Becoming a Customer-Centric Insurer

Siddhartha Banik

Project Manager, TCS DSS

Today, the insurance value chain is under pressure.

Modern insurers are challenged to keep up with the changing attitudes & consumption patterns of their tech savvy customers who are informed, connected, and accustomed to a high level of service, visibility, and accessibility.

It is becoming increasingly important to satisfy customer’s varied and dynamic expectations and demands using all available data to improve their experiences and better anticipate and align with their behavioral needs for improved wellness advices instead of just selling basic protection plans.

Insurers are trying to find new and better ways to compete – particularly against larger firms and insuretechs. This requires them to perform much more than just efficient claims processing and better pricing, it requires streamlining their operations and improving productivity, agility, and service while controlling cost and risk related elements.

They also need to create personalized offerings which are easy to consume and consistent across assisted and self-service channels. To accomplish this, they need deep knowledge of their customers and the segments they belong to, so that they can uncover the best way to engage with them to maximize retention while keeping growth, loss ratio, and other related metrices in line.

Most customers today are "somewhat” or “very willing” to share their data in return for a range of benefits, including discounts, more relevant, personalized offers and notifications, and quicker claims processing. Customers also want to contact their insurer for high quality products and services through the channel of their choice via quick and simple interactions – anytime, anyplace, and on any device.

They expect real-time responses to help them solve their issues through relevant, personalized, and trustworthy interactions. Connected insurance, in the form of pay-per-use insurance and personalized product coverage is helping them to do that. But 60% of the insurers believe that their biggest strategic priority is improving customer centricity. The shift from a siloed operating framework to a customer-centric one will provide comprehensive insights needed to get customers the right coverage at the right limit at the right time.

The key to customer-centricity is business-ready information that can help insurers identify and drive profitable growth opportunities by knowing and segmenting their customers, understanding the products, and other factors that impact loss ratios.

Insurers need to have a true and real-time 360-degree view of customer profiles and interactions. They need better insights and the ability to recommend products and services tailored to the individual needs of their customers based on their eligibility and lifecycle stage.

Having a unique record from all data sources helps in creating a 360-degree view of the customer and is beneficial for sales, marketing, product management, agents, customer service reps, claim handlers and operational users in an insurance company. It helps in establishing consistency and enables flexible interactive interactions that anticipate customer needs across different channels of engagement. It also streamlines operations by giving employees and partners access to information and processes on any device to satisfy their customers, accelerate buying decisions, and identify growth opportunities to improve sales productivity.

Because of so many changes, risks are also shifting and modern insurers need to adapt their pricing models to address changes in risk or else their profitability will suffer.

Competing for profitable growth requires more than just better claims processing and traditional segmentation. A greater urgency around digital adoption can help insurers predict customer needs and personalize experiences and products to delight their customers and drive lasting loyalty.

Siddhartha Banik

Siddhartha is Product Manager of Customer Intelligence & Insights for Communications at TCS Digital Software & Solutions Group, a next generation analytical solution for telcos to help them deliver superior experience, improve their wallet share and increase cost savings through operational efficiency.

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