Insurers across the globe are discovering new ways to enhance their business growth in the course of unprecedented financial, economic, and regulatory changes. Today, companies cannot rely on cost-cutting strategies alone or practice top-line growth without bearing the adverse consequences of the changing market trends. Insurers have come out of their shells, trying to maintain a perfect balance that will sustain long-term growth and profits.
However, this is not as easy as it seems because the structural forces disrupt the insurance industry immensely. With a casual business approach, it has become exigent for insurers to meet the changing client needs, new regulatory burdens, rising capital requirements, disruptive technology, low interest rates, and soaring competition.
It is crucial for insurance businesses to revise their existing business structure and come up with new strategies to survive in today’s market. Here are a few ways businesses can do so:
However, this is not as easy as it seems because the structural forces disrupt the insurance industry immensely. With a casual business approach, it has become exigent for insurers to meet the changing client needs, new regulatory burdens, rising capital requirements, disruptive technology, low interest rates, and soaring competition.
It is crucial for insurance businesses to revise their existing business structure and come up with new strategies to survive in today’s market. Here are a few ways businesses can do so:
- Take personalized approaches
Last year was all about digital transformation, which boosted the trend of personalized services. Some of the highlights of these approaches include artificial intelligence and machine learning that enable businesses to deliver optimized solutions to their customers. The insurance executives can also chat with their clients in person if their clients don’t get the right solution. So now, it’s high time for insurers to bid adieu to outdated systems and automate their insurance agency management operations in order to deliver better customer experience.
2018 has been a learning curve for many insurance businesses across the globe to thrive in the competitive market. Many experts recommend insurers to attend networking seminars but as per the research, it often results in inefficient usage of time. You can utilize that time to discuss important things with your employees and get some innovative ideas from them. You can spend time on setting realistic goals for your business and implementing them.
With so many dynamic changes in the working environment, 2018 has motivated many insurers to come out of their shell and do something groundbreaking. Nevertheless, one should not forget that along with evolving opportunities, there are some drawbacks that insurance firms need to look into. Insurance rates continue to rise and everybody is feeling that pain. Try to address those issues and come up with some effective strategies.
Prospecting is tough as it requires consistency, speed, efforts, and determination. But sometimes, insurers get stuck with quotes, proposals, and other insurance back-office operations, making it impossible for insurers to give their best for generating leads. Though prospecting clients is a never-ending process but you can adopt a different approach, which is positioning yourself as a leading insurance company. This empowers you to take intentional and strategic actions helping you reap numerous benefits including attracting prospect clients without spending much time and a lot more.
Customers are the kings as they have the power to make or break your business reputation through online reviews about your services. Most insurers are enormously busy with their work that they forget the review part. But in our opinion, you should have a separate team who responsively responds back to queries or checks online reviews. These reviews can help you develop effective marketing strategies for delivering quality services to the customers.
Adding testimonials to your insurance website plays a pivotal role in attracting more customers and resolving half of their queries. According to a study by Northwestern University, putting an effective product review increases the conversion rate of converting your leads into loyal clients. More so, testimonials also help your SEO team to improve the rankings of your website as the reviews also include ratings in them. It also helps you in establishing your social media profile as customers always look for genuine reviews before making any purchase.
According to researchers, 82% of Americans seek recommendations from friends and family members when purchasing products or services, accounting to 8 out of 10 people. So, insurers should establish themselves and reach such heights where people call out their name. And there’s nothing better than networking online or in person to attain this. Connecting in person might sound weird to you but when it comes to building real relationships, there’s no other alternative. You can start by giving something back to your community and your clients would definitely recommend you!
Experts suggest that an image with content creates a great impact on the minds of users but a video can have a long-lasting impact. According to Forbes, approximately 40% of decision-makers called insurers after watching their videos. More so, 65% of consumers visit the website of insurers only after watching their work-related videos. So, video marketing should be a top priority while preparing your marketing strategy.
Social media is no more a teenager’s platform; it has tremendously evolved over the years. Today, businesses are utilizing social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., to promote their business and create awareness. Being an insurer, this can be one of the best strategies as you get to connect with the right people through social media. According to researchers, social media advertising will generate more than $17 billion in 2019. So, create a solid social media profile of your insurance agency and capture the market through efficient marketing strategies.
Earlier, insurance companies were secluded by market stability and regulations, creating barriers to enter this industry. In the low-interest atmosphere, counting on investment income to underwrite various losses made risk evaluation and management much more important. However, with the evolving technology, insurance companies that can harness customer insights and evaluate risk based on that data are the true leaders in the market. It’s high time to break the outdated data silos by using analytics and utilizing the data correctly.
Adopting a digitalized approach can help your insurance business to bloom in the competitive market. You can begin your strategy by understanding the market trends with new customer expectation, new technologies, and new market boundaries that will help you devise an effective strategy. Technologically, innovative insurance companies are rewriting the business rules and redesigning organizational and business model structures.
Technology is not only impacting business industries but also the customers. Insurance customers are changing across different verticals- be it demographics, digital behavior, use of technologies, and increased expectation. Tech-savvy insurers are redefining the industry from inside out, turning this difficult, mysterious, and confusing sector to a transparent, modest, and engaging experience.
Choosing the right technology platform is extremely important for insurers to fulfill their goals. However, technologies like AI(Artificial Intelligence), IoT(Internet of Things), Blockchain, Big data, etc., are some of the common platforms adopted by insurers. It completely depends on the leaders of insurance companies, keeping in mind the future of their company to choose the viable platform. According to researchers, tech-savvy insurers perform 6% better than their peers and grow rapidly.
Many companies are embracing SMAC (social, mobile, analytics, and cloud- strategy) to enhance their customer experience but that’s not enough for insurers. Insurers should be vigilant enough, and leverage, technology enablers in the market. This clearly means that you should look beyond SMAC strategy to meet the next wave of enablers.
If you are all set to embark on this journey, it is important to keep in mind that we’re living in a hybrid IT world. Insurers need to prepare for future tech-journey while maintaining and supporting existing applications and infrastructure. For which, opting for insurance back-office services will be an ideal option as taking on the new technology and opting for such services can surely help you maintain a balance between internal processes and growth.
Read More: How Health Insurance Apps Aid Customer Experience?
- Big changes, big goals
2018 has been a learning curve for many insurance businesses across the globe to thrive in the competitive market. Many experts recommend insurers to attend networking seminars but as per the research, it often results in inefficient usage of time. You can utilize that time to discuss important things with your employees and get some innovative ideas from them. You can spend time on setting realistic goals for your business and implementing them.
- Focus on key areas of your company
With so many dynamic changes in the working environment, 2018 has motivated many insurers to come out of their shell and do something groundbreaking. Nevertheless, one should not forget that along with evolving opportunities, there are some drawbacks that insurance firms need to look into. Insurance rates continue to rise and everybody is feeling that pain. Try to address those issues and come up with some effective strategies.
- Hunt and grab every competitive edge you can
Prospecting is tough as it requires consistency, speed, efforts, and determination. But sometimes, insurers get stuck with quotes, proposals, and other insurance back-office operations, making it impossible for insurers to give their best for generating leads. Though prospecting clients is a never-ending process but you can adopt a different approach, which is positioning yourself as a leading insurance company. This empowers you to take intentional and strategic actions helping you reap numerous benefits including attracting prospect clients without spending much time and a lot more.
- Monitor your online reviews
Customers are the kings as they have the power to make or break your business reputation through online reviews about your services. Most insurers are enormously busy with their work that they forget the review part. But in our opinion, you should have a separate team who responsively responds back to queries or checks online reviews. These reviews can help you develop effective marketing strategies for delivering quality services to the customers.
- Testimonials are powerful
Adding testimonials to your insurance website plays a pivotal role in attracting more customers and resolving half of their queries. According to a study by Northwestern University, putting an effective product review increases the conversion rate of converting your leads into loyal clients. More so, testimonials also help your SEO team to improve the rankings of your website as the reviews also include ratings in them. It also helps you in establishing your social media profile as customers always look for genuine reviews before making any purchase.
- Boost your network
According to researchers, 82% of Americans seek recommendations from friends and family members when purchasing products or services, accounting to 8 out of 10 people. So, insurers should establish themselves and reach such heights where people call out their name. And there’s nothing better than networking online or in person to attain this. Connecting in person might sound weird to you but when it comes to building real relationships, there’s no other alternative. You can start by giving something back to your community and your clients would definitely recommend you!
- Use video marketing strategy
Experts suggest that an image with content creates a great impact on the minds of users but a video can have a long-lasting impact. According to Forbes, approximately 40% of decision-makers called insurers after watching their videos. More so, 65% of consumers visit the website of insurers only after watching their work-related videos. So, video marketing should be a top priority while preparing your marketing strategy.
- Use social media more than sharing
Social media is no more a teenager’s platform; it has tremendously evolved over the years. Today, businesses are utilizing social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., to promote their business and create awareness. Being an insurer, this can be one of the best strategies as you get to connect with the right people through social media. According to researchers, social media advertising will generate more than $17 billion in 2019. So, create a solid social media profile of your insurance agency and capture the market through efficient marketing strategies.
- Spend less on business and invest more in new service offerings
Earlier, insurance companies were secluded by market stability and regulations, creating barriers to enter this industry. In the low-interest atmosphere, counting on investment income to underwrite various losses made risk evaluation and management much more important. However, with the evolving technology, insurance companies that can harness customer insights and evaluate risk based on that data are the true leaders in the market. It’s high time to break the outdated data silos by using analytics and utilizing the data correctly.
- Move from knowing to planning to adopting a new digital approach
Adopting a digitalized approach can help your insurance business to bloom in the competitive market. You can begin your strategy by understanding the market trends with new customer expectation, new technologies, and new market boundaries that will help you devise an effective strategy. Technologically, innovative insurance companies are rewriting the business rules and redesigning organizational and business model structures.
- Keep customers in limelight
Technology is not only impacting business industries but also the customers. Insurance customers are changing across different verticals- be it demographics, digital behavior, use of technologies, and increased expectation. Tech-savvy insurers are redefining the industry from inside out, turning this difficult, mysterious, and confusing sector to a transparent, modest, and engaging experience.
- Adopt a future-focused platform
Choosing the right technology platform is extremely important for insurers to fulfill their goals. However, technologies like AI(Artificial Intelligence), IoT(Internet of Things), Blockchain, Big data, etc., are some of the common platforms adopted by insurers. It completely depends on the leaders of insurance companies, keeping in mind the future of their company to choose the viable platform. According to researchers, tech-savvy insurers perform 6% better than their peers and grow rapidly.
- Study technology enablers in the market
Many companies are embracing SMAC (social, mobile, analytics, and cloud- strategy) to enhance their customer experience but that’s not enough for insurers. Insurers should be vigilant enough, and leverage, technology enablers in the market. This clearly means that you should look beyond SMAC strategy to meet the next wave of enablers.
- Plan a swift journey for the future problem
If you are all set to embark on this journey, it is important to keep in mind that we’re living in a hybrid IT world. Insurers need to prepare for future tech-journey while maintaining and supporting existing applications and infrastructure. For which, opting for insurance back-office services will be an ideal option as taking on the new technology and opting for such services can surely help you maintain a balance between internal processes and growth.
Conclusion
I hope the above-mentioned strategies will help you in transforming your already existing insurance business strategies to work in your favor like never before!Read More: How Health Insurance Apps Aid Customer Experience?
