Engagement starts with the individual: Gracanin
Insurance partners need to tailor their interactions to suit individual needs, build lasting relationships, and help meet the challenge posed by digital disruptors, according to Jason Gracanin, head of digital services group for TAL.
Speaking at FST Media's second annual Technology and Innovation conference – The Future of Customer Experience and Business Intelligence on Tuesday, Gracanin said a multi-channel approach is integral to engaging modern day customers who are seeking "exceptional" personalised experiences.
"The challenge for us is: not everyone wants self-service, some customers just want their problems solved. We need to tailor our approach to the individual customer... digital encompasses many touch-points in the network but we need to understand what a partner's value proposition is and create a common platform for shared services," Gracanin said.
"We also need to look at providing reassurance and we do that by connecting the physical and digital world through a unified multi-channel approach. It's the same plumbing but different tap ware."
According to Gracanin, the expectations surrounding how easy it is to service information from an insurance company today comes down to the relevance of their solutions and how simple it is for a customer to deal with that organisation.
"Another key area was integrating [our offerings] and removing waste and friction from our services to ensure there is a single streamlined process end-to-end in helping our customers."
Gracanin said a common misconception for insurance partners seeking to build engagement is seeing digital as the "driving force" behind forming lasting relationships with individual customers, as opposed to viewing it as a means to an end.
"My view is that the customer has many different hats and not forgetting exactly who it is that you are servicing is [paramount]," Gracanin said.
"Fintechs are not a threat but are a catalyst for change. It's all about looking at new entrants, new standards, and horizontal integration."
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