COMMENTARY: CUSTOMER SERVICE If insurance is over ‘peak churn’ created by price competition, and the competitive advantage now is in CX – as Barry Webb, who leads contact centre technology and strategy at BGL Group, believes – then how should organisations respond? Here, Webb shares his thoughts with Stuart Dorman, Chief Innovation Officer at CX technology provider Sabio Since the emergence of price comparison sites in the 90s, cost has been the primary driver of consumer purchasing decisions in insurance. With customers reluctant to part with any more cash than necessary for something many regarded as a necessary evil, let alone proactively engage with providers, there was little incentive for service innovation. The mood is changing, however, as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced insurers and customers alike to urgently review their priorities. We asked Stuart Dorman, chief innovation officer at customer experience technology provider Sabio, and Barry Webb, who leads contact centre technology and
strategy at BGL Group, which manages the insurance documents of three million customers via the contact centres of leading UK insurers, what lies ahead. THE FINTECH MAGAZINE: How has the pandemic affected customer experience in insurance? STUART DORMAN: The pandemic has forced an entire new cohort of customers down the route of using digital technologies to go about their daily lives – grocery shopping and banking online, and using platforms like Zoom to communicate with family and friends. The nation’s digital savviness has progressed massively, and that’s having a huge impact on how people engage with organisations, including insurers. Although the insurance sector has been well on its way to digitising, the big challenge has been getting customers to engage with it, using digital channels to access their documentation, log claims, etc. This has seen insurers, in recent years, going to where the customers are, applying digital strategies on the voice channel, and conversational artificial intelligence (AI) on web channels. BARRY WEBB: The insurance industry has been behind the digital curve compared to broader financial services, but, in the last few years, there’s been some catchup. While the purchasing cycle was quite heavily disrupted, years back, by price comparison, customers
have been reticent in adopting digital for servicing, though we’ve seen some traction, particularly in the last year. Insurance isn’t a highly-engaging product, unlike other financial services that customers use more frequently, where they’re willing to invest more time in learning to use new digital channels. However, we are seeing customers who we’ve struggled, for years, to demonstrate the value of digital channels to, starting to take advantage of our broader digital services, such as online portals and messaging apps, due to their experiences elsewhere. And we’ve seen an emphasis on trust – where customers have wanted to flex their products because, for example, they’re not using their car as much, and have needed reassurance that this would be done, simply and clearly. TFM: What is the technology of the moment, when it comes to great customer experience (CX)? BW: Until now, certainly in heavily-commoditised market areas like private motor and home, customer experience has had less value than we would’ve liked because it’s been so price-based. But I think we’re close to reaching the peak of customers shopping around and churn, and that’s a really fantastic opportunity for those of us that are customer experience enthusiasts. With price becoming less of a differentiator in the future, CX will
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TheFintechMagazine | Issue 19
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