Digital Acceleration Will Drive The Customer Experience: LIMRA Panel

What will the life insurance customer experience look like as we move out of the pandemic?

Expect even more digital acceleration while keeping empathy and a human touch throughout the life insurance purchase process. That was the word from panelists who spoke during the virtual LIMRA Marketing Conference on Wednesday.

“Digital acceleration was around pre-COVID, but it certainly needs to be on steroids and amplified going forward,” said Andrea Clark, assistant vice president of experience strategy with Western & Southern.

“It’s not just providing a basic digital experience for people - you have to plus it up,” she continued. “You have to add some sort of a new element, an engaging element, and even a human element so that people are feel the value in those interactions.”

Clark said carriers are “hearing the need for empathy coming loud and clear from producers as well as customers.”

“People have gone back to their basic value systems and that connection to purpose with a company. Rallying around who you are and those things that are uniquely important and deeply rooted into your value systems are what we are seeing as important.”

Rob Sims is managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, and he said the company is doing more work on the customer experience in life insurance than ever before.

“This is a moment in time when people are more open to fundamental change than before,” he said. “Products are easily copied, and there are not wide gaps in pricing, but if you get the elements of the experience right and make them relevant to advisors and customers, you can go a long way.”

Todd Silverhart, LIMRA corporate vice president and director of research quality and performance, described the work of LIMRA and BCG in developing a report on the impact of COVID-19 on the life insurance customer experience. Key insights from the report include:

The acceleration of insurers’ digital agendas will continue.
The “human touch” will remain critical, but will take a different form.
The use of accelerated underwriting will expand further.
Will increased awareness translate into sales?

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.