When it comes to your television viewing, you want what you want. When you want it. That’s fair. And in a way, that’s how your customers feel about their insurance needs.
But here’s the rub: People want to customize their Netflix queue. They look forward to watching Happy Gilmore 2, followed by The Diplomat, and maybe sneaking in a few episodes of The Hunting Wives during the work week while saving The Garfield Movie and The Wild Robot for weekend viewing with the kids.
The point is, making and interacting with their streaming service queue is fun. Thinking about insurance needs in an orderly fashion … not so much.
That’s why it’s up to you, the insurer, to figure out the “insurance queue” for each of your policyholders, so they don’t have to give it so much thought.
The Confie approach is personalized insurance. What that amounts to is the strategic use of today’s digital technology without ever neglecting the human experience. We get to know our policyholders and use all of today’s complex digital tools to configure their product needs, then add a personal touch to partner with those customers so we can help them make the next move together.
The result is tailored insurance solutions that enhance customer loyalty and keep the relationship fresh and strong as their needs change through life’s various experiences — jobs, promotions, cars, families, homes, expensive toys, retirement, and the prospects of leaving an estate.
Here’s how we build that customer-focused insurance approach — and why we must.
Why Personalized Insurance Is the Future of the Industry
Because it has to be. Because your customers expect it. You simply must meet the expectations of modern consumers. And if you’re not keeping up with their needs, demands, and expectations, you’re falling behind. That’s the core of the reason why insurance customization is both a buzzword of the day and much more.
Consumers Are Demanding More — The Rise of Personalization in All Sectors
Remember when you had three choices on television and you were told when all of your favorite shows were going to run? Either you sat down in front of your set at that appointed time or hoped to catch it in reruns.
Many of your customers don’t remember such a time, or it’s in the very distant past for them. Today, they’re used to that Netflix queue or similar streaming lists. They tell their TVs when they’re going to watch the show of their choice, not the other way around.
It’s not just television, of course. The internet has enabled — and even encouraged — consumers to schedule doctor’s appointments online or do their holiday shopping in the middle of the night or play a single song or 12 albums from their favorite artists whenever it fits their schedules and tastes.
That’s how your policyholders of today are used to shopping and interacting with life. On their own terms and timelines. Is your insurance company outfitted to keep up?
How Insurance Companies Are Falling Short of Customization Needs
One size fits all, right? We have the insurance products you need. Buy them. End of story.
The first way insurance companies are failing the tailored insurance solutions test is by not seeing each customer in personal terms as a unique consumer. That means you don’t know their lifestyle, their relative income levels, how many kids they have and their ages, where they live, and where they work.
This is data that’s available, but not accumulated, processed, or used properly because you haven’t stayed engaged with that customer. You can’t be there when they need you because you don’t know what that need is, or when they need it.
Confie’s Approach to Personalizing Insurance: A Game Changer
Technology is the starting point to what we’re doing, but there’s much more to it than digital wizardry. Here’s how it breaks down.
How Confie Uses Data and Technology to Create Tailored Insurance Plans
Our various digital interfaces with clients enable us to capture useful data from their contact with us through the website, social media, text messaging, chatbots, and other leading-edge communication technology. With the capture of this data, we can stay ahead of the needs of our policyholders so that we’re here and ready when they need us. That’s true whether that need comes up during the agent’s workweek or in the middle of the night during holiday break.
We also make sure that all of those digital interfaces are both responsive and intuitive. You don’t want a prospective customer going away frustrated because they can’t figure out how to ask a question, get a usable response, or place an order. That’s worse than having no e-commerce tools at all.
This 21st-century insurance customization approach is not only possible through today’s digital technology — it’s imperative. Because if we (or you) are not doing it effectively, the customer will find other insurance companies that are.
Listening to the Customer: Why Understanding Their Unique Needs Matters
Agents haven’t lost their place in this brave new digital and data-driven world. Far from it. They’re at the forefront.
Your customers might start their research without you. If they have a smartphone or a laptop, they can find out plenty about your company and the products you offer. They can even get basic questions answered by a responsive chatbot.
But that will only get them so far. Are they going to buy a life insurance policy they’ll be paying on for decades without first talking with a human being? Unlikely. That’s where you come in.
Even the most comprehensive web page or the field’s most responsive robot can’t reassure a customer trying to find affordable insurance on a tight budget for the family’s three cars. Or alleviate all of the confusion of a young couple buying their first home and suddenly realizing how expensive everything is, from closing costs to the move-in. Now they must fight their way through the jungle of confusion brought on by homeowners insurance — a product they barely even heard of before now.
Will you be there to help them? They’ll need, appreciate, and remember it if you are.
An engaging voice, a reassuring smile, and years of career experience will never go out of style, even as the digital age introduces the future of insurance customization.
The Benefits of Personalization for Customers and Insurance Providers
Everybody wins. That’s the bottom-line advantage of adopting today’s customer-focused insurance customization strategies. Here’s how that breaks down.
How Personalization Enhances the Customer Experience
As suggested earlier, the selection and use of insurance products isn’t quite like establishing a Netflix queue — though everyone wants it to be just as automated. But people demand 24/7 access when it comes to shopping for products, asking questions, and filing claims.
That’s what a good personalized insurance strategy will get your customers. At Confie, we’ve known that for as long as digital technology has put such efficiencies at our fingertips. We realized that tailored insurance solutions were possible through an array of digital tools collectively known as insurtech.
We use cutting-edge solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) to engage and inform, and blockchain technology to handle claims swiftly, accurately and securely, at any time of the day or night.
With a full digital toolbox of solution providers, we’ve streamlined the claims process and all support services, and made that technology easy to use for our customers. We’re here when they need us digitally, with human support always a big part of the relationship.
Higher Customer Satisfaction and Improved Retention Rates Are to the Agent’s Benefit
Studies have shown that today’s insurance personalization efforts increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, reduce the churn rate, and meet high demands and expectations. This grants your company a definite competitive advantage over insurers that aren’t so prepared to give prospective customers what they want.
The advantage of retaining satisfied customers is that you can introduce them to new products to meet changes in their life cycles: Renters insurance becomes homeowners coverage, auto insurance might expand to motorcycle, boat, or motorhome coverage, and business lines become life insurance as wealth grows and needs to be protected.
You’re there for them, with tailored insurance solutions to meet all situations and phases of their lives.
Learn More About How Confie Is Shaping the Future of Insurance Customization
You could invest thousands of dollars and add an IT department to your enterprise to deliver to your customers the full benefits of today’s insurance customization.
Or take a simpler and more direct approach. Investigate the possibility of a merger with Confie. As part of the strong Confie network of insurance providers, you’ll inherit access to an entire toolbox of proven strategies to streamline operations and enhance the customer experience.
Your customers will gain a 24/7 digital interface in addition to and in support of the customer-centric communications you already provide.
Would you like to know more about personalized insurance and the multiple other benefits of a Confie merger? Just call us at (714) 252-2500 or drop us a line if you’d like to explore a possible collaboration.
Re-engage your customers and make their partnership as easy as a Netflix queue.
