“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” –  Winston Churchill

This quote applies well to the changing expectations and preferences of the consumers from modern-day businesses, including those in the insurance sector. 

More than 75% of the consumers agree that technology-laden service is vital for improving their experience. In fact, 67% of them believe that how an organization employs technological solutions demonstrates their functional adeptness.

In this context, technology-powered service has to be part and parcel of every business operation. In this context, technology-powered service has to be part and parcel of every business operation. The ServiceNow Financial Service Operations (FSO) solution has been specifically created to help financial institutions realize the power of digitized service and support and assist them in matching the unique industry verticals in terms of streamlined, automated, intelligent, and intuitive service delivery. 

The changing consumer expectations from Insurers 

Before delving into the use of ServiceNow FSO and the related benefits to the insurance providers, it would be pertinent to shed light on the peculiarities of changing consumer expectations and the need to accommodate that.

• Risk awareness has increased: The COVID-19 pandemic has well and truly exposed the vulnerabilities of the social structure. No wonder that more than 40% of the consumers are inclined towards life and health insurance. Jean-Jacques Henchoz, the CEO of Hanover Re, says that “The pandemic-induced shift to digital ways of living and working will change the preferences of insurance customers for good.” This effectively translates to consumers embracing more straightforward and tech-oriented policy commitments – “pay-as-you” insurance covers, as Henchoz calls them.
• Personalized and Real-time Service Has Become a Norm: Almost 66% of the customers surveyed by Salesforce feel that organizations must comprehend the unique needs and must cater to the associated expectations. Quite a significant number of them (about 52%) feel that service delivery has to be personalized. Yet only 37% agree on empathetic interactions being accommodated by the organizations. These evolving customer sentiments have led to customers becoming more resistant to the traditional ways of service provision.
• Interactions via Digital Channels are Highly Preferable: In its 2022 Insurance Industry Outlook report, Deloitte emphasizes the need for switching to more atypical channels of interactions. Apparently, “an increasing number of consumers are “cutting the cord” and dropping cable or satellite TV services, which means they may no longer be exposed to the multitude of personal lines insurance ads on legacy channels,” the report elaborates. Naturally, not all customers are looking for alternatives to the conventional way of inquiry and policy selection. And certainly, an overwhelming number are inclined towards digital interactions for the underwriting and application process.

Why do insurers find it challenging to address the changing demands?

The foregoing-mentioned factors have led to the need for an evident transformation in the methods of insurance providers’ service delivery. This is characterized by being agile and adept at being able to:

• Offer potential customers better and advanced services for underwriting, making claims, and handling the policy portfolio.
• Effectively manage the risk exposure and strengthen the service portfolio by providing real-time information on a customer’s activity.
• Streamline the conversation with the customers and keep them abreast of their policy’s latest developments and benefits.

However, insurers are constrained owing to the following:

• Ineptness of the legacy IT systems to accommodate these calls for change and support the streamlining of processes from underwriting to servicing.
• Existence of traditional policy management tools with limited capabilities to handle multiple channels of interactions and restricted functionalities.
• Manual process cycles and inability to track the activities of the employees for timely service delivery.
• Lack of insights from the siloed data and the associated inability to use the data in a comprehensive manner to address policy gaps, risks, and opportunities.
• Limited knowledge about dealing with complex compliance and regulatory requirements.

Indeed, the modern way of service delivery goes beyond a digital-only approach as such. It needs substantial improvements in the way processes are controlled, monitored, and carried out. The outcomes of these processes need to be analyzed and fed back into the system for policy management, underwriting, and claims processing. This is vital for the effective management of risk exposure and service delivery to the customers.

Here’s How ServiceNow FSO Helps Insurers

By now, it’s evident that there is a dire requirement to gain a competitive edge in the insurance sector. While the competition is cut-throat, operational efficiency, customer centricity, and quick resolution of customer issues are vital for ensuring enhanced customer retention and reduced operational costs.

• FSO Drives Consistent Customer Experiences: With the facility of self-service portals, insurers can offer customers an unprecedented level of convenience, choice, and freedom. They are able to take care of their policy fulfillment in a thorough, timely, and seamless manner. Customers can also make queries and purchase add-on products without the hassle of calling up their insurers. This goes without saying that FSO can also be leveraged to enhance the customer experience in a gamut of products, services, and policy types.
• FSO Improves Agent Experiences: The unified on boarding experiences allow agents and brokers to understand the licensing, regulatory, and examination requirements. As such, they get familiarized with the insurance products offered by the carrier before calling them up for contracts, claims, renewals, etc. Besides, the system allows for easy access to real-time data based on an agent’s activities, thereby facilitating seamless monitoring of activities and compliance.
• FSO Ensures High-Grade Security and Compliance: Through the integration of risk management, compliance, and audit capabilities, the FSO system ensures that insurers can meet the ever-increasing regulatory requirements. The system encompasses a robust framework for identifying risks and ensuring that policies stay compliant with changes in regulations. Besides, insurers are equipped with the ability to automate the responses to cyber threats.

Sounds enticing? No doubt, FSO is a perfect platform for the insurance sector to address the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities. This entails the need for insurers to build a robust, automated, and agile IT framework via FSO. 

For more information, connect with us today.