What I Learned: Nexus’ Insurance2Customer USA Summit

Noah Casser on September 29, 2016

Early last week, I had the privilege to attend Insurance Nexus’ “Insurance2Customer USA Summit”, which took place at the Wyndham Grand, here in Chicago.  Similar to the Insurance Analytics USA Summit that Insurance Nexus put together earlier this year (for my takeaways from that show click here), I2C was squarely focused on how technology can help insurers to streamline their operations and do a better job of delighting customers.

For all the work (and money) the industry has put in over the past few years, it’s clear that there still is progress to be made.  In her opening remarks, Insurance Nexus’ Emma Sheard pointed out that J.D. Power’s 2016 Insurance Customer Experience Study showed that overall customer satisfaction is down in both the home and auto insurance sectors.  With customer expectations being shaped by their experiences with companies like Zappos and Amazon, insurers need to continue to innovate around customer experience initiatives in order to keep pace with customer demand.

To that end, there were a number of sessions at I2C that took a deep look at how insurers can continue to improve their customer experience from purchase, up to and through a claim, all the while increasing customer acquisition and retention.  While there was a depth of information and insight presented over the two days of the conference, I came away from the show with three key takeaways:

  • Mapping the customer journey is now a necessity, not a luxury - During one of my favourite presentations at I2C, CNA’s VP of Marketing, Emily Hathcoat, detailed how their organization used journey mapping to gain a holistic view of how their customers interact with the company and areas that needed to be improved in order to keep pace customer demand.  Later in the day, Joe DeRosa, author of The Customer Mindset, made a compelling case that journey mapping is the only way to stay on top of customer expectations particularly concerning communications channel preference.
  • Data analytics will shape how future insurers will interact with their customers – There were a number of examples throughout the conference of how insurance companies are using customer data to increase customer engagement and improve CX. Yet, the most fascinating presentation concerning the power of data to drive results came from IBM and Prudential. Both companies are going way beyond simple customer surveys or focus groups in order to better understand their customers.  IBM uses rich data insights to help their customers provide constantly evolving and highly personalized customer interactions across every touchpoint.  Prudential is using Consumer Neuroscience to improve product offerings and create more impactful marketing campaigns.
  • Video is a key piece of the customer engagement puzzle – There were numerous examples of how impactful a well placed video can be. On day one, JJ Carroll from Swiss Re pointed out that click through rates on emails containing video were almost double those without.  Max Angell from Pitney Bowes featured their new personalized video product and indicated that their customers have seen increases in engagement similar to Swiss Re’s.  In his closing session, Rob Trube from Acrisure detailed the benefits of video for content marketing and how best to create and share video content.

I2C was certainly time well spent. It’s always a fascinating experience to spend time with the people who are innovating in the insurance industry – it’s great to draw from their experience to see how technology is allowing insurers to be more customer-centric.

If you’re looking for an upcoming event where insurance innovation is a focus, take a look at Women in Insurance Leadership Forum. Our very own, Tara Kelly will be presenting with one of our favourite clients on stage. For more information, contact us today!