The insurance industry like so many continues to undergo dramatic digital transformation, and with competition for consumers’ business, innovative insurance companies are finding ways to make every part of the process easier for their customers and more efficient and profitable for their operations.
Geico, for example, introduced “Kate” – a virtual assistant who connects with customers through their mobile app to answer questions via text or voice recognition. Kate is programmed to answer general insurance questions, as well as specific questions about a customer’s account, and helps customers with everything from knowing when their next payment is due to checking balances and fetching documents. For issues that cannot be answered by Kate, customers are transferred to live agents who provide highly personalized services and are available 24/7.
Allstate innovated with drive-through claims centers which offer half hour appointments for appraisals, but when their customers wanted more, they rolled out the QuickFoto appraisal app. Now, customers simply send a few pictures of the accident to a claims adjuster through the app, and the claim is processed within less than one business day. When questions arise, expert agents are connected with customers and have access to the information they provided, so those questions can be answered quickly and precisely.
Liberty Mutual created a special application for Amazon Alexa; customers with Alexa-enabled devices instantly connect customers to answers about insurance, estimates, or to an agent, activated by three words: “Alexa – Liberty Mutual.”
State Farm rolled out the extremely popular “Drive Safe & Save” application, which helps drivers keep their insurance premiums low without sacrificing full protection for their vehicles. The platform uses a telematics device to track customers’ driving patterns and connects to a Driver Feedback app that shares tips on how to improve their driving. Customer satisfaction ratings for State Farm continue to reach all-time highs over the last few years.
There are dozens more innovations insurance companies are implementing to keep their customers happy and their bottom-line results healthy. Regardless of the automation provided by technologies, they all share one important aspect in common: no insurance company believes they can build and grow their brands without awesome humans – expert agents – or what we like to call Ambassadors ready to engage as friendly, highly trained, empathetic and efficient helpers.
Ambassadors can help throughout the lifecycle – from customer acquisition (by answering questions and guiding inbound callers through the qualification process and by providing attracting offers) to claims processing and customer retention. Ambassadors can also drive up the chances that happy customers will refer their friends and share positive experiences with others, which is so key in this hyper-social world.
Activus Connect’s AI-enabled Ambassadors help our customers drive great results, including during times of distress when geographically dispersed experts are available in locations where fires, floods, earthquakes and other disasters occur.
We provide outstanding data analytics enabling insurance companies to follow trends, and understand how certain behaviors drive the best results, and how certain agents are delivering conversations that matter.
We are also able to scale up for periods of enrollment for medical insurance, for example, tailor our coverage for specific events, and train and coach Ambassadors with information that makes personalization possible in seconds.
We help ensure insurance companies can deliver innovation in CX in harmony with all the innovations they are creating to remain competitive, and are inspired by the opportunity to provide meaningful conversations especially when their customers may be under duress and appreciate even more a calm, understanding and efficient expert available to help them through. In the worst of situations, we often find the best of people, and at Activus Connect – we call those people Ambassadors as part of our cultural DNA and value system.