Increasingly, insurers are leveraging technology to have a stronger connect with their customers. The objective is multi-fold – by being available to them when customers need them, they are attempting to change how the industry is perceived – as a remote, inaccessible organization with manifold hierarchies.
KV Dipu, President and Head – Operations and Customer Service, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance recalled how companies traditionally had the approach of touching base with customers only at the time of policy purchase or during claim settlement. Today, he says, technology has empowered insurers to be available to customers during the entire policy period with the company.
Q: How are insurers adopting a more customer-centric approach rather than focusing on selling products?
A: Right from offering insurance products with a click of a button to addressing their queries and settling their claims instantly, technology developments such as IoT, blockchain, etc. have contributed towards greater customer satisfaction levels. With the help of data analytics, insurers can understand the exact requirement of customers and accordingly offer them products that match their need. This understanding and simplification in terms of offering is helping insurers build trust amongst people.
Q: Given their complex nature, buying insurance products can be daunting for customers. How can technologies like AI and ML help in simplifying these processes and help them make the right choice?
A: The world is changing and so is insurance along with it. We are witnessing drastic change in customer behavior and their expectations due to technological advancements. It is important for insurers to stay up to date and competitive to offer the right products and sustain themselves in this environment.
Technologies such as AI and ML are playing a key role for insurers as they provide customer insights and ability to turn these insights into actions. An insurer’s approach towards a potential customer is therefore much more focused. Customers, today, want products and services at the click of a button. By embedding ML in existing solutions insurers can automate processes making them easier, faster and more accurate. Thus, efficiency comes into the entire process and customers get exactly what they need.
Q: How can the next generation of smart analytics solutions help insurers get deeper levels of insight into customer behavior and needs, based on the data bank that they already have?
A: Big data and data analytics have not only revolutionized customer acquisition, but have also helped insurers in terms of retention, servicing and operations. Insurers, today, are sitting on a huge data bank which, with the help of smart analytics, can help offer relevant insurance solutions. One of the key challenges they face is knowing their customers well and accordingly providing them appropriate solutions. Data analytics has helped insurers rightly decipher this huge amount of customer data to connect and engage with customers. It allows insurers to predict a customer’s behavior and obtain significant insights, which helps in developing personalized policies resulting in improved customer satisfaction.
Q: Since customers often want customized insurance products, how can insurers use predictive analytical tools to recommend the best one for them, keeping in perspective their changing fiscal and life goals?
A: At Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, we have adopted telematics for our motor insurance product, DriveSmart. It encourages customers to drive safely by providing them with real-time feedback on their driving behavior. It also provides statistics which include time spent driving, distance travelled, fuel consumption, etc.
Underwriting policies will become far simpler through predictive analysis once insurers can leverage this data to charge premium based on the driving behavior rather than the current practice of charging premium as per the make, model and age of the vehicle. Usage-based insurance in terms of telematics and wearables is under discussion with the regulator and we are hoping that this will significantly transform current underwriting practices.
Q: How does offering products with deep level customization help in creation of fantastic customer experience and boosting sales?
A: When products are customized using data, we can meet customer needs with more ‘exactness’ rather than asking them to choose from an array of off-the-shelf products which may meet their needs only partially. For instance, with people using telematics, we can move from insuring cars to insuring human beings. Similarly, with usage of wearables, subject to customer consent, we can get data on customers, and offer customized products. This approach helps build customer trust, thus resulting in happy customers who tomorrow will become your brand ambassadors talking about you as a company that understands their requirements, leading to many more customers coming to buy insurance from you.
Q: What technological inventions are likely to change the way insurance CX is approached in the future?
A: I strongly believe that AI, ML and IoT will continue to play a huge role. Till now, we have just scratched the surface of these technologies and its applicability across the insurance value chain is increasing. Companies are identifying various use cases for these technologies and ways to simplify the processes further for both the industry and customers at large. We will soon see new business models that will redefine the entire insurance value chain.
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