Insurance is a relationship built on trust – why behavioural science is so important in insurance

If there’s one thing gleaned from 25 years at the coalface of insurance and marketing, it’s never underestimate the needs of the consumer or take people for granted. To put it simply, relationships make or break us.

Digital transformation has changed our behaviour. Technology has taken a more central role in enterprise and the lives of people. Consequently, consumers and corporations alike, in the sprint to keep up with changing times, have elevated  technology’s place in their lives.

As a digital insurer, iptiQ, hasn’t had to make the move to digital. We were born that way. Our goal is to make insurance more convenient and accessible to end-consumers through a B2B2C business model, by forming partnerships with other insurers, insurance intermediaries, banks and consumer brands. 

Subsequently, our focus and priorities are a little different. Customers are at the centre of everything we do. Really. Many say that, but we actually live it.

Understanding the needs of customers and exceeding expectations is critical. Particularly in the realm of insurance where relationships are predicated on the most precious of all character traits - trust. That has grown with the digital revolution and never-ending disruptions. In Europe alone, digital insurance is growing at 9% annually, and expected to facilitate a USD 500 bn market by 2030¹. 

The omnichannel insurance experience is now standard. Simplicity, speed and quality are key benefits. Customers are seeking embedded, people-centric experiences. Millennials continue to be the largest purchasers of insurance². And digital will further help margin-squeezed insurers reduce costs by dealing with supply chain issues and inflation. 

These can only be delivered with digital trust.  

The need for better understanding of the relationships we engender through digital platforms, the factors that influence them, and the nature of trust in this space, has evolved. The safety, security and efficiency of online engagements is paramount. 

Beyond the inherent and competitive nature of digital environments, there is the sheer volume of data generated, received and to be managed. These demands have given rise to increasing feelings of technology overload, together with cognitive and physical duress. 

If you think we should pay more attention to the human component that feeds technology, you’re not alone. Numerous studies point to this³. Common sense demands it.

To better understand and effectively engage customers at every relevant touch-point, to efficiently drive results, a true understanding of expectations, behaviours and actions is vital.

Of course, garnering the insights is one thing. Translating and employing them to create meaningful experiences that lead to improvements in customer outcomes across sales, satisfaction and retention is another.

Here, our capabilities are organised around three imperative pillars:

1. Voice of the customer: From measuring and acting on what people are really thinking and feeling about insurance, we dive deep into the customer experience at point of sale, claim and even cancellation. 
2. Mind of the customer: Insurance products, processes, and pathways are probed by customer validation and behavioural science assessments to ensure propositions are understood and valued. Surveys, interviews, focus groups, UX tests, and mobile ethnography are just some of the practices employed to get a better handle on perceptions and attitudes.
3. Value of the customer: Growth optimization focuses on retention and cross-selling, mining deep veins of science and data to ensure the right customers are being engaged at the right time with the right insurance offer.

We do our best to help our partners with more than just retention and sales. Claims and underwriting, letter design, SMS messaging, and even the preferences of advisors, all fall within the brief. 

With regulators creating frameworks designed to protect consumers, our experts also contextualize these requirements by gathering and measuring customer outcomes across sales, satisfaction and retention. This compliments our governance and compliance protocols and enables us to take action and drive towards superior customer outcomes for policyholders. 

It’s not rocket science. Actually, that’s not true. Some of it is rocket science. And brain surgery as well. At the end of the day, however, by making insurance experiences and processes easier, clearer, and more intuitive for the customer, by removing jargon and highlighting a call to action, customers feel more confident. They trust you more. And with that, customers have better experiences and insurers get better results.

That’s our simple objective. Use technology to build relationships based on trust and make every aspect of insurance as good as humanly possible.