Insurance providers have been locked in an ongoing war over lower rates and prices, but the real upper hand is coming in the form of improved customer service. The key for insurance companies looking to grow is to keep the customers they already service happy and appreciative.
That means giving them better experiences. According toJ.D. Power,“Low prices may attract new customers, but it’s service that keeps them … Insurers that increase customer satisfaction make price just one part of the overall relationship.” Insurance providers must look to improve the customer service experience this year in order to add important differentiation from their competitors or face losing customers.
“Low prices may attract new customers, but it’s service that keeps them.”
Customer Service Is All About Self-Service
A host of factors are needed to truly improve customer satisfaction, but one of the most important is empowering customers to complete tasks on their own. Modern consumers across every industry are craving more self-service. Handling simple, straightforward tasks on their own allows customers to get the answers they’re looking for quickly and easily, while making them feel truly listened to by insurance providers. As the modern insurance landscape advances, watch out for providers making self-service a central goal of many customer interactions.
Increasing self-service capabilities improves customer satisfaction while freeing up customer service agents to focus their time and energy on more complicated, personalized interactions with customers solving more complex issues. This year insurance companies must implement methods for customers to complete common tasks on their own, automatically. Tasks like filing a claim, looking up an adjuster, finding contact details, examining insurance fund performance, and other data-driven tasks with standardized processes for completion must have self-service capabilities in our modern world.
Customer Empowerment Is Essential
Microsoft’s Global State of Customer Servicereport foundtwo-thirds of customers prefer using a self-service option first, before trying any other customer service channel. Today’s self-service technology should be easily accessible for every customer. Robert Lijdziak, insurance practice business consultant at J.D. Power agrees.He says,“Customer satisfaction is at its highest levels when customers take care of transactions themselves and save the high-value interactions for live channels.” For straightforward enquiries, self-service technology is a key factor in cultivating top tier customer satisfaction. The importance of self-service wanes for complex, “high-value interactions” however. As Microsoft puts it, “For complex issues, customers should also be offered a choice of assisted service channels to effectively address their needs.”
Insurance companies will continue to battle for new customers, but they must also make sure to retain their current customer base. To prevent customer churn, self-service channels must be implemented. When customers are empowered to find their own solutions, customer satisfaction will rise and customer loyalty will increase. These self-service channels improve customer service interactions involving live agents as well. Freed of the simple and repetitive straightforward customer inquiries that slow down their day and burn out agents’ energy, well trained customer service agents can use their expertise to solve real issues and actively engage with customers.
