Customer loyalty is crucial for survival in today’s marketplace. Retaining existing customers is more profitable and offers a higher return on investment than acquiring new ones. However, the latest ABBYY State of Intelligent Automation Report reveals that 90% of insurance companies are struggling with customer abandonment, resulting in significant revenue loss. While competitive rates are important, the customer experience plays a pivotal role in determining the success of relationships. Insurance companies have the most significant customer touchpoints during onboarding and claims processing. The more streamlined these touchpoints become, the higher the chances of retaining customers.

Experts recommend customers review their insurance plans every six to twelve months and consider switching every two years. However, decision-making often becomes fatigued due to the overwhelming amount of information and data available. Additionally, it can take almost two weeks to fully onboard a consumer after they choose an insurer.

During onboarding and claims processing, insurance companies face stacks of documents from various sources that lack a standardized structure or format. They receive documentation through paper, email, and PDFs, making data fulfillment slow and resulting in long wait times for claims processing. This sluggishness leads to unnecessary financial losses for insurance companies as they fail to settle claims promptly.

To enhance the customer experience and remain competitive, insurance companies need a more efficient solution. The manual process of collecting documents, extracting necessary information, and compiling it all together is time-consuming. This process cannot be repeated for each individual claim.

To optimize onboarding and claims processes and establish positive relationships with customers, insurers must shift their perspective to align with customer expectations. Insurers need to meet customer onboarding expectations at scale and consistently deliver quick claims services to retain customers and foster loyalty. Here are three ways insurers can achieve this:

1. Digitization: Digitization has become essential for business operations across industries. By offering clients online portals to access policy information, make payments, file claims, and communicate with agents, insurers can provide greater convenience and control over insurance policies. This leads to faster turnaround times, improved accuracy, and reduced costs, ultimately helping insurers retain clients.

2. Automation: Leveraging technology through automation is an effective method to enhance client satisfaction and increase retention rates. Streamlining customer touchpoints such as onboarding and claims processing using intelligent document processing hardware and software can significantly improve the overall customer experience. AI-enabled technology can scan documents in multiple formats, identify required details, and expedite the transition from documentation to processing. By fast-tracking or eliminating unnecessary steps, employees can focus on building relationships with customers, further improving the customer experience.

3. Personalization: Keeping customer relationships at the core of the business is crucial regardless of the type of insurance or benefits offered. Personalization is a powerful tool for customer retention as it makes clients feel valued and understood. Showing customers how products and services align with their needs can be the deciding factor in retaining them or losing them to competitors. Insurers can gain insights into client behaviors and preferences by collecting and analyzing customer data. This information can then be used to tailor insurance products and services to better meet clients’ needs.

To remain competitive and retain existing clients, insurance companies must prioritize their customers and focus on their key touchpoints: onboarding and claims. By transforming these traditionally cumbersome and paperwork-heavy interactions into seamless and technology-driven processes, insurers can build customer loyalty, improve retention rates, and boost revenue.