It’s hard to believe we are more than halfway through our blog series on commerce for the insurance industry. Reflecting on opportunities to improve commerce in the insurance industry and find ways to positively impact this industry with new opportunities with my colleague Beth Duerr has been exciting.
Now we’re focusing on internal commitment. We’ve already spoken about the need for a strategic vision and in-depth understanding of your customer, but how ready is your organization to embrace a commerce mindset?
When we think about the broad pillars of the insurance value chain – shop, buy, service, and claim – it’s not surprising that those dedicated to the purchasing journey demonstrate a commerce mindset, mostly because their role is to increase awareness, consideration, and conversion. Of course, there are opportunities to improve effectiveness in these phases, and our next blog will touch on technologies that can help with this area.
But what about further down the value chain?
How ready are your associates to support your business growth goals? Every interaction with a consumer is a potential commerce transaction – whether to add additional relationships or simply preserve the existing relationship and strengthen your retention rate.
A survey of the insurance landscape highlighted that 65% of insurance consumers have cut ties with their current carrier after a single poor experience. More telling, only 29% of current consumers are satisfied with their current provider. As an industry, we are potentially only a single poor experience away from losing customers.
But relatively…
A claims experience is not the right time to cross-sell additional products. Even so, the mentality of your service providers, whether a phone agent or an in-person experience, matters. Knowing your customer goes well beyond the marketing personas and the messages you’ve put to the market. More importantly, it’s the values your associates demonstrate when acting upon your value proposition in the market. Remember, having your associates aligned throughout the customer experience is critical as consumers want to validate information quickly and will share disappointment widely.
Commitment is Key
As an organization, it is critical that all associates understand your mission and vision and how this translates into your go-to-market commerce strategy. When they can see their role to help deliver on this, you will build commitment and an engaged workforce to execute your commerce strategy. With strong process and associate engagement, your investment in technology will deliver strong value that reflects an aligned, engaged strategy.
For more information on enhancing your commerce strategy with the assistance of rising insurance trends, download our guide, Commerce Experiences and the Rise of Digital-First Insurance, and connect with Brian Bell and Beth Duerr on LinkedIn to engage with them further on the growing relationship between commerce and insurance.
