The Top Insurance Industry Issue in 2019 & Beyond
What issue affected the insurance industry in 2019 and will continue into 2020
Insurance carrier investment in digital capabilities has surged in recent years. The goal of these digital initiatives was efficiency and profitability. However, they have proven to be more difficult to manage and maintain than at first believed.
How to face these digital challenges? Keep the following in mind:
- Any changes should be customer-focused.
- You need tools that will help you prioritize people over products.
- You need talent that can adapt to your new digital initiatives.
The Customer
Today, when customers engage with an insurer, their benchmark isn’t one carrier over another. Instead, they are comparing your service with that of other retailers and service providers. This can include everything from video streaming services to tax software.
Customers expect fast, transparent and intuitive experiences. Not only does this affect what the consumer expects from their insurance agent, but also what they expect from advertisers at every stage of the marketing funnel.
How to Make a Successful Digital Transformation
To start, you need full support of senior executives. You need to link your digital transformation to business value.
Once you have support, start with process improvement then move to the market-facing experience.
A personalized customer approach is still relatively new in the insurance industry, but those companies getting it right have lowered acquisition costs, increased customer satisfaction, and gained a competitive advantage.
Many insurers are making investments in data to get better insights into all aspects of their business and the market itself. Many carriers are reimagining their product sets to find the right customers, use the right channels and make the right offers at the right time. With this personalized approach, their customers have higher satisfaction and the carrier gains a competitive advantage.
The good news is that insurers have more customer data, effective analytical tools and marketing technology than ever before. They are increasingly able to quantify the pain points that cause customers to leave.
The relentless pace of the digital age continues to force change in insurers’ strategies. However, for more than a decade, two strategies have remained the same. The need 1) for a customeroriented mindset and 2) to adapt quickly to an increasingly fast-paced world.
Recognizing that work gets done but is never really finished is a major shift in thinking for the insurance industry.