We all know the power of ratings and reviews. Many cinephiles base their weekend viewing on what critics favor at a given moment, as do music aficionados when browsing through the latest releases. But nowadays, you don't need to be a well-respected reviewer or influential blogger to influence people's decisions. The advent of social media is enabling everyone to wax poetic, or raise or lower their thumb in judgment of anything they choose. Facebook last month even made it possible for members to "like" items on a wide variety of partner sites, furthering both the rating phenomenon as well as its own reach. So, how does this new trend help an insurer looking to improve interactions with its customers or boost sales?
Long-regarded as a customer service champion by users and the industry alike, San Antonio-based United Services Automobile Association (USAA) developed a social media strategy in October of 2008 to address exactly these types of questions. Established in 1922 as a financial services provider to military families, USAA built its reputation and grew its member base largely through word-of-mouth. But in this digital age, USAA recognized the growing shift in how customers research and purchase products, and adapted its view to see social media and online user-generated content, including ratings and reviews, as the digital evolution of that word-of-mouth concept.
"The leaders of this company have fully understood the value of authentic word-of-mouth for decades," says Thomas Vaughn, USAA's director of social media. "It's not a new concept for us. We wanted to take advantage of our legacy as a relationship company, and drive it forward with a strategy that allows members to research the products and services we offer in the same way they research products on other websites-be it Amazon or somewhere else-that provide an authentic customer voice. It lets users hear from someone they trust."
USAA's strategy consists of four pillars (see "USAA's Four Pillars" below), all of which help to define a user experience on their website that is unlike any other in the marketplace.
"Our strategy has evolved over the last year and a half," Vaughn says. "We started with an in-depth strategy overview trying to address many different needs around the company, as well as member needs, and we've developed that into a much more concise, repeatable strategy that we can get our evangelists around the company to share and understand."
MEMBER RATING 4.8 OUT OF 5
The backbone of USAA's social media strategy comprises ratings and review mechanisms visible throughout the website. Harnessing services from Austin, Texas-based Bazaarvoice, the firm is able to leverage these tools to engage its members on the site, capture their "authentic voice," and provide them real-time product and service feedback. Bazaarvoice also provides an infrastructure to include a moderation service component that includes tools embedded in the Web site that enable members to submit reviews for our acceptance, so USAA can ensure it's following all compliance and regulatory rules, in addition to seeing and acting on any posts that require immediate customer service attention.
Once the tools were in place, USAA conducted usability testing with members, according to Forrester Research Analyst Brad Strothkamp, who profiled the implementation. The firm also ran it in beta for a period in order to get a sense of what they were going to hear from their customers. Despite already knowing that it is well-regarded by its members (as evidenced by USAA topping the Cambridge, Mass.-based research firm's customer advocacy ratings report this year, and having tracked fan pages and user comments on other social media sides such as Facebook), USAA waited to accumulate a larger sampling of star ratings before going live. Once it had gathered a great-enough number of ratings and reviews, USAA put the features into production.
The ratings and reviews, Strothkamp says, are similar to an ongoing survey, with the best type still being of the testimonial and demo variety, as people explain not only how they used a product or service, but how it was a benefit to them. USAA's system, he says, gets to both.
"People talk not only about their customer service, but also about services that they have and the impact of those services on their lives," he explains. "USAA essentially is branchless-and one of the humps it needs to overcome is being comfortable without any physical customer touch points. The ratings and reviews play right into this. A positive review saying, 'I wasn't sure at first about them being branchless, but after using their website, I don't miss the branches' strikes right at the heart of the obstacle others need to overcome to choose USAA as a provider."
Vaughn agrees, noting that the ratings and reviews capabilities also have helped members to make a more informed decisions when choosing a given product or service.
"Regardless of whether that application was an auto or homeowners insurance quote, or checking and saving application, the authentic member reviews resonated so much that members are now far more likely to start those applications and processes with the presence of those reviews on the page," Vaughn says.
Outside of aiding customers, the member reviews also helps USAA to improve its products and services.
"RESULTS GREAT" - POSTED BY AV1181
While USAA can point to a number of tangible results stemming from the greater use of social media on its website, what jumps out at Strothkamp are the actual numbers of increased online applications and quotes resulting from the establishment of the ratings and reviews.
Prior to USAA's launch of the tools, Strothkamp says that 28.4% of shoppers who viewed the auto loan product page went on to start an application in the same session. The percentage grew to 30.1% after the implementation of the ratings and reviews. Additionally, USAA's auto insurance quote starts grew from 30% to 31.2%. The firm estimates that the rise in application starts resulted in 15,978 additional products and policies across its main product lines in the first year the ratings and reviews were active.
"To be able to say, incrementally, that they grew the number of people booking products or policies and put a number around it, there's the business case," he says. "I don't need any of the other numbers."
Another takeaway is that USAA approved 86% of the reviews to appear on the website, which demonstrates that it's not eliminating negative or unfavorable reviews. Strothkamp's research revealed that USAA's acceptance rate is significantly higher than many other financial services websites, where the acceptance rate averages 71%. USAA screens reviews for keywords and customer service issues only to ensure they're rectified, and then posts everything to the site unless includes profanity or revolves around a legal issue.
The key for insurers, Strothkamp says, is having good metrics-both pre- and post-initiative. USAA had those metrics, and was able to put hard numbers around what is usually a nebulous concept.
"Ninety-nine percent of companies can't validate social media initiatives in numbers that really mean something to companies," he says. "But USAA was able to put actual, incremental numbers behind social commerce, which is very difficult, and something I've only seen one other company able to do."
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With its ratings and reviews portion of the social media strategy already paying dividends, USAA continues to scan the social media horizon for future tools. Vaughn says his team continues to think of ways to leverage user-generated content, and views the website itself as a community of members helping one another. To this end, he says, USAA is working with Bazaarvoice on a number of community projects to be released later this year.
Vaughn also says that, going forward, USAA plans to leverage social media as a customer service channel. Monitoring chatter on outside social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, and visiting blogs, he says the company will engage its customers on service-related issues in those forums.
"We really want to treat customer service in social media channels the same way we treat other customer service items on the phone or online," Vaughn says. "By embedding customer service items coming in through social media into the operational tool set that's used to handle a phone call, we've figured out how to embrace it as a channel. This is a big thing that's coming later this year."
USAA's Four Pillars
The success USAA has enjoyed as a result of its social media efforts can be traced back to having an established, effective strategy for using and engaging customers. Based on a study from Forrester Research analyst Brad Strothkamp, what follows are the company's four pillars, which it has used to define the role of social media within the organization.
1. Listening - With an established history of being lauded as having the best customer service and growing based on word of mouth from its customers, USAA has made it a point to listen to what they say about its products and services. Central to this point is the understanding and quick resolution of its members' needs.
2. Engaging - USAA understands that it's crucial to interact with its members where they are-not necessarily where it wants them to be. Therefore, USAA has endeavored to find its customers on their channel of choice (e.g. Facebook, member Webinars and on its website, USAA.com) and answer questions there.
3. Strengthening Relationships - Because the goal of offering exceptional service is to be the customer's provider of choice, USAA developed its social media strategy to incorporate tools and tactics to better understand its members. In the end, it managed to develop a unique experience that ultimately reinforced its bond with the customer.
4. Innovation - USAA strives to make its customers lives as easy as possible, and developing innovative products is one way to stay ahead of the game. For example, its Deposit@Mobile application allows customers to deposit checks simply by taking a picture of it with their iPhone or Android phone. The company's social media strategy takes this one step further by understanding customers' pain points, and utilizes their insights in an effort to eliminate them.
