How to rise above the compitition

The insurance industry is indeed a crowded market place where trading competition is becoming more and more of a challenge for all those who wish to participate and be part of what is without doubt a vibrant place to be.

Our modern society is driven more and more by technology and the key buzz words are mobile, digital, internet, apps and the insurance industry like all other business in South Africa need to adapt to consumer demands.

But, are we as insurers and brokers ready to embrace these new technological requirements and are these technologies the significant factors that will determine our success or failure?

Significant investment

All the above technologies require a significant investment, precision lean processes and a strategic approach to decide which approach is appropriate for your particular business needs.

Key questions include who your target markets are that you strategically intend to pursue, and what technologies will underpin and support those strategic decisions?

It is important to provide a diversified approach to ensure the customer is provided with choice, and that takes us to an important question. With all the competition, how do you ensure that you have a place and that you are relevant in an ever expanding market place? Is there a silver bullet?

Embrace innovation

A key driver in business today is an innovative and attractive marketing plan that will drive brand recognition and will ensure customers are attracted to what we have to offer.
This must be done knowing full well that we offer an invisible promise to ensure financial protection in times of need.

This is, at most times, difficult as the customer has to part with hard earned income and not see anything in return immediately other than a promise. And this is now where the most important factor comes into play and that is called service.

In the current technology environment we often overlook the basic aspect that most customers require and that is service, service and more service.

Defining service

So what does service look like and how will this ensure that we stand out in the market place?

Service in our industry has many facets, and one of those is turnaround times in settling claims. This can certainly differentiate organisations, and here brokers have an important role to play to ensure firstly that claims procedures are clearly understood by their customers, and they provide the necessary support from the start to the ultimate completion of the claim.

Irrespective of what technology exists, this is still the moment of truth for all the key stakeholders in our industry and the reputation you build here will determine your sustainability and success.

The key question

Now we turn to the question of what types of technology can support the service needs of customers to ensure that we have quick, seamless processes to ensure customer satisfaction and retention.

No doubt, mobile is one of the most used technologies and access to the internet and information is driven by and large by the ability to use mobile applications. As players in a changing industry, failure to adapt and provide choice to the customer will influence our relevance in this industry.

The move to paperless transactions and digital end to end services are crucial with straight through processing becoming a key factor in customer service excellence.

Yes there is a place in our market place for insurers and brokers alike with a developing and albeit slow growing economy; insurance is a definite need that provides for financial stability to an entire economy. The key to unlocking success lies in understanding the needs of the customer, equipping all staff with professional ongoing training, and how you focus the technology strategy in taking your customer on the journey with you.

Technology still underpins service and not the other way round. Therein lays our success.