Insurers Are Missing the Boat on GenX, GenY - CSC Future Focus Panel
Insurers' incompetence at meeting customer expectations will likely drive younger generations into the arms of new entrants to the industry.September 19, 2011
@AnthODonnellFor over a decade insurers have been talking about their commitment to shift their orientation from policy- to customer-centricity. We continue to see signs that this is happening, but the geological pace of its advance is too slow to meet the rapidly evolving expectations of customers, and especially those of the so-called Generations X and Y. That was the gist of observations made by a panel of analyst and carrier executives held during the Future Focus portion of CSC's Connect for Property and Casualty user conference, here in Nashville, Tenn.
It has been about two decades since CRM technology debuted and yet fewer than half of insurers currently have a single customer file, observed Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, an analyst with Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner.
"We have a huge gap in this regard," Harris-Ferrante opined. "We are not creating the quality of customer experience needed for today's customers, and the customer of the future will find us a very distasteful industry." Harris-Ferrante said that insurers need urgently to recognize that its systems user-related shortcomings apply not only to potential customers, but also to distributors and other business partners, and to future employees and decision-makers as well.
Demand for better user solutions is by no means confined to young customers, noted Scott McClintock, CIO, Arch Insurance (New York). "My senior management team suddenly gets iPads or other devices and wants everything on those platforms," he related. "Expectations about access to data are growing exponentially, and it is certainly a challenge to make a dent in that, to say nothing of staying ahead of it."
The impact of those changing expectations goes beyond sales and service to the arena of product development, added Chad Hersh, a partner in New York-based research and advisory firm Novarica. "The attitude of the emerging consumer is one that says, 'I'm going to Mexico for the day and need a policy that will cover me. I can get travel insurance for one trip; how come you can't sell me a one day auto insurance policy?'" Hersh.
The customer base for the insurance industry is evolving, and companies need to make sure that they are adapting to the external environment. If not, and as this article mentions, existing participants will find themselves behind new competition coming into the market that is able to provide all that customers are looking for. Where customers used to be interested in every aspect of their insurance policies, both younger and older customers alike are just looking for simplicity. It may be a bit easier to reach more seasoned customers who are on the fence about whether or not certain aspects of service are needed, however as generation X and Y grow and increase demand for insurance products, companies can be absolutely certain that they need to be above par with how technology feeds into their products and services. Many insiders within the industry are of the opinion that we are definitely behind the curve.
Although insurance agents are still a very vital source for learning about consumer demands, a very important point is made that the influence of disruptive technologies on consumers' decisions about insurance should not be discounted. The importance of influence on buying patterns as a result of Facebook and other venues in which opinions can be shared is mentioned here. Social media and other emerging technologies need to be more strategically used by the industry; and players most successful at this are creating two-way communication channels. The big idea is this- no matter what the source of technology is, the industry needs to stay on top of what consumers desire and deliver on that to stay competitive.
It has been about two decades since CRM technology debuted and yet fewer than half of insurers currently have a single customer file, observed Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, an analyst with Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner.
"We have a huge gap in this regard," Harris-Ferrante opined. "We are not creating the quality of customer experience needed for today's customers, and the customer of the future will find us a very distasteful industry." Harris-Ferrante said that insurers need urgently to recognize that its systems user-related shortcomings apply not only to potential customers, but also to distributors and other business partners, and to future employees and decision-makers as well.
Demand for better user solutions is by no means confined to young customers, noted Scott McClintock, CIO, Arch Insurance (New York). "My senior management team suddenly gets iPads or other devices and wants everything on those platforms," he related. "Expectations about access to data are growing exponentially, and it is certainly a challenge to make a dent in that, to say nothing of staying ahead of it."
The impact of those changing expectations goes beyond sales and service to the arena of product development, added Chad Hersh, a partner in New York-based research and advisory firm Novarica. "The attitude of the emerging consumer is one that says, 'I'm going to Mexico for the day and need a policy that will cover me. I can get travel insurance for one trip; how come you can't sell me a one day auto insurance policy?'" Hersh.
The customer base for the insurance industry is evolving, and companies need to make sure that they are adapting to the external environment. If not, and as this article mentions, existing participants will find themselves behind new competition coming into the market that is able to provide all that customers are looking for. Where customers used to be interested in every aspect of their insurance policies, both younger and older customers alike are just looking for simplicity. It may be a bit easier to reach more seasoned customers who are on the fence about whether or not certain aspects of service are needed, however as generation X and Y grow and increase demand for insurance products, companies can be absolutely certain that they need to be above par with how technology feeds into their products and services. Many insiders within the industry are of the opinion that we are definitely behind the curve.
Although insurance agents are still a very vital source for learning about consumer demands, a very important point is made that the influence of disruptive technologies on consumers' decisions about insurance should not be discounted. The importance of influence on buying patterns as a result of Facebook and other venues in which opinions can be shared is mentioned here. Social media and other emerging technologies need to be more strategically used by the industry; and players most successful at this are creating two-way communication channels. The big idea is this- no matter what the source of technology is, the industry needs to stay on top of what consumers desire and deliver on that to stay competitive.
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