A CRM that incorporates artificial intelligence and machine learning is the best way to truly harness the power of big data.
Insurance carriers started using data for underwriting and claims management long before “big data” became a buzzword.
But insurers have been slower to leverage data analytics for other aspects of the business, such as customer acquisition and relationship management (CRM)—which means insurance is falling behind as other industries take advantage of emerging technologies that infuse CRM and marketing with valuable data insights.
Today’s consumers expect personalized offers and on-demand customer service from representatives who can make tailored suggestions. In order to keep pace with shifting customer expectations, insurers and agents must invest in CRM technologies that leverage big data.
A CRM that incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is the best way to truly harness the power of big data. This type of CRM can sift through the millions of personal and professional customer attributes stored in your agency management system, infuse it with even more external data points, process the information and present it in an actionable format that helps you personalize the customer experience and prioritize opportunities for customer acquisition.
An AI and machine learning-fueled CRM also enables you to customize the entire marketing value chain. The CRM can assign each lead a predictive score based on who’s most likely to purchase insurance so you know who you should target.
Then, if a lead responds to a marketing email by visiting your website, you can customize the landing page based on what you know about that specific customer. Finally, you can follow up via phone using not only the knowledge the CRM gleaned from previous interactions, but also enhanced insight derived from external data.
“The future of insurance marketing is in customized experiences,” says Andrei Utkin, CMO at Insureon, a small business insurance broker. “It’s not enough to provide the same messaging to each customer. It must be an experience that is tailored based on what I know about the customer, how they engage with my content and what I think they will do. The key to achieving this is a flexible CRM system that can build models based on machine learning algorithms.”
Chris Matty is CEO & co-founder of Versium.
Taking Ownership Insurance agents are sitting on massive amounts of data, but many struggle to derive actionable insights from it. Consider Alper Services, an insurance agency founded in 1966 that prides itself on forming long-term relationships with its clients. Agents meet annually with every client in their portfolio to catch up on a personal level—no insurance talk allowed. The agency has traditionally relied on an Excel-based CRM to manage customer information, but this year it’s looking to invest in a more robust, data-driven CRM platform that can manage the entire customer relationship, not just track sales information. “We need to find a better way to not only capture more data, but also use it in the best way,” says David Macknin, president & CEO. “Right now, that’s too labor-intensive with our system.” —C.M. |
