Omni-Channel Customer Engagement Article

Filing an insurance claim can be the culmination of an already painful process. Usually such claims are filed after a deeply personal disaster, like a car crash or a house fire. The insurance industry can actually help on this front, not only with cash to help get the user's life back on track, but also with a better experience from the start. This begins with the omni-channel experience, in which users can get access to that help via a number of means.

With reports noting that less than five percent of the entire insurance market is new customers, retaining current customers becomes key to future growth. Driving customers off with a bad claims experience is a sure way to lose ground, but what do customers want?

Customers wanted a few specific things when it came to filing claims, starting with a clear feeling that the insurer acted in a fashion best for the customer. This was followed up by a one-and-done philosophy, that the initial filing went through smoothly and any issues were resolved right at the first-call point. Then, customers wanted claims approved and expectations in general met.

The phone was a primary channel for customers, with 89 percent saying that a representative was talked to either by phone or in person. It also generated the highest channel satisfaction rate, followed by in-person contact, website contact, mobile app and self-service tools. Those who turned to Web-based chat tools usually used some other communications system along with it, and policyholders using two channels had a slightly higher satisfaction rate. Using three or more channels, meanwhile, dropped satisfaction significantly.

So what should insurers do in response? Start by focusing on just one point in the customer journey, like the claims process, to help smooth out any issues that might be a part of that journey. Analytics tools can be a help here, even for smaller businesses, as it allows all that data to be brought into one central location for study. Put priority on addressing the areas that impact customer satisfaction, and never be satisfied with a success today. Continuous monitoring is vital to make sure success isn't just today, but every day.

Omni-channel support not only supplies the means to get in touch via whatever method the customer most prefers, but also the means to address problems regardless of time of day. With the phone and in-person contact being the highest sources of customer satisfaction, it is clear those can stay mostly as-is. Improving the self-service, website and mobile app systems, meanwhile, will help produce greater satisfaction and an improved likelihood of repeat business.

With so much of insurance operations depending on repeat businesses, making sure that every customer today is still a customer tomorrow is vital. Making the customer experience work well on every channel helps ensure that outcome.