I still vividly recall several calls I got from three different agents from the same Insurance carrier. They wanted to discuss auto insurance. I owned three cars that were already insured by this carrier. I also had a homeowner’s policy through them. They had let go of my insurance agent and now were launching a campaign to cross and up sell. Good move, except they didn’t know anything about me, my needs or the products I was using. Because they had no idea about my life journey, they couldn’t offer additional products that might appeal to me or offer to bundle their products. Out of curiosity, I went to the carrier’s website. Their “personal portal” was crude and basic. They simply did not have the insights to cater to my needs and keep me as a customer, let alone upsell me on more revenue generating products.
Losing a customer is five times more expensive than to retain one. That alone is a significant data monetization approach to be considered. To ensure high quality customer service, whether answering questions or promoting new products, my carrier should have considered this three-prong solution:
1. Know the customer – Think of them as your business partners
a. Know the products the customer has purchased and why they purchased or dropped any
b. Know the Customer Life Journey – marital status, job status, children status, current address
2. Have a relevant customer-specific portal – “My Portal”
a. The digital access must be relevant and user friendly for each customer
b. The carrier or broker associate servicing the customer must have the same view as the customer, as well as be empowered to make retention decisions
3. Be in sync and stay in touch – Every customer touchpoint must add value
a. The omni-channel must be in sync
b. Understand renewals and new relevant products for the customer in question
c. Adapt the value proposition to the customer and pre-empt them with potential bundled solutions
d. Know when and what to communicate to the customer
The key pillar for this approach is to ensure the carrier/broker associate has access to the customer data whether it’s in one or more databases. The Customer Experience Strategy must include a clear direction of tactical activities to ensure carriers/brokers associates know their customers and know them well. The touch point is dependent on how fresh the customer data is. Once you engage the customer through any channel, the data must be updated in near real time to ensure a rich experience. It sounds like a difficult proposition in principle, but with Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology, the latest customer data can be brought to the customer portal in minutes.
Promethium’s software offers such capabilities. It’s a data monetization enabler bringing relevant, near real time customer data from all omni-channel sources. For a carrier or broker to monetize more effectively the customer data through friction nullification, it requires that the technology stack service the carriers/brokers associates effectively. It must include the ability to bring the data fast to the carrier or broker associate engaged with the customer. It does not matter if the associate is a human or a robot; the data access will lead to timely decisions to prevent the heartburn related to losing a customer.
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