The growing complexity of consumer demands is forcing the insurance industry to catch up with IT developments and adopt solutions that simplify and personalize customer experience. Here are five tips for insurance companies looking to gain competitive advantages via IT:
#1. Build a good digital foundation
Though it’s tempting to jump right into developing a mobile app, it will merely be marketing hype if your technology isn’t designed to support your business strategy. If your mobile app isn’t fully integrated into your backend systems and operations, then you won’t be able to realize the desired operational efficiencies. You might only end up with frustrated customers and internal staff.
Experts say the success of digital transformation initiatives hinges on people, process, and technology. These are the three pillars of a firm digital foundation. Without it, tech projects like a mobile app will only be “lipstick on a pig”.
#2. Have a mobile-friendly website
Most consumers now research online before reaching out, that’s why having a website is a must. And with the ubiquity of smartphones, it must be mobile-ready. Most Americans conduct a majority of their online searches using mobile phones, so you will risk losing leads if your website isn’t optimized for mobile. In fact, Google indexes websites based on their mobile version, not their desktop version, so if your website renders and functions poorly on smartphones, people will have a hard time finding your website. You can use Google’s “Mobile-Friendly Test” to check.
To have a mobile-friendly website, it should have a responsive design, which means that your website changes its layout to best fit the user’s screen size and orientation. You should also embed videos since text isn’t always easy to read from your phone. Finally, make sure your details in Google My Business are up-to-date so you’ll appear in map searches when people look for insurance in your area.
#3. Use a customer relationship management (CRM) system
A CRM allows you to easily manage all of your prospects, leads, and customers. All of their information is organized in one place, so you can see relevant client data at a glance. This will help you develop a full picture of all of your customers so you can meet and even anticipate their needs.
You can also track your clients through every stage of the sales process. A CRM sends you reminders so that it’ll be easier to follow up on emails and check in on renewals. Its data tracking system also allows you to ensure that clients are given the insurance products that best meet their needs, enabling you to quickly spot opportunities to cross-sell and upsell.
Many CRMs also come with a ticket management feature, so you can receive requests from different channels and track them through to resolution, thus streamlining your customer service.
#4. Utilize marketing automation tools
Success in insurance relies heavily on nurturing leads and cultivating customer relationships, so you need to stay in touch with a lot of people who are at different stages in the sales cycle. Marketing automation platforms assist in streamlining communication and automating personalized emails and text messages, so you can deliver the right message to the right person at the right time.
If your insurance company is also active in multiple social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, you can also use automation tools to easily manage your accounts. For example, Hootsuite and Buffer enable you to schedule your posts across multiple platforms at once.
#5. Stay on top of cybersecurity
Insurance companies collect their customers’ financial, medical, professional, and personal information. They are so rich in data, making them attractive targets for cybercrime. In 2015, almost 100 million records were stolen when hackers broke into the databases of Anthem, Premera Blue Cross, and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. They were able to get client names, social security numbers (SSNs), income data, employment history, and addresses. Not only was this damaging to the reputation of insurance companies, this also exposed their customers to the risks of identity theft, insurance fraud, and spear phishing attacks.
Since building a high level of trust is key to the success of an insurance company, make sure you have all the proper safeguards in place to secure your client data. It’s best to partner with a managed IT services provider (MSP) such as Frontline to guarantee cybersecurity. They work round-the-clock and use state-of-the-art technologies to constantly monitor your ingoing and outgoing traffic. They also use the best IT security practices to encrypt your data, protect and audit data access, create strong passwords, and more.
Frontline is proud to offer managed IT services to help insurance companies in Los Angeles keep up with the ever-evolving technology landscape. To learn more about how your business will benefit from partnering with us, call us at 310.438.5929, or fill out the form below.