6 ways P&C Insurance companies can create effortless user experiences

Author
Mobiquity
Publication Date
6 February 2023

6 ways P&C Insurance companies can create effortless user experiences

As consumers of all demographics become more comfortable with digital tools, expectations across industries are on the rise. In a time of crisis, such as a car accident or damage to one’s home, emotions are running high and the experience one has engaging with their insurer can make or break satisfaction and loyalty. Digital tools can be an important aid in making sure that customers are able to handle any need - with as little effort on their part as possible - from initiating a claim to managing policy documents. And the great news is, they can help your business, too. 

Think about it: every inquiry your call centre triages represents a time they could have lowered customer effort and time commitment to zero. If you add up all of the time your call centre agents and customers spend on billing, renewal, auto change, and claims tracking calls per customer, it largely outnumbers the time spent on first notice of loss. It just makes sense to get these common touch points right with every customer since they are the experiences that by and large shape customer experience with your brand.

Back to Basics: Ways to Transform Your Customer Effort to Zero

The real work should be focusing on the things your customers need to do every day – pay bills, check on claims, make policy changes, and purchase insurance. So, how do you make these tasks easier to complete?

Here are some of the easiest, day-to-day experiences that you can improve for your insurance customers: 

  1. Digital contactless payments

    If your customers want to pay you, let them. Daily, weekly, monthly, by bank, by credit card, auto pay, one-time pay, guest pay – no matter how they want to pay, you should be able to accommodate them. Improve communication by letting them know when payments are coming up and help them make those payments smoothly. Tell them if they are paying on an expired card, let them know when a payment is going to be withdrawn from their bank account and the money needs to be there, make it easy to change methods or break the payments into smaller chunks, and do it all in a digital notification. While some payment types come with fees, customers expect to be able to pay their preferred way, and if you make it difficult, you are introducing friction and incentive to switch providers. If you incorporate this risk into your model, you’ll find accepting more payment types pays off, and you can always incentivise them to use a method that is most valuable to your business.

  2. Account management

    If rates are going to go up, explain the changes in detail. If a new agent is assigned, properly introduce them via mobile app message (or however the customer has asked to be contacted about updates to their account). Any important account changes must be made quickly and clearly to avoid issues.

  3. Claims management

    If they have a claim, give them an update each week and let them know the update is coming, even if the update is to let them know you’re still working on it and a check has not been sent yet. Offer self-service options like photo estimation and even immediate payment for damage where the digital tools have achieved high confidence in assessing the damage. And in the case of a catastrophe, hail, or other known event near your customers, start the claim process before they even reach out.

  4. Plan changes

    If they need to add or remove a driver, car, or home – let them! Even if you are an agent-based insurer, build the bond online and through technology platforms your customers already use in their daily life.

  5. Digital options during phone support

    If a customer must call, give them a click-to-call option. Click-to-call, also known as click-to-talk, click-to-dial, click-to-chat and click-to-text is a form of web-based communication in which a person clicks an object to request an immediate connection with another person in real-time either by phone call, voice-over-internet-protocol, or text. You can even present the opportunity to self support on your click-to-call page.

  6. Self-service

    Make it easy for customers to register and login so that they can self service their account. This is a widely overlooked feature that can make or break the customer’s experience – and not just their experience with the technology but the experience with your company.

Digital Options = Better Customer Experiences

There are a number of digital and technology solutions that can support your customers – and your employees – with these day-to-day tasks. 

Here are a few examples of ways that digital options can enhance your customer experience in insurance, moving their effort to zero:

  • Mobile app: Give your users the ability to interact with you quickly and efficiently via your mobile app. Provide them with the tools they need when an accident occurs, and with regular communication to keep them safer in the car and at home. 
  • Conversational AI: Voice capabilities such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, as well as website chatbots can reduce the burden on your staff by answering easier customer questions with smart technology. 
  • Web optimisation: Is your website optimised to support the customer? Or is your web design geared toward selling and, as such, ignoring your precious, existing customers? New business is important, but not if it means your existing customer base is forgotten. This will create far more damage for your business than you intend – and this is easily avoidable with a website built to create zero effort for the customer.
  • Agile DevOps: Revamping your digital strategy with agile DevOps enables frictionless delivery of services to your customer, which will boost engagement, increase scalability, and reduce your total cost of ownership. 

The stakes have never been higher in keeping insurance customers happy. The good news is, technology can be an asset in setting you apart from your competition. If you’re ready to start thinking about how you can move customer effort to zero, let’s chat.

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