Research reveals that 61 percent of insureds switched providers in 2017, and 77 percent say that they are less loyal to their insurance providers than they were three years ago. Given these statistics, insurance carriers need to work harder to secure customer loyalty. If there is one way that property and casualty insurers can win their customers over, it’s through meaningful communication.
Insurance carriers are notorious for communicating to–not with–insureds. The conversation between property owners and insurance carriers needs to be two-way for the relationship to grow. Also, insurance carriers are tasked with finding a way to personalize these conversations and deliver them to insureds in a timely manner through their preferred communication channel.
How Insurance Risk Services Helps to Strengthen Relationships
Our team at Insurance Risk Services has more than 35 years of experience in partnering with property and casualty insurance carriers to provide them with accurate underwriting support. Not only do we pride ourselves in putting together thorough reports to help our insurance carrier partners make informed decisions, but we also play a key role in strengthening the relationship between insureds and carriers.
When performing a property inspection on behalf of the insurance carrier, we have the opportunity to gain valuable face time with the insured. In-person interactions between insurance carriers and property owners are rare during the term of a policy, and we use this time as an opportunity to add value to property owners and strengthen relationships.
Communication Tactics to Build Loyalty
In addition to in-person property inspections, here are several ways that insurance carriers can improve communications to secure customer loyalty:
1. Treat customers as real people, not policy numbers.
When interacting with insurance carriers, property owners want to feel valued as individuals. Therefore, when communicating with insureds and serving them content, be sure that the message is tailored to their specific needs and preferences.
However, personalizing communication for insureds is not just about tailoring the message to the customer. Insurance carriers must also deliver the message via their customer’s preferred channel. Customers want convenience and the ability to choose a way to interact with insurance carriers, whether it be email, phone, or a mobile app.
2. Improve communication by using cloud-based technology.
There is already a movement of insurance carriers moving to cloud-based technology to offer more efficient and interactive communications between insurance carriers and insureds. As voice assistant technology (Amazon Alexa and Google Home) continues to gain traction, we can expect to see more insurance carriers embrace this technology to improve communication and connect with insureds.
3. Make strengthening security a priority.
While many industries are using data-driven personalization to improve customer interactions, it’s important to remember that the majority of consumers are concerned about businesses collecting their personal information without permission. When asking for personal data from insureds, it will benefit the relationship greatly if you communicate why you need the data and how you will protect it.
Following the three tactics outlined above will help insurance carriers use communication to build trust with insureds and win them over as loyal customers.
Contact us at Insurance Risk Services to learn more about how we can help you to strengthen relationships with insureds while mitigating risk.
