Blog: Effective – The insurance executive’s one-stop guide to effective data journeys

Delivering new products at speed, providing personalised customer experiences at scale, and enabling better, faster decisions across the business are the insurance industry’s three pillars of success. Achieving these objectives is no mean feat, but one single thread must underpin any and every attempt to do so – data-driven transformation.

Having analytics and AI embedded at every level of an insurance organisation can turn a data lake into critical value-creating insights. Far too often, insurers fall into the trap of recognising data only for the short-term value it can offer, but a vital mindset shift is needed.

Data can fundamentally change how a business operates and its capacity to create value – it simply takes investing in understanding it or partnering with the experts who already do.

Effective data programs don’t simply ask how data can optimise current processes; they use it to power new business models, revenue streams, and value drivers – all whilst supercharging customer experience. So how can insurers guarantee data journeys are effective?

Breaking data siloes for a 360-degree customer view

Marketing and customer service hinge on understanding your consumers, from preferred contact methods to demographic data to life events or even household relationships. Every customer interaction should be stored in a central, complete customer profile.

Multiple business departments can benefit from here:

• Product designers can see information on who’s purchasing different policies to shape new market offerings.
• Marketers can gain insight into how their messages resonate with various groups.
• Claims handlers get ready access to data to resolve customer issues quickly.

Breaking data siloes to ensure data is accessible and cross-functional not only improves processes but leads to greater acquisition and retention rates.

Leveraging cloud platforms and third-party data

To achieve this 360-degree view, insurers should look to cloud-based platforms and third-party data. Cloud platforms can offer sophisticated built-in analytics and scalable data storage and help break down siloes. Third-party data, meanwhile, can help create a deeper consumer understanding by bringing in information from social media, credit bureaus, and publicly available sources, which can combine with existing customer data.

Enabling tailored customer journeys

A holistic, accurate understanding of your customers powers the delivery of hyper-personalised customer journeys tailor-made for the individual.

This might include using machine learning to automatically recommend the right policies with the right coverage or use previous interactions with a customer to determine whether follow-up claim information should be provided via an email or phone call.

All in all?

An effective data journey strategy requires connections: between departments, channels, and insights. A smart, connected approach to data will fast-track insurers towards offering innovative products that calculate risk in real-time. Getting it right can and will transform how an insurer operates and interacts with their customers, optimising the way the business functions, supercharging customer experience and creating value in places never thought possible.

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