Smart phones are nothing if not addictive – some of us look at our mobile phones over 150 times a day. For an insurer or broker thats over 50,000 opportunities a year to engage with customers, but only if youre set up to reach them via mobile channels.
However, this opportunity comes with a threat. Customers are used to instant access to products and services, and, as a result, expect immediate gratification. This is quickly becoming the be-all and end-all of good customer service, and its been a major driver of growth in insurtech. After all, the insurance industry is no different to any other; cost-saving or revenue generation alone is meaningless without outstanding customer service. Customer centricity is key, especially since the cost of switching is minimal.
Speedy service
Despite recognising the value in it, one in five brokers felt their customer interaction wasnt up to scratch according to a survey by the British Insurance Brokers Association. But its not just about how the team handles the customers enquiry, quotation, or claim. The point is to enable brokers to serve customers more efficiently and cost effectively in order to meet, and ideally exceed, their expectations.
Customer service, alongside other intangible assets like reputation, makes up almost 80% of the value of an insurance distribution business according to our recent research. Technology is absolutely critical to increasing and maintaining those intangible assets. By using a single platform to underpin the back office, brokers will have rapid access to the management information they need to deliver a consistently excellent service. That in turn leads to more time spent talking (and selling) to customers, meaning better retention rates when renewal season comes around.
Work smarter not harder
Happy customers are much more likely to remain loyal to their broker. Indeed, improving customer service will spin out a number of soft benefits, each of which contributes to a healthy and productive business. Your software platform will be able to indicate not only where customer service is performing or not, but will also measure and track how much time is being spent with each client.
Instinct often dictates spending more time on customers who bring in the greatest revenue, but these trends arent always easy to see. Customer profitability analyses allow brokers to determine the cost of doing business with each client. From this, you can identify which ones are the most profitable and look to where you should be focusing more time and effort. From this, brokers can access the right business intelligence to make better, more informed decisions. In doing so, they can also identify opportunities to cross or upsell. Its about working smarter, not harder.
For example, a business might need to weigh up whether to focus manpower on one big account, or ten smaller ones. On the face of it, emphasis on one major client might make the most sense. In reality, they might get more profit from ten smaller accounts relative to the amount spent. Real-time data analytics and performance optimisation would show categorically which of these two options was more profitable, rather than basing the decision on intuition.
Insurance as a digital business
Insurance has always been based on data. Its how its used thats changing. Technology allows brokers to break away from traditional operational methods that have drained so much of their time in the past. There is no longer any need to re-key customer data – quotes, renewals, claims and so on can be delivered quickly and efficiently. This is vital for developing a more value-added relationship with the client. In a world where people can get almost any product or service with a few taps on their smartphone, keeping pace and providing good, almost instant customer service is so important.
By providing a 360-degree view of each customer, including their profitability, software enables you to make better business decisions and prioritise your clients and resources appropriately. This drives revenue and, ultimately, the success of the business.
If you would like to hear more about how data can help make your business more customer centric, get in touch with us.