Three secrets to customer satisfaction in claims
J.D. Power’s David Pieffer will deliver the industry keynote at the America’s Claims Executive Leadership Forum & Expo.
Artificial intelligence, bots, changing customer expectations, and an evolving workforce are just a few of the issues claims organizations face on a daily basis. Add in implementing and utilizing new technology while balancing customer expectations means insurers need to focus on today while preparing for the future.
This will be a major focus at the American Claims Executive Leadership Forum & Expo (ACE) in New Orleans, La., from April 20-22, where claims executives can gain insights on how to succeed in an evolving industry.
Exceeding expectations
As customer expectations change, providing service that continues to drive satisfaction requires a fresh approach. J.D. Power regularly surveys consumers to see which factors drive customer satisfaction. David Pieffer, vice president and head of the property and casualty practice at J.D. Power, will deliver the industry keynote at ACE and says there are three things driving auto, home and small commercial claims satisfaction according to their studies. The first is “making sure the customer is feeling at ease at the end of filing their first notice of loss (FNOL). This is the top key performance measure in the auto and home study. The carriers that do this tend to have the highest overall satisfaction scores in our studies.”
As carriers know, how customer expectations are treated during the claims process also plays a key role in determining satisfaction as well as renewal rates. “Managing expectations includes setting a realistic claim length estimate, being proactive in communications, communicating with the customer through the method they prefer and avoiding unnecessary delay,” continues Pieffer. “Managing expectations can negate the negative effects of an elongated claim cycle.”
From the initial insurance sale to the close of a claim, communication is vital, and Pieffer says that interacting with customers via their preferred mode is the third factor affecting their satisfaction. “For example, if a customer only wants to use email, the carrier and all of the other vendors should use email,” he explains. Asking customer preference at the FNOL can help ensure that carriers are speaking the customer’s ‘language.’
On the horizon
As the insurance claims industry continues its technological evolution, it will be a collaborative effort. Pieffer predicts that the industry will continue to “look for a better way to manage the claims process to achieve higher levels of satisfaction. What I think we will continue to see is the marriage of technology-based InsurTech and traditional insurers/vendors to speed up this transition.”
He says the recent alliances between Westhill Inc., a technology-based company, and Safelite Solutions Partners for their auto glass claims, and Metromile and Tokio Marine are good examples of how to blend the strengths of insurers and service providers. “These kinds of alliances will continue, I believe, because traditional insurers still struggle with legacy systems that do not support a true customer-facing experience.”
In a world of increasing customer expectations, the pressure for insurers to provide better, faster, and more personalized service will only escalate, affecting how businesses operate in the future. Pieffer believes that “claims has to meet or exceed those expectations because shopping is on the rise, especially for personal lines, and we see that even a neutral claim experience creates a much more likely shopper, and once the customer is in the market, there is a really good chance they will switch.”
For more insights on the factors affecting the insurance claims industry, join us at the America’s Claims Executive Leadership Forum & Expo in New Orleans, April 20-22, 2020.
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