Shopping for insurance tends to be one of life’s less enjoyable moments – it’s difficult, time-consuming, and simply stressful. Data from our Most Engaged Customer study shows that the average Insurance engagement (ignoring the outlier that is USAA) is 42%, 9 points below the Engagement average across industries, as seen in the chart below.
Changing the Insurance Experience
According to a recent Accenture survey, 91% of insurers “believe that future growth depends on providing a special customer experience.” So it would appear that the industry has realized the current system is flawed and is actively interested in bridging the gap between average and exceptional. But what does an “exceptional customer experience” look like in the insurance industry? This the question we ask in the Most Engaged Customers study and we found that, regardless of industry, Customer Engagement is built from the following dimensions:
- The Offer: Products, services, and/or experiences that customers really want
- Care: A company culture that cares for and values customers
- Consistency: Excellent service at every touch point
- Trust: If something goes wrong, the customer has faith the company will put it right
- Effort: Employees who exert extra effort and go above and beyond
- Genuine: Authentic service from real people
The “hot button” issue for insurance customers is Effort - employees going above and beyond for the customer. This is especially true during Moments of Truth such as policy purchase, renewals and claims. Quotes we collected from our study illustrate the impact of Extra Effort perfectly:
“They went out of their way to find us discounts, cut back on what we really didn’t need in insurance.” (Progressive)
“They have always guided me to the best products for my point in life.” (USAA)
“My reps take their time going over questions. They also helped me to tow my vehicle. They went out of their way to offer to Google a tow company, provided me the number & called to confirm the company would be able to tow my vehicle in 30 minutes. THEY ARE AWESOME!” (Allstate)
Aligning the Company
68% of the insurers in Accenture’s study say they plan to increase spending on analytics, including data that will help them improve the customer experience. This is the first step in building a better offer and demonstrating care for customers. But it can’t stop there.
The next step will be aligning managers around this new mission to ensure consistency and nurture trust. And finally, based on our research, we predict that the true differentiator will be building a company culture that inspires front-line employees to give extra effort and allows them the freedom to be genuine in their interactions with policyholders.
To truly implement lasting change, every level of the company will need to be on board with Voice of the Customer, and playing their part in the greater customer experience strategy.
Topics: Employee Experience, Customer Experience
