4 Ways Insurance Companies Can Improve Customer Engagement

For years, the retail and financial services industries have emphasized customer engagement and the relationship. For the insurance industry, it's been different. Insurance companies would work to get new customers and often their relationships would be limited to sending a renewal notice every six months or a year. As competition increases, companies in the insurance industry need to find a new way to keep their customers engaged and avoid churn. Here are four ways insurance companies can make sure they are engaging their customers in the right way.

Click here to see how insurance marketers can make campaigns both interesting and competitive to overcome some of their greatest challenges. 

Remove Friction

How easily is it for your customers to interact with your company? If a customer needs to file a claim, do they wait on the phone before being transferred to multiple people only to go through a long process to actually file the claim? In any way you can, you need to make it easier for customers to get what they want. Think of how easily a company like Amazon has made returns. Customers can drop off their package at one of many conveniently located return locations — including storefronts like Kohl’s. Amazon has made customers feel more comfortable ordering online, knowing that if they do need to make a return, it will be a seamless process. Insurance companies need think about how they can make it easy for a customer to get in contact with an agent, file a claim and more. Opening up new avenues (like online, 24-hour phone lines, or social media) will help reassure customers getting help will not be difficult.

Provide Answers Through Content

How easily can customers find answers they need? Whether they are looking to understand their policy options or get in touch with an insurance agent, you should make it easy to get those answers. Do you have easily accessible content that customers know what is covered for them? What about content to better explain to younger audiences what insurance can do for them? Maybe you can create a short video that quickly explains the risks of not being insured to educate and inform them of the value you provide. Think of ways you can seamlessly educate your customers on your products and their value.

Align With Social Issues

When targeting younger generations, it is particularly important to align your brand with a cause that they can get behind. Millennials and Gen Z audiences are interested in patronizing companies that feel the same as them on issues and work to help better them, as 73% of people believe companies should do more than just offer a product or service. Many brands have done this successfully, but be careful. Many brands have taken the wrong stance and paid for it. Be sure to take the time to understand a cause that is important to your audience and share with them how your brand supports it.

Help Clients Take Advantage of Discounts

Offering discounts seems obvious, but helping customers take advantage of these discounts is key to keeping them engaged. A great example of this in the insurance industry is Allstate’s Drivewise program. The program rewards auto insurance customers for safe driving. It tracks things like time of day, speed and phone use. The program also gives customers personalized feedback on how they can be a better driver.  Customers who drive safely gry money back every six months. Programs like this are a win/win for the company as well as the customer. The company has customers that are accident-free, which keeps rates low, while the customer can monitor their driving and get rewarded for being careful.

Insurance companies need to be sure they are taking steps to build customer engagement. Check out this video where our CEO, Ron Jacobs, discusses how insurance marketers can overcome three of the greatest challenges in the industry today.