After a great week with industry colleagues at InsureTech Connect, we learned a few things. The appetite for Digital Customer Service has never been stronger.
And—since the conference was in Las Vegas—we were reminded that there’s nothing worse than leaving money on the table. Ask any good poker player. Losing to a better hand is one thing, but not playing your best cards is literally self-sabotage.
Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance carriers spend billions on advertising to attract customers to their websites, then let the vast majority ‘walk away’ without buying anything. With a 70% – 90% abandonment rate for online sales, most carriers are squandering a massive opportunity to grow revenue and boost annual gross premium.
Imagine how converting even a small percentage of abandonments—say 10%—could increase insurance sales and supercharge the bottom line. While P&C carriers are good at driving customers to their websites and apps, improving the digital customer experience has the potential to keep them in the game and reclaim that money left on the table.
Digital First
Carrier websites and mobile apps are the starting point for most customer experiences now, yet many carriers still prioritize traditional telephone support. Asking customers to make a phone call is a disruption that leads many to move on to a competitor.
Carriers should seek ‘digital-first’ solutions that allow customers to easily connect with a customer service representative (CSR) via chat, text message, OnScreen voice or video by simply clicking a button. This provides a seamless, connected experience where customers can learn about policies, compare options and fill out applications with live support.
[Find out how P&C Insurers are using ‘Digital First’ Customer Service as a differentiator]
The ‘digital-first’ model aligns the customer experience to the customer’s timeline without breaking the digital connection. Live CSRs are ready to solve complex issues and provide a personal human touch when customers need it.
Get Proactive
Live Observation can significantly lower abandonment rates, allowing CSRs to see where a customer is browsing which allows them to jump right in and provide highly relevant assistance that moves customers closer toward conversion. CoBrowsing takes it a step further, allowing CSRs to share the screen and actively guide customers to information or even help complete an application.
[Learn more about CoBrowsing and how it can help your business]
OnScreen voice with CoBrowsing boosts the conversation rate by more than 80% and improves customer satisfaction scores by 15%-20%. Transactions are generally at least 20% faster than traditional phone support, greatly accelerating the sales cycle.
[See how Mercury Insurance transformed its Digital Customer Experience]
Like in poker, no carrier is going to win every hand. But carriers can greatly improve their odds by prioritizing the customer experience with a ‘digital-first’ approach. Making CSRs easily accessible with the push of a button and more helpful with tools like Live Observation and CoBrowsing can dramatically lower the abandonment rate, increase insurance sales and help carriers reclaim all that money they are currently leaving on the table.
To learn more on how you can lower the abandonment rate and leave less money on the table, read our whitepaper Supercharging P&C Insurance Sales with the Digital Customer Experience.
