The secrets to achieving competitive advantage and lifetime customer loyalty are largely hidden ones that are circuitously linked to the customer.
Think like the customer
Leading insurers who think like the customer get it—they understand that the customer doesn’t care how you streamline their claims experience, it’s just expected that it will be fair and fast. They don’t care what goes on behind the scenes as your underwriters try to capture business with competitive pricing that also drives profits.
Those insurers who think like the customer also know that those customers are completely unaware that the reason their premiums may be lower is because the insurer has at their disposal superior fraud detection, enabling them to pass those resultant loss control savings on to the customer, i.e., making sure genuine customers don’t have to pay for fraudulent ones.
The problem is perception
But the problem isn’t just a matter of the customer being unaware. As a whole, the insurance industry tends to be viewed by the customer negatively and with suspicion. For example, the products offered by property and casualty carriers are considered a commodity, claims are often not managed to the claimant’s satisfaction, and incremental premium increases serve to drive transaction perception down, not up.
These factors and others are the reason we see leading insurers promoting tag lines such as “you’re in good hands,” “like a good neighbor,” “we keep our promises to you,” and “we’ve got you under our wing.”
Most would agree that the claims experience represents the number-one opportunity for insurers to get it right—to message that they can be trusted to do what they promise. Being able to express to the claimant that they should expect a level of trust, however, is not the same as demonstrating it—consistently and accurately. In the same way, having the right fraud detection technology enables the insurer to trust the customer, ferret out dishonest ones, and structure fraud detection and risk selection around that mutually beneficial relationship.
Getting it right
So, let’s go back behind the scenes: Being able to demonstrate excellence in both underwriting and claims doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens when claims fraud indicators are fused with detection patterns to create a score that is included in the underwriting process, input into an underwriting algorithm, and used to block bad actors or unwanted risks in the portfolio.
It also happens when the right AI-powered solution, enriched with external data sources, automates claims and, using that same scoring factor to steer the process, sets in play any number of additional alerts necessary for field personnel to view and act on claims details. As a result, the insurer can pay out genuine, legitimate claims faster, exceed customer expectations and reduce loss ratios.
These examples demonstrate consistent and accurate proof of being the insurer that can be trusted—and as a result, turning a suspicious customer into one that will remain with you for life.
