Nearly 9 out of 10 people think businesses should have a digital customer self-service system according to Statista. Self-service is an evolving trend that enables customers to perform their required activities without the need to seek help from the company representatives. This can significantly and positively reflect on the company’s operating cost, time, and efforts as well as increase customer satisfaction.
In today’s digital world, online self-service portals and mobile apps are the keystone for a convenient customer experience. They are an essential tool to have and no longer a complimentary one. Customers will enjoy accelerated processes, better response times, and more valuable outcomes through online self-service systems.
So, what is a self-service portal?
Using self-service systems, customers can manage their information and use their preferred services through a self-service site. They can access their accounts and services more conveniently using an internet browser or an app. Enabling your customers to self-manage allows you to provide them with customer care services 24/7. This also gives them the convenience of choosing the most suitable time for them.
Moreover, necessity for these technologies has arisen with the pandemic in order to minimize direct physical contact. Virtual options like self-service portals let customers stay in touch with service providers without having to be physically present. In addition, self-service portals save customers the time that would be wasted waiting in lines or for a representative to answer a call.
Self-service in Insurance
Self-service is becoming a key tool in customer management across industries. With a sector as challenging as insurance, enabling customers to view and manage their data can greatly improve customer service. From policies and quotations to claims and financial details, customers could be overwhelmed by the amount of information they have to deal with. Self-service will make it easier for them to view and understand their information. Moreover, it will provide them with an easy way to utilize and inquire about the provided services without having to overcrowd your tech support centers.
How can self-service help?
The advantage of self-service lies in making it feasible for your customers to do everything on their own, saving both customers' and insurers’ time and effort. Below are key features that you should be looking for in insurance self-service portals.
Secure Information Update
There should be an easy onboarding process to allow customers to register for self-service and enter their relevant information securely. Customers should also be able to update their profile and relevant information as needed. This needs to be implemented in an online environment that employs highly secure standards and technologies.
Quotations and policies
Self-service systems can save the company’s sales team the effort of generating and recreating quotations to customers. Through self-service, customers can log in and request new quotations, retrieve existing ones, or view their quotation history. Moreover, they can convert quotations to policies or renew existing policies. This of course will have limitations as per what customers are allowed to change, but just being able to request quotations or view existing policies can save them and the company time and effort.
Financial management
Financial management is a key aspect of insurance management. Self-service systems should enable customers to view and print their financial reports and check their previous transactions. They should also be able to view their outstanding balance along with all relevant details such as due dates, additional fees, etc. In addition, customers need to be able to pay their premiums and service charges online easily and securely using a variety of payment methods.
Claims and incident submission
Another key feature in self-service is allowing customers to submit their claims, inquiries, or trouble tickets. Moreover, they need to be able to view old claims and tickets or check the status of their current ones. An insurance customer portal would make these features available to the customer on their personal devices in hassle-free convenience
Exquisite user experience
If you are giving your customers a chance to self-manage, you need to make it easy for them to do so. Self-service systems need to be very intuitive and have an easy-to-use interface. Customers need to be able to find what they are looking for easily and quickly. Otherwise, they will be discouraged from using the system, which could backfire and instead of increasing their satisfaction, you could end up making them unhappy.
Video tutorials and HowTos
Letting customers manage their information and take care of various tasks on their own entails having the knowledge necessary to do so. So, besides providing an intuitive UI and a pleasant UX, which are both essential, you will also need to provide them with tutorials. Diverse content from help files, HowTos, and video tutorials can guide them to accomplish and find what they seek without having to contact your support team. After all, self-service is all about minimizing support staff and empowering your customers to do things on their own.
Mobile access
At a minimum, a customer portal should have a mobile responsive UI as smartphones are the most common device to access the Internet today. A standalone mobile app self-service that provides all the portal functionality will be the better choice.
Good customer management is all about increasing customer gratification. Empowering your customers with self-service will not only increase your company’s productivity, but it will also make your customers happy. Companies can make improvements in customer engagement and satisfaction while decreasing time, effort, and support load by implementing a robust customer self-service solution.
For an example of insurance self-service portals, check out ESKA Customer Portal. Besides providing advanced self-service features, it allows authorized users to customize user experiences based on business needs. It also integrates with ESKADENIA’s new and dynamic content management system, ESKA DCMS. This enables users to manage and customize content, layout, design, and much more.
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