Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing numerous industries by automating manual processes and successfully replacing people in many tasks previously carried out only by human workers.
In the insurance industry, smart AI-based chatbots are already capable of guiding policyholders through the entire customer journey, from acquisition to retention. By speeding up the key processes and making them more efficient, these bots leave a lot of extra time for human employees.
The benefits of using AI-based bots in insurance are huge, both for the company and the customer. Here are some of the most important ones.
Better Lead Generation
Capturing leads can be a tiresome business, but chatbots are great at it. They engage the website visitor in a conversation right away, before they have a chance to leave.
The bot will ask them relevant questions, propose policies, and offer any further details the visitor needs. This is how it generates and maintains interest in the potential customer. Moreover, the more info the visitor provides, the better and more tailored offer the chatbot can recommend.
A major plus of this method is the fact that the customer doesn’t feel pressured into buying anything since they’re not talking to a live agent. It’s between them and the “machine,” so they can take their time and relax.
Furthermore, an increasing number of people prefer communicating through messaging platforms. As many as 69% of customers want to be able to contact a business via texting. Chatbots are perfect messaging agents that are there for your mobile visitors.
Increased Conversion
Chatbots are not only great at focusing visitors’ attention, but they are also masters of converting them into satisfied clients.
These bots can identify customers’ coverage needs and provide them with customized quotes. Meanwhile, they can answer any queries and provide a smooth, painless experience.
Intelligent chatbots are machine-learning programs capable of getting better at predicting customer needs based on previous experience. That means that, in time, they grow and gather valuable insights into customer behavior and the best ways to react to it.
Some companies might be afraid that their chatbots will sound too much like — well, robots. However, there’s no need to worry about that because they are great at understanding our natural language and responding accordingly.
You can even set up multilingual bots, which will be able to cater to more than just your English-speaking visitors. This ability further increases your chances of a successful conversion.
More Efficient Onboarding
As we’ve mentioned, an insurance chatbot will not only steer the customer in the right direction — they can lead them through the sales funnel with little to no support from a live agent.
The whole onboarding experience is great both for the company and the customer.
The company gets an efficient AI agent that can cater to an unlimited number of customers simultaneously. This means no more long AHTs, which may cause you to lose impatient clients. It also means that people can reach out to you at any time of the day because bots are available 24/7.
The chatbot can be programmed to collect relevant documentation and validate it. It can also present customers with any forms they need to fill, collect their e-signatures, and set them up.
If need be, these smart bots can schedule meetings with live agents or redirect the customer immediately if an agent is available.
Reduced Risk of Errors and Fraud
Insurers deal with sensitive customer data, and they need to do everything in their power to reduce the risks of mishandling it or endangering its privacy and security.
Of course, people are not machines, and they are prone to making mistakes. However, when dealing with such confidential information, a single mistake could cost you a customer’s trust or even your reputation.
On the other hand, bots are programs that process any info with mathematical precision, and there’s almost no room for any errors. What’s more, they can pull any necessary estimates and proposals within seconds, unlike live agents who would have to be careful and take their time.
Bots are also great at detecting any potentially fraudulent activity and alerting the company before it’s too late.
So insurance bots also act as the guardians of your reputation and ensure that customers see you as trustworthy.
Personalized Customer Service
Personalization is a major buzzword in business, and it applies to all aspects of running a business, from marketing campaigns to sales.
Having a FAQ page is great, but it’s not enough. Customers may require assistance with a unique problem, and chatbots can help in this respect too.
Instead of searching the site for a particular answer to a specific question — a mission that often fails gloriously — a customer can simply ask the bot and get an immediate answer.
However, a bot can go further in assisting the customer than just providing answers to their questions. If they want to pay their bill, update their status, change a piece of info, such as their address or phone number, these chatbots can help them do that.
Even if they want to change their policy, the chatbot will ask them a series of questions to establish their needs. They will compare that input to other info about the policyholder and suggest solutions accordingly.
Increased Retention
When the time comes for policy renewals, customers tend to leave if there are any surprise coverage changes and increases in price. This is yet another situation where chatbots come in handy because they can reach out to customers proactively before their policy expires.
This way, the chatbot can alert them about the changes in a timely manner, check if they are okay with them, and if not, see how they can tweak the offer to better suit them.
The bot can analyze the client’s history and suggest alternative plans that would be a better overall fit. This method saves them money, and it helps you keep more customers.
Of course, human assistants can do the same, but it takes them much more time to analyze the customers’ needs and history. Bots do this automatically, so thanks to their integration with your other systems, they can present the customer with the right offer in seconds.
