Customer Experience / what is it and how do we nail it?

It’s on top of all of our minds - getting that complete customer experience. But it’s not always easy to do. Sometimes it’s not even clear what that really means. So now what?

This used to be simple. You know the story, it's been told over and over again in recent years at conferences large and small, by consultants, keynote speakers and vendors. Here is goes:

Customers walked into a store or picked up a phone. Some wrote a letter. We greeted them, asked how we may help. They told us and we tried to do it right away. And then they went back home or to the office.

They took the time and focused on submitting their concern or asking for a new service. And while talking to us in the store, over the phone or through pen and paper, they were not pulled away by notifications, emails or a new season of something irresistible on Netflix.

But today things are different.

Very seldom do we have the time or think we have the time to do things the old fashioned way. With the pandemic, we’re sometimes not even allowed to. And our conception of “experience” is as fragmented as our Facebook or LinkedIn feed. Our attention leap frogs from one thought to the next, with galaxies of context between them.

This translates into our user interactions being fragmented, cross-channeled and non linear. Good luck keeping track of that if you’re re-selling face masks out of your basement, impossible if you’re a country wide operation with a million or more customers.

So how do we make sure every single interaction is perfect? And do it consistently, regardless where, when, how, on which channel, regarding what issues? That’s a complete customer experience.

Here’s what we’ve learned when helping insurers make this happen:

1. Get your data in order.
   Not as a one time project. But keep doing this all the time, update, capture, sync. Technology is not magic and computers are not wands with integrated spells. They need data and the more they have the better and faster they can serve you.
   If you haven't already, now is the time to pull the trigger on a strong CRM solution to deal with this.

2. Get rid of 10 open browser tabs
   Agents are pressed for time more than ever. Customers are not happy waiting around for them to switch through 5 applications during a phone call or visit. And agents can't really serve customers as great as competitors who have a complete overview of every customer interaction, transaction and preference on one screen.
   Go ahead and link your core systems, document management and billing with CRM

3. Add workflows and SLAs
   You're an insurance company, not a restaurant or car repair shop. Your operation includes hundreds if not thousands of people on your team. You can't keep track of what people like and what level of service you must guarantee at all times by simply picking up the phone. By making sure every item is assigned to a proper Service Level Agreements and automated status updates, workflows significantly improve the perception of a great customer experience.

4. Plug small leaks fast
   Your customer experience is like a boat, you want to plug any leak before you take on too much water. Or you'll go under. The best way to do this is to put everything a customer would want to ask, within a click of your agent or call center operator. Someone calls regarding an open invoice, tell them how to pay it right away. They need info about a claim that's been filed a while ago, give them an update live. That will launch your NPS scores into the stratosphere.

5. Embrace dealing with non customer facing challenges
   World champions, special operators like Navy Seals and the people who wash office windows on skyscrapers understand that some jobs are not easy and preparing for them is very hard. There's a phrase "embrace the suck”and it means just that - you have no choice but to do a tough job so go all in and thrive. Upgrading core systems with omni channel and social components, connecting digital islands and apps with back business data. All those things are headaches, but they make you fit for overcoming the really big challenges in the market. Do them with integration and insurance business platforms and you'll save a lot of time, keep your existing systems and deliver a much more consistent customer experience.

We're glad to see that all our customers are working on these challenges and they're making great progress. Excellent customer experience is a continuous journey, and when done right on every step, it's always leading to rewarding steps along the way.

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To learn more how we're solving these challenges for leading insurers, get in touch for a 15-minute call or live demo.