The tech age were living in provides us with 24/7 access to all the services we need. As a result, customers have come to expect immediate gratification in every walk of life: there are smartphone apps for everything you can think of, Amazon Prime delivers groceries to your door within two hours of ordering, and you can have instant access to customer support, regardless of time or location.

Not only is this doing wonders for the companies that are able to offer this high level of customer service, but its also raising the bar for customers expectations. The message, therefore, is clear: companies must put the relationship with their customers at the top of the priority list and that includes insurance agents and brokers.

Putting customers first

According to Accenture, almost half of customers want more online interaction when it comes to their insurance. Customers now expect to be offered a consistent experience at every touch-point of their journey as well as expert advice from their brokers.

The latest technological offerings give consumers the ability to initiate claims directly from within a self-service portal, chat with brokers, request policy changes, and view any alterations to their policies immediately on any device. Offering this level of multichannel access is key if brokers are going to keep pace with the competition.

With this in mind, a unified system can help brokers do just that by giving them a complete 360-degree view of their business in real time, giving them the ability to derive actionable insights in seconds.

Back office efficiency

Some companies think that the key to improving their customers user experience is to put a slick app on the customer-facing end. Whilst this may be pretty for the customer to look at and use, it doesnt do anything to change the value of the overall service provided. To do that, companies need to focus on answers to questions like how to increase the efficiency of the back-office systems, how to streamline operations and seamlessly interact with the front end. Fortunately, this can all be done with the help of technology.

Innovative broker management solutions have the power to save brokers a lot of time. For a start, they will no longer need to constantly re-key data, which will eliminate unnecessary errors. At the same time, workflows can be automated, which means that quotes, renewals, claims and so on can be delivered quickly and efficiently. The business case for this approach is clear: if the back office is more efficient, brokers and agents can focus on making a positive customer experience at every touch point.

Powerful data

Leveraging real-time, smart customer metrics can also improve the customer experience by providing advisers with intelligent recommendations based on learned behaviours.

In a nutshell, adopting advanced analytics will enable firms to gain insightful data-driven information on their customers, which will allow them to offer more personalised solutions and an all-around better level of customer service. Implementing these measures means that brokers can put customer-satisfaction at the forefront of their business. Making the business customer-centric in this way will result in happy, loyal customers, which is fundamental for business success.

If you would like to learn more about the technology Novidea offers to capitalise on this trend, please click here.