Insurers have been largely viewed as saviors and have placed themselves as crisis managers. The COVID-19 crisis pandemic has affected millions globally, and insurers, insurtech and insurer aggregators are fast realizing the importance of investments towards digital readiness & transformation to support burgeoning demand.

Undoubtedly, insurance acts as a safeguard for an anxious and uncertain future. Although, it is not the answer to every question being posed these days, but it sure can protect against many of the related financial shocks. Whether it is travel insurance, business interruption insurance, hospital indemnity, health & life insurance cover or other worker's compensation; they all cover some sort of protection and provide timely relief.

COVID-19 Is Catalyzing Digital Transformation in Insurance

With the in-person channel of contact removed digital readiness of insurers has been put to test. Suddenly, insurance companies (in any stage of their digital journey) have been pushed to leverage online channels with cross channel and cross device delivery model. Customers are more than ever expecting online presence, detailed FAQS, faster bots, more humane contact agents and a proactive outbound communication.

Also Read: Covid-19 & Impact on Insurance: The Need to Drive Enhanced CX

Boosting Renewals and Ensuring Retention: What Insurers need to do?

Apart from ensuring that insurers are digital ready, we present here 5 core values that can help insurers unlock faster & better customer experience at all times & most importantly in covid-19 era & beyond.

1. Integrity: Insurers today need to do what is right and not what works. Customers today with switching loyalties are looking for companies that are seen to act fairly in customer's best interest.

2. Expectations: It's high time for insurance companies to understand heightened expectations of customers and ensure that they set, manage and meet them.

In UK, some insurers have offered free motor cover and enhanced home cover for National Health Service (NHS) workers, as well as extending business cover to provide coverage for employees working from home – KPMG report

3. Time and Effort: Aligned with the expectations of customers, insurers need to ensure that they make it easy and swift for customers to access all information pertaining to the products and services and offer easy access to basic resources.

4. Resolution: The need to address customer grievance and provide speedy resolution is the need not unique to insurance but remains a critical aspect for insurers who are looking to unlock greater customer experience.

5. Personalization with Empathy: Understanding customer's pain points and showing that they are being cared with right emotional response will be the key towards a superlative and flawless customer experience.

According to the same KPMG report, insurers in Australia and some other countries are offering premium holidays and other benefits to help customers draw upon their products in time of need.

COVID-19 may be a crisis for many but will acts as an opportunity for present and future leaders who are utilizing the present adversity as a catalyst for innovation and unlocking greater levels of customer experience.

The concept of digital readiness, digital-first and modern innovations around artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, natural language processing, big data and analytics, clubbed with cloud technology will be on the rise and it's high time personalization with empathy and flawless customer experience become the prime goal of every insurance enterprise.

At Espire, we stand together with our client helping them deliver above par CX transformation in their journey to digitally transform their services. Espire is enabling Insurance companies worldwide to revamp their digital experience management and CX strategy, resulting in up to 20-30% increase in revenue through new digital channels.

You can reach our experts at Espire Infolabs for a quick consultation at www.espire.com/quick-contact. For any query, get in touch with us at markting@espire.com & subscribe to our blog to learn more for latest insights & updates.