By Philippe Torres
Montreal, QC (Feb. 11, 2015) – In a highly competitive domain such as insurance, the linking of Customer Interactions with Customer Analytics —two areas that are traditionally distinct – offers compelling advantages. The predictable results are proactive decision-making and competitive advantages.
A Customer Interaction Platform (CIP) maintains important data on customer interactions, while a Corporate Information Factory (CIF) holds every other kind of decision-making data. CIPs sometimes use CIF data to assist in the routing of inbound calls, but by and large the two platforms are held separate, resulting in significant limitations.
Customer Interaction Centers
A Customer Interaction Center (CIC) is the enterprise-wide focal-point for customer interactions. In recent years, call center operations have evolved to handle much more than simple inbound and outbound “phone calls”. Sophisticated CIPs now support voice communications, web chats, email, fax, video interactions, messaging, and interactions via social networks. CIPs seamlessly distribute interactions to Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) across multiple physical locations, as a function of location, time, availability, and skills.
Customer Analytics
Customer Analytics allow insurance company constituents from marketing, through product management and distribution, to gain insight into customer attributes. Its ultimate aim is to provide the same picture of each customer, enterprise-wide. For example:
- Customer profitability
- Customer historical and on-level risk experience
- Ideal customer profiles
- Ideal distribution method by customer segment
- Customer Lifecycle (acquisition, renewals, terminations)
- Customer Lifetime value
- Customer communications and interactions
Missing Link
The separation of CIP data on customer interactions from CIF data results in a significant missing link.
Amongst the limitations of the missing link:
- Cause and Effect: CIPs are limited to what happens during the customer interaction. The impact of interactions on actual business processes or transactions, such as sales, claims, cancels, renewals, remains hidden.
- Off-Call Work: A clear breakdown of off-call work requires the integration of the CIP with Policy Management Systems or Claims Management Systems. It cannot be reconstructed using transaction records alone.
- Call Conversation Tracking: Associating keywords in customer conversations to actual transactions – “cancel” to a policy cancellation, “add car” to an increase in the risk count – is only possible by linking the CIP and the CIF.
Linking the CIP and the CIF – interaction and analytics – exposes a new class of questions that insurance carriers can take advantage of. Consider a total fire loss claim on a secondary dwelling. On its own, this may not be a significant event, and all claims-related transactions —financial and non-financial – make their way into the CIF as expected. However, with the CIP and the CIF linked, it might be seen that significant number of interactions related to fire coverage were recorded. Fraud Analytics can take advantage of combining the CIP and CIF.
The link between CIP and the CIF provides the opportunity to analyze customer interaction activity levels and reasons for the interactions make it possible to be proactive. For example, if a product management strategy reduces coverage, there may be a lower renewal rate from policy holders. Since cancellations are not immediate, the backlash is invisible to the Policy Administration System, but it is measurable in the CIP.
The business value and benefits of linking Customer Analytics to the Customer Interaction Platform (CIP) and the Corporate Information Factory (CIF) offer a competitive advantage. The integration of these two, traditionally distinct silos of information improves day-to-day operations. InEdge offers Insurance Analytics solutions that provide such an integration and that can easily be implemented through off-line and real time analytics and customer interaction interfaces.
For more information, consult the White Paper: .
About the Author
Philippe Torres is a founding partner of InEdge, a solution provider specialized in Insurance Analytics. Prior to co-founding InEdge, Philippe’s over 25-year career has included work at Sybase and then Sun Microsystems as a Solutions Architect. He has unique expertise in the areas of analytical solutions, the personal lines and general insurance industries, as well as R&D in the field of data warehousing and Analytics.
About InEdge
InEdge is a leader in Insurance Analytics solutions. Experienced at quickly leveraging data, InEdge seamlessly and powerfully creates business advantage for its clients. Since its creation in 1994, InEdge has designed and implemented some of the most sophisticated analytical applications available today. Our clients add up to an impressive roster of Property & Casualty and Life Insurance companies. Our Analytics solutions improve and make easier decision-making at all levels for our clients.
Source: InEdge
