A Hard Look at Customer Service

Accenture recently took an in depth — and very interesting — look insurance and customer service. It found that insurance is only viewed positively at the point a consumer needs help and how that help arrives.

Here’s the sad truth, 41% of policyholders plan on changing carriers after one claim. If they are dissatisfied with the outcome, 83% say they’ll move on. This conclusion comes from a survey done for Accenture by Hi Marley. That company did a study of 25,000 customer satisfaction surveys from 50 P&C firms.

Accenture also says it takes 9-times more money to get a new customer than to keep one so keeping one becomes critical and that leads us back to the Hi Marley study.

It broke down positive and negative claims experiences into four categories:

The timeliness of service and the resolution of that service

Communication

Process effectiveness

The attitude and the approach of the adjuster

When it comes to timeliness and resolution, both are critical for keeping customers satisfied. The one star reviews given by those surveyed were constantly about long wait times and the lack of response. Combined the surveys say 80% of customers will leave a carrier if they’re dissatisfied because of a slow response.

Communication — the study found — is also critical. Over a third — 34% — of those giving an insurer a one star review blamed poor or ineffective communication. Policyholders want to be in the loop — and as often as possible — through the whole process of settlement.

They also want easy ways to activate a claim and to text photos and communicate with an adjuster. A huge number — 82% — want to talk with a human being.

Process effectiveness still works best when a human being talks with a customer. Nothing beats it for a consumer. People also want the claims adjuster to be an advocate and not an opponent.

The approach of an adjuster is critical to keeping a customer. It drives 46% of the 5-star reviews and 34% of those giving a company a one star treatment.

Accenture’s conclusion is that insurance is a people-oriented business. The more contact people have with people in a company, the more likely the insurer is to keep that customer when renewal time comes.

Source link: Digital Insurance — https://bit.ly/3vcLY2O