Meet Your Customers Where They Are: The Evolving Journey of Insurance Purchases

For decades, the insurance and financial services industries have been winning and retaining customers based on an agent-centric model. If you ask insurance brands, they will likely affirm that this high-touch approach has paid off by increasing the lifetime revenue per customer with retention and upsell opportunities afforded by a one-to-one relationship.

But as insurance and financial service providers look to the next generation, the desired customer experience looks different. Increasingly, younger clientele are looking to complete an entire conversion without human interactions. Customers of all ages expect the same simplicity and 24/7 access to information, regardless of the product or service.

While some brands are struggling to decouple from the agent-centric model, those more willing to embrace the digital customer journey are gaining ground. In a study of insurance providers, McKinsey found that those in the top quartile of digital savviness were growing twice as fast--and more profitably--compared to their less digital competitors.

Here are some of the ways insurance brands are innovating:

• Creating a more seamless conversion experience. Digitally-savvy providers are using alternative methods to convert that do not require a one-to-one conversation.
   
• Leveraging technology to better arm agents with relevant customer data and create a better ongoing experience.
   
• Embracing digital technology to reduce friction in the claims process. Leading brands are providing ways to file claims from a mobile device without needing to talk to an agent.

For marketers, this means:

• Marketing to your customer based on behavior, rather than traditional demographic-based personas. While the desire to transact online is widespread among younger consumers, those in other age brackets are also embracing the new agent-less era. Be careful, and do not fall into the trap of relying on demographics alone to dictate how you market to your customers.


• Messaging needs to evolve from focusing solely on the insurance products, and instead must highlight and demonstrate how the experience of being a customer with your brand is superior to other brands.


• It is more critical than ever to have an ongoing website conversion testing program. Customers have come to expect frictionless purchase journeys. By perpetually re-examining your website performance data and testing for improvements, you can diagnose and correct website interactions that cause friction.

If you’d like to learn more about how Rise can take your customer experience to the next level, contact us today.