Bain & Company recently published a study on Customer Loyalty in P&C Insurance which explored the challenges and opportunities surrounding customer acquisition and retention for property and casualty carriers. The premise is that most carriers are good at winning new customers or keeping the ones they have, but few do both well. And, with younger consumers not as interested in driving and car ownership as previous generations, combined with the increasing trend toward the young and old living in urban centers where public transportation and car-sharing services are readily available, the pool of new customers is smaller, making every new or retained customer as important as ever.

Customer loyalty, according to Bain, could be a sliver bullet for carriers. But achieving loyalty can be easier said than done. Bain points to the claims experience as an important moment of truth. And, for claims executives and staff reading this, we know that the claims experience is comprised of many moments of truth which can positively or negatively impact the customers’ view of how a claim was handled, and whether they will renew when their policy comes due.

With this in mind, we thought we’d put together a short list of some critical moments. Is your organization positioned to ‘wow’ throughout the process or just a certain moments of time? Your answer to this question could be the difference between building loyalty and lifetime customers or constantly being in churn mode.

• FNOL – are you in position to quickly and accurately take the facts of the accident and make some key decisions, including evaluating photos for auto pay on clear-cut claims or determining with a high degree of certainty that the vehicle will be a total loss candidate? Handling this step quickly and accurately is a key driver to customer satisfaction and can set the tone for a positive claims experience. Technology and data are key enablers to a streamlined FNOL process so check what you have in place.
• Completing the Repair – once it’s decided that a vehicle will be repaired, how much choice and flexibility is truly built into your process? Consumers with a broad set of repair shop options feel most in control. Your ability to electronically enable a network of shops beyond those with which you have a DRP arrangement can be seamless.
• Keeping your Customers Informed – nearly every study on the topic shows that an informed policyholder is a happier customer. Can you proactively engage customers throughout the repair process with the status of their vehicle? Can you mine this customer data to quickly flag dissatisfaction and take action? Mobile devices have made this practice a no-brainer, but working in concert with your repair partners to ensure the right communication, at the right time, on the right device is important. As are post-repair surveys to see where there are opportunities to improve.

Visit Bain.com to read the full analysis.