InsuranceIBV

Analytics to really understand the clients

telematics is working for me :)

the technology I've seen have the most profound impact is pretty basic - automating customer communication. When a carrier can consistently deliver high quality communications, satisfaction increases

Other technologies - mobile/portals - allowing self service which reduces the hassle factor

I"m quite pleased with the telematics IOT device that sits in my car and tracks my driving. Saving on my car insurance is a huge incentive for me.

Anything that increases contact frequency

Gamification can create a reason for returning to a carrier site - and a reason for interacting.

Analytics technologies could help to improve the retention

Analytics! IBM has a new solution for customer retention based on behavior-based insights: http://ibm.co/insura.... #insurance #FinTech

Internet of Things can act like a loyalty program – share your information and you can be rewarded (with discounts or value added services)

By the way - while we're talking about policyholders - agency loyalty is as important or more important

Insurers need to use cell phones to communicate with their policy holders. Not disruptive tech, but a necessity for timely communication.

analytics help a carrier know WHAT , WHEN, and HOW to work effectively with a policyholder. Intervene before they defect; provide the right level of service....

I like Karlyn's point - good customer communications management. Tools, techniques, put into practice. Where is the industry in doing this well? Early days still?

I assume any technologies that can create greater transparency in pricing and claims processing

Self service offerings have to be intuitive, robust and easily transferable to a personal offering when the customer decides they DO want a personal touch.

@KCarnahan Can you share more insights on agency loyalty?

Sure- I've surveyed more than 5000 agents over the last few years - and have a survey going on right now. Answer is pretty clear - agents place business where it is easy to work

watson makes a call centre agent relevant ... versus a 'script' ... very hard for head office to anticipate how the customer should be treated

Top things an agent wants - Good products and price, great claims service, a fast underwriting answers (e.g. quick quote), and underwriting responsiveness. Answer my questions quickly.

I believe there is a good opportunity with #telematics for pay as you go, lots of money on the sideline for auto

It's fine to say no to an agent - but make it a fast no - not long torturous drawn out no.

use business rules and a modern core system to quickly rate and underwrite an account. Let the agent upload their app and get a response back quickly

How about a new breed of analytics which manage emotional behaviour ?

@KCarnahan agree on all of that - a previous study said commissions is actually only #4 factor for agents

@KCarnahan agree on all of that - a previous study said commissions is actually only #4 factor for agents

@chbieck agree with the frequency of contact and the impact on retention. the question is - how does a carrier create frequent contact that doesn't seem intrusive - or like marketing fluff

#apimanagement to drive the ecosystem that gets them out of the commodity coverage arena, imho

Definitely analytics. If you can provide a custom fare based on the products and history of every customer

@chbieck not even that high in my studies. waaaay down at the bottom. Let me just qualify that - it's quite important to the principals/execs. less important to the producers and completely unimportant to the CSRs

@tboobier we are starting to see that - there are technologies that can recognize the emotion of the callers and tee up appropriate messaging for a call center rep - e.g. if you're angry - not a good time to suggest a new coverage option.

Ah, but don't we run the risk of generalising ? Different demographics have different views. In the world of insurance, isn't it all about the individual ? Is the segment dead ?

@tboobier Yes of course. while you can make generalizations and be right much of the time, the value of getting more precise in our knowledge (often based on analytics) allows us to get more precise in our interactions.

@tboobier yes, that's why analytics and understanding the individual customer is so important for retention (and the rest)

Goes back to the issue for carriers of managing data. a HUGE problem - how does a carrier keep and access their own data - and which third party data is useful.

and - following on that - how does a carrier build the skills to utilize it.

When a customer have a bad experience with the insurer

I think there are demographic issues. Time poor, cash rich etc.

depends on the line of business - in personal lines - most carriers have a retention rate of about 90% or more

that means about ten percent change annually - or once every ten years.

But @tboobier - agree that there are demographic issues.

when they get mad eg the service was poor

I think younger policyholders have different needs as they start out - and as they grow older and gain more assets, theyhave different needs

I would correlate it with life events, so I think every 5 years for an adult

i don't know that it is a difference of loyalty - or if it's a different set of needs.

@tboobier at least age has no effect on loyalty per se. I'd have to follow up on other demographics

Don' t many organisations ( not just insurers) depend on inertia?

do customers switch personal lines carriers more frequently than life? or commercial (eg the latter are more complex and sticky and there is more value add?)

for personal lines I think that's fair - a retention ratio of 92 - 95% isn't unusual. but its far less for commercial lines

Sometimes depends on claims experiences. 1-3 day resolution, 8% consider switching, 15+ days 65% consider switching. http://www.ibmbigdat...

commercial lines clients switch much more frequently.

When the product or service have the same characteristics and the insurers are rated in the same level and the difference in price it's 10% below.

@Kcarnahan why do commercial lines clients swtich more?

So are we saying that the claims experience is mission critical ?

Lots of factors to switching - is the price still feeling fair, are the coverages still appropriate, have I had a big hassle problem, a poor claim...

Less than they should, I'd guess. Compared to banking relationships...

Commercial lines clients switch more because many re-assess annually - material savings, incentive to spend time

Calling for a rate, or thru major life changes

@christinehaeberlin yes, life less than non-life

Commercial lines change more frequentl becaue prices change more frequently, insureds require different coverages, carriers change their appetite.. lots of reasons

@tboobier claims are important - but remember most custoemrs don't have a claim. so other value added services become critical

@tboobier tony, that's more true in the UK than anywhere else ;-)

In P&C personal lines there is risk of losing a customer simply because the customer shopped around for a better price for a product that they don't see as clearly differentiated, particularly if they have not had a claim experience before

Switching a carrier by shopping around will be less likely to be proactive, but more likely prompted by a change required in policy requiring the customer to reach out to their insurance company in any case - e.g. a new asset purchase