Today, Omnichannel experience is no longer a tech word. It has become a reality of many industries that are catering to the instant gratification seeking millennial customers. The need for omnichannel in insurance is no different.
A key finding of a Capgemini ‘World Insurance Report 2020’the digital divide between older populations and millennials is narrowing. The effect of this in the modern-day insurance customers can be seen in them expecting the same experience that they get from other digital platforms, from their insurer as well.
For generations, insurance customers have been making policy purchase decisions through traditional contact points – their current branch, an agent, or a new insurer’s call center. The millennial generation, however, is very different.
- They access the online content, study reviews, follow insurers on social media, connect with agents regarding policy details and take advice from family/friends.
- They go to comparison websites and find competitive rates, value-added services from different insurers.
- They find first-hand information straight from the insurer’s website.
As you can gather from this journey, insurance customers use every platform – website, social, call center, etc. to get the information they require before making the final policy purchase. This journey is what makes it important for insurers to adopt this approach.
What are the benefits of omni-channel experience in the insurance industry?
The advantages of omnichannel have been acquired by a range of different industries across retail, entertainment sector, etc. The inclusion of insurance in this list is largely drawn by two key factors: The need for better efficiency and distribution and customer’s digital expectations. Here are the benefits of choosing omnichannel in insurance.
Helps target specific customer segment
The need of insurance varies from one person to another. While for someone life insurance is a priority there could be others who have an urgent need for car insurance. Noting how different customers need different insurance types, the type of interactions should also vary.
Additionally, this enables the insurers to reach out to their customers via different mediums with varied content, ensuring a consistent, exceptional customer experience. These mediums act as a conduit within which the insurers redefine or aid their service offerings while forging new, better customer relationships through personalized targeting approaches.
Helps connect with millennial user base
Millennials are difficult to sell insurance products to. They don’t respond to the traditional form of advertisement like their parents used to.
To reach the millennials customer base, insurers need to offer a service which they care about and understand. For this, they would have to build credibility and knowledge through website content, social media posts, and their digital ad campaigns.
Through this omnichannel medium, the agents can follow up on the millennials’ engagement by showing them more personalized and targeted content – pushing them towards the purchase cycle.
Gives access to intelligent data
The incorporation of omnichannel in insurance gives the insurers insights into their customers – insights that help locate and target them on a personalized level. For example, a customer’s search result on a safe neighborhood can trigger an advertisement (both on search engine and social) for home insurance.
Moreover, insurers can use the omnichannel data to identify the most optimal platforms and content for marketing a particular customer segment. They get to decide which platform and format they need to put their focus on – website blog, social media posts, emails, chatbot dialogues etc. Likewise, with this information in hand, insurers can start pushing out content that would turn browsers in buyers.
Helps measure and improve strategies
Omnichannel distribution gives insurers insights into what is appealing to the insurance customers. What type of messaging do they respond to, at what time do they engage with the product. In brief, which platform do they choose for which need – all this information can be gathered by a deep analysis of omnichannel marketing distribution.
The insights that insurers gather from here then helps them decide their next move in a more data-backed manner.
Helps new product development
The information gathered from omnichannel distribution helps insurers know what is working in their existing product and what needs a change to be future-ready. This doesn’t just help them upgrade their existing offering but also play a role in introducing new insurance products in the market.
So here were the five major benefits of having omnichannel in insurance. While on the surface, the benefits are heavily customer experience focused. its effect can be seen across new product development, increased revenue, and an efficient process as well.
Although its new concept, there are some insurance companies that setting the benchmarks in the application of omnichannel. Let us look into them next.
Real-world examples of insurance companies using omnichannel
There are a number of new-age insurance companies that use omnichannel. Especially for improving their value offering in a more personalized, immersive manner. Some of the top names are –
State Farm Insurance
Chiefly the State Farm consistently pulls data from their mobile app. The application provides services like offering driving routes, giving weather reports. Also sending reminders like A/C filter changes, etc. Meanwhile by gathering data and putting them into immediate use, State Farm is able to up their customer experience by huge numbers.
Allstate Insurance Group
Consequently, using the mobile app, Allstate gives users the feature to request assistance during car trouble. Along with the log maintenance requirements, and details which can help pinpoint the problem. This data can then also be used during automobile claims settlements.
Additionally, the app gives users a prompt to buy travel insurance when it tracks users at the airport through their device’s geo-location.
GEICO
Significantly, there are quite a few ways GEICO uses omnichannel for promoting insurance products but there is one that truly pushes their customer experience to the next level.
Certainly, with their Quick Messaging feature, the customers leave a message for the representatives and then leave the app. Especially, now when the agent sends a reply, the customers get a push notification.
Furthermore, that allowing them to take care of other things instead of waiting for the agent to reply. Above all the insurers use omnichannel for marketing in more or less similar ways. As a result, the goal for insurers is always to create better customer experience and retain them through personalized offering.
Are you looking to apply omnichannel in your insurance company? Here’s a quick look into how you can start.
| Your Customers Need | Your Insurance Offering |
| Contactless insurance | Connect your digital channels – mobile app, website, and social media messaging. |
| Easy digital onboarding | Keep a simple, jargon-free app onboarding journey. |
| Self-service | Give customers the ability to upload claims, request approval, get answers through detailed FAQ pages or social channels. |
| Security & privacy | Have an omnichannel security strategy to keep customer data safe from data breach. |
Parting words
Especially, the needs of millennial customers are changing every day and with this, the need of connecting multiple channels to offer a seamless is also becoming the new norm. It is crucial for insurers to innovate and meet this culture. Although the new-gen insurers already have digital savviness, this time for traditional insurers to step up their game to be in business.
Lastly, an omnichannel approach would enable the insurers in maintaining their competitiveness and retaining their customers, while simultaneously facilitating growth. As well as the ideal time to start the omnichannel journey is today. After that, the millennial generation will continue to get more involved with insurance with their digital inclination.
Do you need help with charting this omnichannel in insurance journey? We iNube are here to help.
