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The reality for insurance: it’s good customer experience or goodbye

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Danny Huang

Content Writer

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29 Mar 2022
5 min read

Policyholders know what they want, mobile-first engagement knows how to deliver

Asian insurance policyholders and the importance of good customer experience, CX, and omnichannel marketing

When policyholders feel taken for granted, they leave. 

Insurers might wonder why. The real question is, why not? Insurance companies embracing digital transformation sometimes fret over what they’ve done, but the answer usually lies in everything they’ve not done. Indeed, complacency is one of the biggest killers of any relationship, and customer experience (CX) unfortunately ends up in the back seat.

To make sure you’re building and maintaining strong relationships with your policyholders, you need to understand them and go above and beyond to exceed their evolving expectations.

6 policyholder expectations insurers should know by heart 

Modern policyholders have high standards. They expect a seamless CX, which engages them at every customer lifecycle stage. Beyond interactions at the buying, claims processing, and billing stages, customers also consider what insurers offer in terms of the initial engagement before signing up, quality of customer support, and policy renewals. 

In “Reimagining Insurance: The New World of Digital Customer Engagement,” a whitepaper we developed with Frost & Sullivan, you’ll find practical strategies that enable insurers to deliver tangible quick wins with digital communications, while preparing for long-term transformation. 

Inside, we identify six engagement opportunities that insurers should consider for creating exceptional experiences for policyholders: 

1. Personalisation

If you’re good at making each customer feel like they’re the only one in the world, you’re on the right track. According to research found in our whitepaper, 73% of policy buyers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations at an individual level, while 62% want brands to adapt based on their actions and behaviour. This means shifting from one-size-fits-all policies to customised ones that reflect the lifestyle and needs of your customers.

2. Proactive service

85% of customers will share relevant information about themselves in exchange for proactive customer service. So insurers who can anticipate customers’ needs and add value to the interaction will attract more customers and retain them easily.  

3. Efficiency

Time is money. A second saved is a dollar earned. Over one-third of customers value the efficiency of "getting things done the first time," so start focusing on making the most of each interaction to help policyholders achieve their desired outcomes ASAP. 

4. Convenience

Your customers appreciate it when you go the extra mile to make things convenient. That includes making it easy to enquire about policies, get a quote, sign up, onboard, make a claim, or receive updates on their policy status. When customers get what they want without a hitch, they’ll also be more receptive to your agents' cross-selling, up-selling, and policy retention messages.

5. Seamless experience

Policyholders aren’t too concerned about what goes on behind the scenes. What matters to them is a seamless experience, no matter which touchpoint they’re at. 78% of customers expect consistent interactions across the board, irrespective of interaction channel and department. 

6. Security

Customers treat robust security protocols as a standard requirement for doing business with their providers. 84% of customers are more loyal to companies with strong security controls.

Let mobile-first engagement lead the way

As you navigate your next steps, how will you translate these six engagement opportunities into results? Building a mobile-first digital engagement plan should be your first port of call. Insurers are increasingly adopting a mobile-first approach to drive CX with digital offerings, reduce user friction with self-service or assisted service interactions, and keep engagement levels consistently high with automated communication workflows.

Build positive CX and customer engagement with digital communications 

Spurred by the COVID-19 health crisis and business survival instincts, insurers have embraced digitalisation and left few stones unturned when it comes to exploring the broader potential of what technology can do to deliver greater organisational performance. 

Smart insurers have set up remote contact centres and mobile self-services to maintain customer engagement. This is expected to remain the de facto communications mode to interact with policyholders and conduct business. 

These digitalisation trends align with the habits of today’s consumers: 

  • 86% of customers expect their experience to improve substantially in the connected digital world

  • 71% of customers rely on some form of digital research before buying insurance

  • 26% of customers buy their policies online

With the evolution of digital communications, insurers now have more opportunities to boost engagement with policyholders and create a seamless customer journey.

Leverage customer knowledge to fuel proactive outreach efforts

  • Already got your customer’s details? Proactively put the information to good use by having all digital forms pre-filled when they get sent out.

  • You can help policyholders with pre-filled forms in many situations, whether to complete a registration or submit a request, via SMS, email, or push notifications. Doing this reduces the drop-off rate while driving a better, frictionless CX.

Bring connected experiences to life with an omnichannel strategy

  • Customers prefer to interact with brands using a variety of channels, including email, web, mobile, social media, chat, apps, bots, voice, and video. So it’s no surprise that 69% of customers expect connected experiences across multiple channels.

  • Insurers have responded by offering video conferencing features to provide policy advice, telehealth consultations, and administrative services, such as setting up appointments and other photo and screen-sharing capabilities.

  • You can push omnichannel communications even further to increase engagement. Better yet, there’s now a way for you to manage and deliver consistent communications across various channels with the integration of disparate back-office systems, all on one platform

Always be there for customers, but on their terms

  • 68% of customers prefer to use self-service channels.

  • 71% of customers want businesses to communicate with them in real-time. Always-on customer service channels have caught on, as a result, to provide customers with 24x7 support and rapid responses to their queries. 

  • Our Message Builder offers digital self-service capabilities so insurers can easily create customised messages to establish always-on communication with customers.

Trust Whispir to get digital communications right

Now that you know what policyholders want – what they really, really want – it’s time to step up. For a deeper dive, get our latest eBook and learn how you can use digital communications to boost engagement and retention with policyholders.

It takes understanding to get the communications flow right, but the rewards are great. Whispir is the trusted communications provider for leading insurers and has helped insurance companies like AIA Insurance shift with the changing tides of digital distribution and keep pace with modern demands.

Ready to elevate your CX with digital communications? Better make it fast.

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