COVID-19 reshaping Consumer Demands!
Jun 8, 2021
As a result of COVID-19, the insurance industry and the associated dynamic consumer demands have evolved on many levels. In this situation, insurance providers have significantly strengthened their customer interaction and displayed an advanced level of customer-driver assistance. Global dynamics are driving change to an industry rooted in time-tested methods.
The bond between people and technology is one of the principal drivers in empowering the next-generation strategy. Insurers are practically considering this as they position their organizations to face the consumer demands that lie ahead. There is an immense opportunity for providers to get ahead of the curve through flexible systems and methods. COVID-19 might prove to be the catalyst for satisfying consumer demands in insurance mobile apps, and there have been few recalibrations made to handle them more efficiently.
Rise in Digital Engagement
While some consumers may regress to traditional engagement methods, the majority will endure the digital behavior they have become accustomed to in recent months. Advances in the way insurance products are sold and serviced will lead to vaster levels of personalization.
Insurance providers duly acknowledge the rising need of bringing about further value additions to their customers. It translates to more personalized offerings and communications on a strategic basis. Due to the pandemic, there has been a boom in online interaction between people, including video and remote communication. It can translate to processes such as – reduced distribution costs from the insurer side of the paradigm and advances in the availability of personalized information for the purchasing segment.
Rise of Personalized Services
COVID-19 has further accentuated the need for insurers to streamline, enhance and digitize operations and claims methods. Insurance providers are now comprehending the existing bond between consumer experience and underlying digital strategies. Insurers need to review their channel strategy approaches to serve the need for rising consumer demands, i.e., specific types of personalized services.
This transformation means more investment in combining their channels and organizing digital pathways on an end-to-end basis. It translates into consumers being increasingly aware of the handing-off process to the third-party channels.
Growth in willingness for Data Exchange
One of the key obstacles to building greater personalization has been consumer reluctance to give insurance companies the personal data required. This growth means that consumers are actively participating in the data-sharing process to obtain the sort of services they desire.
It can lead to designing more individualized products by forging a more symbiotic relationship based on data exchange. Now insurers can distinctly break down offered products based on risk and charge/price target audiences only for their associated segments. The customer will get a more personalized cover, and the insurer can price it more precisely, thereby effectively fulfilling modern-day consumer demands.
Digitized Distribution
Insurance providers know that distribution is key to success and so are carefully cultivating opportunities to bolster their networks. However, there will need to be a strategic and operational fit, and insurers will focus on balancing reach with cost-efficiency. The objective is to improve the digital abilities of broker and agent networks and blend them within the insurer’s digital environment.
This analysis is applicable because, in commercial lines particularly, most customers communicate with an insurer through a broker rather than directly. The customer experience must be compatible with the insurer’s value proposition all the way through, no matter how it is accessed. Better digitization of the data exchange could also help make the quoting process more cost-effective for all parties involved.
Conclusion
Being fastidious in sales and marketing efforts and educating customers about insurance application development benefits is insufficient today. Convenience is revered as the answer to new generation customers. Insurers need to reinvest in technology and make insurance policies available to the new-age digital consumers through the channel of their own choice. By doing this, they shall manage to overcome a deep-seated norm in the insurance industry and look positively towards satisfying consumer demands and retaining customer segments
