In the insurance industry, we have often been slow to make changes; but today, the need has never been greater. In an environment moving toward interconnected technologies, artificial intelligence, drones, changing workplace dynamics and industry profit pressures, legacy processes, procedures and methodologies no longer serve the needs insureds. Companies like Lemonade Insurance Company have turned tried and true thinking on its ear, sounding a wake-up call that traditionally-run agents and brokers need to pay attention to.
So, what do insurance clients want? And how can we give it to them?
In a recent survey by Property Casualty 360, insured customers ranked their needs as:
- “Best-in-class” customer experience
- Value for price
- Fast efficient claims processing
For many traditional insurance organizations, understanding and addressing the gap between what their insurance customers want and what they’re getting, is a critical success factor. Here are some things to consider relative to these market demands.
Customer Experience
Understanding the customer buying journey, their needs, concerns, fears and delighters, requires a new set of skills and the time to focus on building greater customer intimacy. This includes developing insights from data that allow your insurance professionals to anticipate customer needs and be there waiting for them when needs arise.
Value for Price
Though process optimization, leveraging technology and analytics, operating costs can be significantly reduced and capacity unlocked to support more profitable growth. This provides considerably more flexibility to insurance organizations to deliver value for price without hurting their bottom line.
Optimizing Claims Processing
By creating greater visibility into the alignment between the interests of insureds, agents and carriers, along with streamlining claims processes, and leveraging claims analytics, the speed of resolution and outcomes can be optimized. And this delivers higher rates of customer satisfaction.
Yes, We Can Change
What I’ve noted above are not all quick and easy undertakings for sure, but with thoughtful planning, creative thinking and the ability to adapt and change, we will move ourselves to the future. And by the way, the future is NOW.
