3 Technologies to Improve Insurance Customer Experience in 2023

With the number of insurance businesses vying for attention in the current market, it’s vital that companies create a customer experience that sets them apart. Despite this, a 2020 IBM study showed that 60% of insurance executives agreed that their companies lacked a proper customer experience strategy. As insurance businesses attempt to keep up with customers, one of the main areas of improvement has had to be in the digital landscape. Expectations for faster, easier online experiences are higher than ever, especially since the pandemic.

This blog post will look into three main technologies that more insurers have adopted to deliver better customer experience and meet these demands, including Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), Robotic Process Automation, and Chatbots. We’ll also run through a few other strategies that businesses can use to innovate the insurance customer experience.

Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) uses OCR, Machine Learning, and other AI technologies to help insurance companies automate data extraction from a variety of document types and formats. Converting PDFs and physical documents such as health reports, ID cards, passports, etc. into structured data is the starting point of all automation systems. It’s where intelligent workflows really kick off from.

For example, when an insurance agent is sent scanned copies of a customer’s health report for insurance claims, they would usually have to extract the relevant information and add it to the system manually. It’s a laborious task when you’re dealing with lots of these documents and an area that’s easy to make errors in. With IDP however, all that data would be converted to a structured format and as such, be available to be extracted automatically. This occurs much faster than what someone could perform manually, with the added bonus of more reliable accuracy. Insurers can then expedite various processes involving document processing and deliver faster and better customer experience.

The same system can be applied to how other information, and even claims, from insurance customers are processed. Here are some of the benefits that IDP can bring to the customer experience in insurance:

Expedite Customer Onboarding

One of the most annoying parts of joining an insurer as a new client is having to input all your information. We’re often expected to fill out forms with extensive information regarding our identity and insurance history, which then has to be accompanied by supporting documents that need to be scanned and uploaded. Once that’s done, customer’s usually wait days, if not weeks, to hear if everything’s been approved.

With IDP integrated into an insurance company's system, new clients need only upload images of their ID documents and the onboarding form will be filled out automatically. Not only that, but the extracted data is then available to be verified against other databases to prevent fraud. This is a key example of how adopting IDP and quicker processing improves things on all ends. Customers get to do less and still have a speedier onboarding process, while the insurer is also able to save time with things like fraud checks.

Simplify the Flow of Insurance Wellness Programs

Many insurance companies now offer wellness programs to encourage a focus on well-being among their clients. To participate in wellness programs, insurance buyers may be asked to submit copies of different receipts, health examination reports, and other documents to show that they’re meeting certain lifestyle goals.

This data is collected and based on the gathered evidence, customers can be rewarded for their positive health choices with coupons and other incentives. The success, however, of these programs hinges on whether people actually engage with them. If the system is too frustrating to use, people ignore it, and insurers miss out on valuable data.

The reality is that customers are often lazy to fill out the form and upload the images needed to qualify for the rewards from these programs. With IDP implemented though, they’d only need to upload the images – no irritating forms required. This helps to simplify wellness programs, encourage client participation, and ultimately improve insurance customer experience.

Speed Up Claims Processing

Different insurance claims will require submission of various documents, including car inspection reports, doctor’s notes, etc. Building a rule-based model to help automate data extraction offers a major solution to how time-consuming the processing of these documents can be. However, automation systems can’t handle documents with different layouts or formats. They require something like IDP which harnesses the power of ML technology to turn all those documents into structured, usable data.

This technology can be trained with document samples to handle multiple formats so that insurance companies no longer have to manually extract data for claims. Instead, it can all be processed through automation software which not only allows insurers to handle claims faster and not leave customers waiting, it also ensures better accuracy. So much of how technology like IDP improves the insurance customer experience is simply by making the workflow more efficient so they can get things to clients faster and with fewer errors.

Robotic process automation uses data input from technology like IDP to automatically perform different tasks, especially related to document processing. This streamlines the overall workflow of an insurance company so that everything occurs in less time and with fewer errors. Both of these improvements can go a long way in helping to build a more positive perception of the insurance business at hand. Clients hate waiting. The less you make them do it, the happier they tend to be.

The problem with trying not to keep clients waiting is that it’s near impossible for most businesses to have people available for customer support at all times. That’s where Chatbot comes in. Powered by AI or a few pre-set Q&As, it’s another channel that customers can use to get timely responses to their questions. In practice, this means fewer obstacles to something like signing up for a new insurance product. If there’s something a client is unsure about and there’s no one to speak to, the Chatbot can ensure that they get the answers they need.

Insurance has historically been a very product-centric industry, but that’s all changing. The market is saturated with offerings and insurers have to work harder than ever to not only attract customers, but retain their most valuable ones. It’s a competitive industry and one in which the happiness of the customer is increasingly dependent on digital interactions and systems. As insurance businesses move to a customer-centric model, it’s these areas where changes need to be focused:

The way consumers engage with businesses has changed dramatically over the last few years. Insurance clients are no longer going to rely solely on an agent/broker for advice on a product. Instead, as a 2020 survey showed, people are seeking more flexibility. It’s not that the insurance broker is no longer needed, but that in deciding on and then purchasing a product, clients will probably use the broker as well as multiple online channels, including Chatbots, reviews, and other online information. Any engagement with a broker is also far more likely to occur over online channels than it is in person. If any of that feels slow or frustrating to use, it can easily put new clients off.

The better that insurance companies can make this omnichannel approach for customers, the more likely they’ll be able to keep their attention. Theoretically, there should be integration across several channels so that whether a customer calls a helpline, messages a Chatbot, or emails a broker (or all three), the information links up. It’s not simply a matter of having one decent digital communication channel, but of making multiple options available that seamlessly connect throughout.

Any friction can create frustration and unintentionally send business away. We do what’s easy. If insurance companies want to put clients first, that means investing in digital and omnichannel interactions that make it as stress-free as possible to do business with them.

The quality of experience that customers have with a company has become inseparably linked to the quality of their digital offerings. Making these systems quick and convenient to use has to be the focus for insurance companies wanting to put clients at the center of their business strategy.  As we’ve said, it can be as simple as using automation technology to do away with lengthy forms that have to be filled out, for the customer experience to be improved.

Implementing systems that are digital and automated doesn’t just make things a bit easier for clients, it can drastically improve the efficiency of an insurance company’s workflow. The most obvious benefit of this is speed. With technology like IDP and ML, agents can process things much faster and accelerate claims outcomes so that customers no longer have to wait as long.

There’s also the matter of accuracy. Human error delays daily insurance processes when it’s all done manually, potentially causing major grievances with clients. An automated, intelligent workflow tackles this head-on by dealing with data at a far higher level of accuracy than a human could.

Eliminate Manual Data Entry with FormX

Between onboarding new clients, processing claims, etc., the insurance industry is processing countless documents every day. Coupled with that is mounting pressure from clients to get things done as quickly as possible.

FormX has helped insurance companies automate data extraction from various documents such as health examination report, blood test reports, receipts, and more to help them better engage with their clients after their purchase via wellness program and improve customer experience in several ways.

Start innovating your workflow to be more efficient and intelligent with FormX. Contact us to see how FormX can be of help to your insurance business.