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Technology, experience and evolved consumers

ARTICLE BY

  • Sedick Isaacs
  • Bryte

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The business sector is continuously evolving, with innovations impacting – and mostly empowering – it. Digitisation may not be new, but it is consistently and rapidly advancing, swiftly extending its reach and effectively integrating (sometimes obtrusively) into every aspect of life. Such technology and artificial intelligence come with some major risks, but the innumerable opportunities, especially when properly utilised, far outweigh these.

Investment

Like any business decision, the cost-benefit analysis is a critical determinant of the level of technology adoption. However, a longer-term outlook is essential, especially in current times. Technology is deeply ingrained in all our lives and continues to impact consumer behaviour and expectations. As consumers, we all want support/products/services rendered almost instantly. Technology is empowering us to be savvier. We can look at the finer details – comparing prices, benefits, checking reviews, etc. – much more effectively and quickly than ever before.

Keeping pace

So, businesses that have not accelerated their digitisation efforts – and equally, their change management and training efforts – risk becoming irrelevant and stagnating. Systems will have to be not only scalable but also agile for future enhancements. Increasingly, companies are allocating more money towards digitisation, with some implementing it end–to–end.

Thanks to the progress being made, digitisation is bringing about a new ecosystem that interacts with multiple customer needs via an omnichannel approach. It also enables connections with various business transactions operating across diverse organisational groups.

Invisible threats

In leveraging the opportunities of the digital era, it is also vital to safeguard against rapidly escalating levels of cybercrime. Businesses must invest adequately to secure consumer and business data. Diligently managing data transfer – not just within the business, but also across its value chain – and investing in the most up-to-date antivirus software, early detection technologies, the right expertise to monitor and fix any exposures as they arise, etc., is imperative. As risk managers, we need to work closely with clients to expand awareness of evolving cyber exposures and the ways in which to mitigate against these.

Customer retention

Customer retention is multifaceted. It often involves the right balance between cost, quality, customer experience, and general responsiveness. It also demands due consideration of the customer’s needs/wants today and in the future. In many ways, the digital era makes it easier for businesses to access information about the target audience’s wants, needs, interests, concerns, biases, etc. Understanding and extracting the insights appropriately can help bolster product/service relevance and enhance the brand’s overall experience.

With customer engagement channels expanding, straightforward and seamless interactions are becoming more commonplace. Traditional mediums are being less favoured, but that does not change the importance of excelling in customer service and addressing needs promptly. Through machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as platforms such as WhatsApp, website chat boxes, social media, etc., businesses are effectively and instantaneously engaging customers and enhancing user experiences. Digital has become an intrinsic contributor in enhancing business outreach capabilities and optimising audience receptiveness.

However, as humans, we also seek physical interactions/connections, so as much as some things will continue to change, some will remain the same. So, it’s all about balance, which can only be effectively achieved by understanding the preferences of audience segments – and at times, that of the individual stakeholder. For service-driven industries, like insurance, it entails using a range of channels and conveying the same message through multiple platforms but in formats that suit the platform, e.g. an SMS update of a new service, a social media post with top-line information and links to detail on a website, or a launch event.

Conclusion

In service-led industries, such as insurance, success will depend on using technology to enhance – not replace – the human connections that build trust, loyalty and long-term value.

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