take to meet the demands of consumers and fulfill their expectation?

Understanding the expectations of your customers

The message is very clear when one looks at the needs of insurance customer- that they are looking for simplicity and round the clock access across all touch points. Customers today want speedy redressal of their claims and seek relevant information about policy details and premium. Since most of the time insurance, such as car insurance, is a compulsory purchase, customers want to pay as little as possible but at the same time want to be treated well.

Pillars to successfully manage digital transition

Five pillars, according to McKinsey research, to successfully manage digital transition are innovation, customer ownership, efficiency, scaling and speed and agility. Insurers today need to innovate by adopting to new technologies and offer novel products and services including health monitors, wearables, telematics etc.

Insurers need to understand the expectations of customers and build relationship with them giving them a personalized experience in order to win the ever-diminishing loyalty amidst competition. Digital channels using big data and AI can transform the way insurers can engage with their customers by exploring customer behavior.

Focusing on all digital channels to meet complex user needs

A stronger relationship can be built with the customer by leveraging various digital channels. Most of the times customer grievances can solved with the use of AI, Big data and machine learning via chatbots and hence customer support team can focus on critical grievance solution especially the claim process- the litmus test for customer loyalty. With the omnichannel view customer support team can better handle the grievances by looking into past communications, purchase history and relevant conversations. Equipped with various digital tools an insurance company can speedily resolve claim settlement, train the employees for professionalism and courtesy making the process easier.

CX transformation is the Way Ahead

Providing exceptional customer experience will increase customer engagement and reduce customer dissatisfaction. Embracing the digital revolution and finding new ways and means to interact with customers is the way out for insurance companies. Hence, the enrichment of customer experience shall remain a priority for customers in the insurance sector.

Successful digital insurers move faster and with greater purpose to reach specific objectives and ambitious strategic vision. Every dollar invested shall ensure optimization of specific purposes of today in pursuit of sustainable growth tomorrow.

Espire's Digital Experience Management Services are an important lever of our powerful and customizable Customer Engagement Hub (CEH) that includes all key enablers of excellent Customer Experience (CX) - such as Digital Content Management, Experience Design, Customer Communication Management, Customer Analytics, CRM and IoT. Our complementary Cloud and Integration services ensure that our CEH solutions are seamless integrated with client’s existing IT environment.