Updated on: June 13, 2024

When it comes to technology trends in the insurance industry, the customer experience reigns supreme.

That’s the message from a 2023 survey report from Gartner, a U.S. technology research and consulting firm.¹

“Improving the customer experience ranked higher in the survey this year than more strategic focuses, such as growing revenue or new products/services development to support transformation,” Gartner analyst Kimberly Harris-Ferrante said in a statement. “The economic stressors of the coming year are making companies refocus and shift directions to fill gaps which have existed for many years.”

Specifically, these insurers are looking to build a more comprehensive picture of their customers to better serve their needs.

“Insurers need more customer data, including more behavioral and preferential data, to effectively execute digital business strategies aimed at cross-sell/upsell, panoptic personalization, dynamic customer engagement, and revenue growth through new products.”

Modernization Efforts Are a Priority

More than half of insurance industry leaders said they’re increasing technology investments in 2023.¹ Most of these investments will go toward tech modernization, with 68 percent of respondents choosing this priority area.

These leaders are looking to inform and motivate customers during the coverage selection process. Sophisticated tools, such as life insurance gap analysis solvers, are now readily available for financial professionals looking to improve engagement.

APIs Become a Trend in the Insurance Industry

Another priority for insurance companies is to develop a richer understanding of each customer’s financial situation to provide personalized service.

An example of an insurance company making strides in this area is MassMutual, which recently reported excellent financial results.² The firm continues to evolve its online platform, which offers a big-picture view of finances through aggregation tools to support holistic financial planning.

The Gartner research highlights this desire for data aggregation to enhance the customer experience. Around 61 percent of respondents said APIs and integration technologies were a spending priority in 2023.¹

A Seamless Experience

All-in-one convenience is appealing to consumers, and insurers are taking notice. The model of providing holistic financial planning advice that goes beyond insurance products, including term and whole life policies, disability policies, and annuities, is an appealing one.

Nearly three-quarters of affluent investors (72 percent) said they think their providers can offer solutions for the vast majority of their financial needs, according to Salesforce’s Future of Financial Services report.³ The report makes it clear that offering a seamless customer experience is a top priority.

In fact, the lack of a seamless, all-in-one experience was cited as a reason to switch financial services institutions. Nearly a third of consumers said they would leave their current provider to gain the ability to input personal and financial details with adjacent technology to integrate banking, wealth management, and insurance.

Deepening Relationships

Technology also holds promise when it comes to building deeper relationships with policyholders.

A 2021 benchmark analysis of 20 insurers providing life, health, and annuities in the U.S. and Europe revealed that the typical insurer had a per-customer product density of around 1.2, meaning most customers were only turning to them for a single product.⁴

Analysts compared that data with a set of insurers that have put an emphasis on deep customer relationships, whose product density increased to two products per customer, and rose beyond three in some examples.

“A more coordinated approach can unlock huge opportunities to meet customers’ comprehensive needs,” McKinsey analysts wrote.

Unlocking the Power of Data

More modern data infrastructure can also drive efficiency in the insurance prospecting and sales process.

For example, insurers can gather data-driven insights to focus efforts on engaging only interested and qualified prospects. In an industry that has some of the highest customer acquisition costs, that can boost efficiency.

From attracting and retaining customers to delivering experiences that delight, insurers are pursuing various goals in modernizing their technology infrastructure. The potential for a competitive technology advantage looms large.

Sources:

1. Gartner. “2023 CIO and Technology Executive Survey,” January 9, 2023.

2. Yahoo Finance. “MassMutual Delivers Excellent 2022 Financial Results,” March 2, 2023.

3. Salesforce. “Future of Financial Services,” November 10, 2022.

4. McKinsey & Co. “Unlocking the Potential of Deeper Customer-Agent-Insurer Relationships,” November 29, 2021.

You may also be interested in...