Targeted News Service
(Press Releases) Courtesy of LIMRA November 15, 2019
We all
know good customer experience when we see it. For life insurance and annuity
carriers, however, it is often hard to define and measure good customer
experience. A new report by LIMRA and NEOS, Next-Level Customer Experience: How
Do Insurers Get There?, looks at the challenges and opportunities these carriers
face and how they manage and measure their customers' experiences.
"Today's
consumers are comparing the experiences they have with financial services
companies with the ones they have with tech firms, like Amazon, Apple and the
like," said Todd Silverhart, Ph.D., corporate vice president and director
of LIMRA Insurance Research. "Before embarking on building a customer
experience program, it is important that leaders identify the goals for the
program and determine the necessary steps to achieve them."
The
study found the three top objectives for customer experience programs at life
insurance and annuity companies center on customer needs -- improving service
practices to meet customer needs, aligning company goals with customer needs
and increasing employee awareness of customer needs. But executives also seek
to improve customer experience in an effort to produce higher revenue, improve
efficiency and reduce expenses, and differentiate the company from its peers
(Chart 1) (https://www.limra.com/en/newsroom/news-releases/2019/defining-what-good-customer-experience-looks-like-is-the-first-step-toward-achieving-it/).
With
the goals identified, LIMRA and NEOS outlined three high-level themes on how
life and annuity carriers can improve their customer experience capabilities:
Move
from a reactive to a proactive approach. The study's researchers suggest that
companies invest in activities and tools such as customer journey maps,
self-service capabilities and voice-of-the-customer mechanisms.
In
total, 82% of survey participants use reactive moments--like complaints and
escalations--to obtain information about policyholders, while almost 20% are
not using any external benchmarking organizations (such as LIMRA, Forrester, or
J.D. Power) to compare their customer experience, tools or processes to their
competitors.
Inform
and determine actions based on defined metrics and tools: The study found that
79% of participants are investing in tools that capture feedback during
critical moments of a customer's journey. Using customer relationship
management tools, customer experience tools and marketing tools. Seventy-seven
percent of participants are investing in CRM tools to better understand and
serve customers, while 41% say the lack of these tools is an obstacle to an
optimized customer experience. In addition, 66% of participants note that
working with legacy systems is an obstacle to customer experience initiatives.
Centralize
the customer experience program for greater success: More than half (56%) of
participants have a centralized customer experience approach, allowing
companies to optimize their program at every level of the company. The study
uncovers three key features of optimized customer experience programs 1) a
customer-focused mindset and company philosophy ingrained throughout every
aspect of the company; 2) a program managed end-to-end across the entire
organization; and 3) managed throughout the entire customer journey.
"Customer
experience is a product. It is the responsibility of every employee," said
Karna Trautman, head of strategy and transformation at NEOS. "As
competition for consumers' mindshare and wallet increases, it is critical that
life insurance and annuity companies focus on their customers' experiences at
every point of the customer journey. When done right, the experience is so
natural, your customers will choose to stay with you."
About
LIMRA
Serving
the industry since 1916, LIMRA helps to advance the financial services industry
by empowering nearly 600 financial services companies in 64 countries with
knowledge, insights, connections and solutions. Visit LIMRA at www.limra.com.
About
NEOS
NEOS is
a recognized leader in helping global insurance and financial services organizations
drive transformative change. Specializing in life, annuities, retirement,
employee benefits, and wealth management, NEOS provides management consulting
and delivery services that enable clients to solve strategy, distribution,
operations, data and technology challenges. For more information about NEOS,
visit www.neosllc.com.
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