Taking long strides forward with social media

Insurance has always suffered from a poor reputation, but with consumers now able to make their voices heard online faster than ever before, the industry is facing a new challenge.

In the past, customer feedback was a slow process with the broker playing the key role in the process. But now, with platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Hellopeter, customers are empowered and in a way encouraged to share their opinion on customer experience whether good or bad.

Provide good service

In a recent Consumer Attitudes Study, 72% of customers said they were more likely to buy from the same company if they provide outstanding customer service. The same study also highlighted that 97% of customers are likely to tell family and friends about a great customer experience.

We cannot underestimate the power of social media and word of mouth. Companies who do not deal with negative experiences and choose to sweep it under the rug will soon be found out.

Social roots

Insurance has always been a social industry. When Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house in London in the 1680s it became a popular haunt for ship owners, merchants, ships' captains, and a source of the latest shipping news.

Going further back, insurance has always been socially useful. Before insurance was established, friendly societies existed in which people donated amounts of money to a general sum that could be used for emergencies.

Yet today many insurers engage only sporadically with their clients, once a year on the renewal date in many cases, and then for clients that suffer claims. Can this be a sensible strategy where success is based on more than just the quality and pricing of the product being supplied?

A personal touch

We need to move back to a scenario where insurance and the sale of insurance products becomes a one-to-one interaction and where we actively engage with clients.

Creating a positive customer experience can give rise to armies of brand advocates, helping businesses to grow and thrive. Great customer experiences create a knock-on effect that leads people to talk and share.

It is for this exact reason why Customer Experience Management (CEM) should be made a priority. In a highly competitive environment, service experience is increasingly driving policy sales rather than loyalty.

Spanning departments

However, it should be noted that a customer experience strategy must span across all departments to ensure that there is a collective collaboration and not just a silo approach.

The benefits of business transformation will result in flexible underwriting capabilities that offer scope for increased margins which are invaluable in today’s challenging regulatory and soft market environment.

Active engagement

Insurers, and the entire industry, need to start engaging more actively with customers, not just at claims stage, to drive value and promote customer retention.

A seamless, real-time, multi-channel offering is now a baseline for good customer experience. Policyholders expect a premium experience for their premium, and are not afraid to walk off with a more considerate and customer centric partner if they do not receive it.

Brokers need to embrace technology in all forms, and actively start engaging with policyholders. As the main customer experience drivers, they need to retain the personal touch which drives people towards the intermediated model.

A rapid change from faceless, computerised customer interaction to a more socially interactive relationship is needed to drive positive customer experiences throughout the industry. The key to success will be to engage confidently and regularly with customers, smile online and, above all, be authentic and friendly.

Those who ignore the power of social networking do so at their own peril. A brand can be destroyed just as easily as it is praised online; and as a whole, we tend to read the negative comments more carefully than the positive comments.