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Article
NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR SALES & SERVICES
By
Ben DiSylvester
Executive Director While most
insurance company websites are useful, they are a bit passive both
in presentation and interaction. However, the opportunity to employ
technology to attract sales and build stronger customer
relationships has never been better.
Here are three key technology
concepts you can use to guide the design of your sales and service
processes:
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Process Autonomy. Design a highly interactive website
that pulls the prospect through an iterative process that
presents information specific to that individual based on a
combination of their expressed interest, goals, and answers to
well-formulated questions. This enables prospects to build a
solution best for them, either during or prior to a consultation
and tweaking session with a professional agent or broker.
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Transaction Transparency. The typical customer has
little or no understanding of what happens after he or she
answers all the questions. Not knowing what is happening can be
frustrating and can even reverse the purchasing decision.
Enabling applicants and agents to look in on the company on a
real-time basis and see the progress their case is making
through the process takes away the mystery and keeps them
engaged.
-
Social Networking. Customer and agent surveys are
very useful, but even more effective are individual dialogues to
better understand what they are looking for from you. This
information becomes invaluable for product design, customer
service, and future technology improvements.
These technologies
are already in general use in other industries, from courier service
tracking to pizza delivery. Banks to car companies are making use of
social networks for web-based customer panels. Some auto repair
shops enable their customers to log in and see their cars being
worked on. These emerging “cool” features will, like many emerging
technologies, become the standard expected from every company.
Couple all of this with Internet-enabled mobile devices, and agents
and customers are totally engaged in the process, including
prospecting, sales, application, service, and benefits.
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