Insurers Get Low Score on Customer Communications

A recent study of 6,000 consumers revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the relevance of the communication they receive from insurance service providers among other industries.

The study, which was commissioned by Thunderhead, a provider of customer experience technologies, and carried out by YouGov, targeted consumer attitude as applied to insurance, retail, banking, gas, cable, mobile telecoms and landline telecom providers.

According to the survey, 66% of all respondents currently do not feel their communications needs are being met by their service providers, and 50% of respondents agreed that their service providers communicate without regard to the customer’s preferences.

Examining engagement between providers and their customers, the YouGov study revealed that 51% of all respondents agreed that the communications they receive from service providers are not personalized.

“This research should serve as a wakeup call to service providers, who need to realize that they are falling short,” said John McGee, president and COO of Thunderhead. “Today’s consumers are much more technologically sophisticated than they were even five years ago, and they are demanding tailored and personal communications from those companies with which they do business. Firms need to invest in the tools that will allow them to not only be compliant with expanding regulations, but also deliver the right message through the right channels.”

The dissatisfaction expressed by respondents is spread out across all sectors covered by the study, including insurance, banking, landlines, mobile, gas and cable. Of those categories, insurance and mobile customers have the highest levels of dissatisfaction: 50% of insurance respondents agreed that their perception of their insurance providers would improve with more tailored communications, while 84% of mobile customers acknowledged that they almost never have any personalized communication with their mobile provider.

Although the discontent was extensive, the banking sector did report the highest level of satisfaction in the study: 72% of banking customers indicated that they are fairly satisfied with the way their banks communicate with them, while only 39% agreed that their perception of their banking provider would improve if they received more tailored communications.

The survey also indicated that 31% of respondents have ever had a provider ask for their preferences regarding the way they would like to receive bills, statements or policy information

McGee continued, “These survey results are delivering a powerful message, and they demonstrate the importance and value of interacting with your customers in a personalized way. 52% of everyone we polled actually agreed that they would have a better opinion of their service providers if those providers were more aware of the matters and activity on their accounts. This is an easy step companies can take to improve customer acquisition and retention and increase return on marketing investment. The opportunity is here – now, it is just up to service providers to take that next step forward.”

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