As technology advances, insurance providers need to pivot to keep up with shifting customer expectations. Insurers must remain relevant and innovative, as customer loyalty is a fickle thing in the insurance industry. A single bad customer service experience or technology frustration can nudge long-time customers to explore their options.
New Technology Needs
Providing superior service and support requires a modern, multi-pronged approach. For example, if the primary form of communicating with customers is email, the provider isn’t likely to see significant engagement. Even social media has its limits due to filters, oversaturation, and algorithms. While email and social media marketing are still relevant, text messaging has better potential for niche marketing.
Insurance providers that expand their communication channels to include texting can add value to their services, products, and more for their customers. The following are some of the ways insurance companies can use texting:
- Appointment reminders. The claims process is hectic and hard to understand for those outside of the industry. Policyholders are under an unusual degree of stress following a loss, and they may forget when the appraiser is supposed to arrive, where they’re supposed to take their vehicle, etc. With texting, insurance companies can send reminders to help insureds keep track of everything they need to know about their upcoming appointments. This eases stress, reduces missed appointments, and provides a personalized touch.
- Marketing analytics can provide lucrative insight into policyholders’ purchasing behavior. For instance, many insureds bundle their home and auto policies for a discount. The data may show this demographic often needs special coverage for valuable personal property. While homeowners’ insurance has some coverage for jewelry, it often has a cap that may not provide full coverage. Sending a text message about valuable personal property insurance to protect the loss or theft of an engagement ring can bring in more business than an email would likely achieve. Automating text messages to trigger based on new policies can deliver the information in a timely manner when the insured still has their policy information fresh in their minds.
- Claim updates. The claims process isn’t always clear to policyholders, which can leave them frustrated and uncertain. While a mobile app can provide this information as well, it’s better customer service to alert the policyholder that the update exists. If the customer knows their insurance company will keep them up to date, it eliminates the need to frequently check an app or make a phone call through a convoluted phone tree.
- Other important updates. Insurance companies can send out reminders and alerts to help customers avoid a lapse in coverage, to notify them of coverage gaps, or to inquire about irregularities in their policies (e.g., unusually high or low deductibles that can affect their finances).
- Save money. If a significant weather event is approaching, insurance companies can text helpful information to policyholders to mitigate damages and losses. They can also send out guidelines on what to do following a loss from a covered event to reduce the severity of the damage (e.g., how to prevent flood damage from worsening).
Text messaging can give insurance companies an edge over the competition by providing personalized service, superior support, and timely product recommendations. To learn more about the benefits of text and chat support for your insurance company, contact the experts at Actec.