Certain insurance sectors like auto insurance are heavily commoditized. With everyone offering almost identical products, customer experience-based services emerge as a key competitive differentiator for auto insurers. This is where robust insurance Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems come into the picture. Be it retaining existing customers or acquiring new ones, the importance of CRM in the insurance industry cannot be downplayed.
Even though CRM is not a new innovation and some insurers are already using it, they are on the lookout to maximise the value derived from it. In this respect, knowing the ins and outs of CRM systems and how to effectively use the features and functionalities to overcome challenges can be instrumental in gaining through such an investment. Moreover, modern-day CRM solutions are acting as a unified dashboard for all customer-related interactions across different channels like digital marketing, social network, self-servicing portals, etc. Such a system allows insurers to nurture deeper and more meaningful customer relationships.
In this article, we will discuss the importance, features, and benefits of a modern CRM in the insurance sector.
Benefits of CRM in the Insurance Sector
When properly implemented, CRM can be a real boon for businesses. It offers a range of benefits, such as:
#1: Data Security
Insurance is a highly data-intensive industry that generates humongous volumes of data. In its aftermath, insurers are left with the responsibility to keep it secure. Moreover, customers, governments, and civil bodies are growing heavily concerned about data privacy more than ever. In fact, policyholders display a greater preference in choosing companies that can effectively manage data compliance and security. As such, secure and organised data management helps insurers win more customers.
New-age insurance CRM systems are equipped with a very high level of data encryption and user authentication features to ensure data security and help organizations stay compliant with the latest privacy laws. It enables insurers to gain customer trust while mitigating data breach risks and issues concerning regulatory compliance along with a loss of business revenue and reputation.
All in all, insurance businesses can enjoy huge data management benefits by implementing a CRM. It centralizes all business and customer information across functions, facilitates a single source of truth, improves data organization, and minimizes data redundancy. All of these benefits translate to greater profitability and success in the long run.
#2: Easy Onboarding
When done manually, customer onboarding can take time as insurance agents have to gather details, handle multiple forms, and verify information from multiple sources. Delaying the onboarding process and leaving the customers waiting, increases the chances of customer dissatisfaction. Hence, the onboarding process is a critical step in the customer journey and it sets the tone for their entire experience.
With CRM, customer onboarding is simpler as insurers can curate distinct customer journeys based on the policyholder’s data and preferences. The CRM can automate and digitize the onboarding process and front-load value at every touchpoint. As such, whether the customer wishes to gain more knowledge about their insurance policy or explore the different products and services that you have to offer, it will be easier for the customer support agent to engage meaningfully and help policyholders acclimatize to quick and effective servicing.
#3: Enhanced Customer Experience
Insurance CRM systems allow insurers to organize customer data in a logical and actionable format. It helps insurers keep track of all essential details regarding prospective and existing customers. This includes contact information, claims history, past purchases, etc. The insights obtained from this data can be used for a variety of purposes.
For one, businesses can use it to recommend policies that match customer requirements or use upselling and cross-selling strategies. They can also look at the trends and tweak their products or services based on customer feedback or demand gaps. If there is a particular problem that surfaces frequently, then they can employ resources into nipping the problem right in the bud before it snowballs into a bigger issue.
The data can also be used to evaluate the marketing campaigns and see which ones are working best. It will help insurers determine whether it’s worth investing more time and money resources into specific strategies or if there is a better way to reach the audience.
#4: Employee Experience
Employees are an important asset of any organization as they can increase productivity, reduce costs and enhance customer satisfaction through better customer service. Insurance CRM systems automate and streamline a number of time-taking and repetitive activities. This reduces the time employees spend on recurring, low-impact tasks, and frees them up to focus on more valuable work that requires critical thinking and creativity.
More importantly, Insurance CRM eliminates all the guesswork that goes into critical processes like underwriting or policy personalization. Employees can refer to hard and objective data to gain strategic and business intelligence that improves decision-making. They can also leverage data-driven insights to maximize productivity and performance without experiencing stress. As such, the benefits of CRM in the insurance sector impact the employees as much as they prove to be advantageous to customers and businesses alike.
Features of Modern Insurance CRM Systems
Insurance CRM systems comprise various modules and diverse functionalities aimed at improving business functions. Here are some key features of CRM for insurance businesses:
- Real-time Notifications
CRM should have the capability to send out real-time push notifications to help teams and employees stay on top of their games.
- Workflow Automation
Workflow automation capabilities allow insurers to reduce the need for manual and repetitive tasks. It helps increase productivity by optimizing and streamlining day-to-day processes.
- Reporting and Analytics
Reporting and analytics allow insurers to adequately assess the success of their sales and marketing efforts, identify bottlenecks, and adapt the campaigns for greater success.
- Mobile Device Compatibility
While mobile compatibility may seem like an optional feature, having it allows agents, brokers, and sales representatives to access the CRM functions while on the go.
Final Words
The role of CRM in the insurance industry is pivotal, especially if insurers are aiming to digitalize processes and churn out long-term benefits. It can be a fitting replacement for paper-based legacy systems and spreadsheets that have become obsolete with time. If you are on the lookout to modernize your insurance business and make it future-proof, then introducing insurance CRM can put you on the right path to achieving such goals.
Case in Focus
A leading US-based health insurance provider faced issues in managing customer and policy-related data across its business. They lacked the ability to gain a single 360-degree view of the policyholder, which delineated them from their customers – even the loyal ones. The sales team had to switch between multiple applications to address customers which impacted the overall productivity. The client approached Damco to prevent churn and improve the efficiency of their sales operations. We began with consolidating data through a powerful Insurance CRM solution that acted as a centralized data resource. Once such a solution was set in place, other dependent tasks and activities fell into place and started revolving around customer-friendliness. This helped the company achieve its objectives and retain and acquire customers.