Is Your Agency Mobile Friendly?
Updated: March 19, 2020
The world is constantly on the go these days.
Mobility now reaches parts of all types of businesses and industries and insurance is no exception.
Change is happening, and mobility is one aspect of technology you will see evolve in the workplace.
To help adapt to the need for mobile technology across the industry, insurance agencies will need to examine how their staff and customers use mobile devices in their daily lives.
Is communication happening through text messaging, apps, maybe both?
Sharing mobile experiences and developing solutions towards filling the gaps in customer to agent communication, can help propel your agency to the next level of business.
Taking a mobile-first approach to your agency is a big change from the traditional desktop and phone call method you’re used to.
This new approach is a great way to optimize communication between agents and customers.
As an insurance provider, you want to make sure customers can reach you whenever they have questions or claims to make.
This means being available to them as much as possible.
“Mobile market share worldwide is 52.1% compared to desktop market share of 44.2%.”
Web Page Responsiveness
While most websites used by agencies center around the desktop interface, they neglect to consider the interface for mobile devices like tablets and smartphones.
Especially considering, 40% of people search only on a smartphone.
And 69% of total digital minutes are spent on mobile in the U.S
With information like this, it’s increasingly more difficult to ignore the need for acknowledgment of mobile users.
While some agencies can improve their mobile-friendly approach by working on their website to reflect the needs of mobile device users, others need to undergo a more transformative approach to adapt to the mobile-first mentality.
This often reflects the added value to customer service.
That’s really what mobility is all about; servicing customers in whichever way is most convenient.
And creating more ways for meaningful interactions between customers and agents.
Don’t forget about all of the potential future customers as well.
When they search online for insurance, they are looking for interaction, and not just a page of information.
This can come on a number of ways:
Online forms
Chatbots
Text messaging
Being able to provide consumers with different methods will give them the opportunity to choose their preferred method of contact.
If you only offer one way to contact your agency and it’s not their preferred method, you can bet they will most likely leave your web page and find another agency that offers the means of communication they are looking for.
Simplify Processes
We all use apps for things like banking, shopping, social media, etc.
Why should insurance be any different?
Taking advantage of tools such as mobile apps can help bridge the gaps between all the steps required for customers to make a claim.
The overall efficiency of handling claims is improved by 25-30% through the use of apps
A self-service feature can help customers with quick reporting in the event of an accident, damaged, lost, or stolen items.
Through the app, customers also have the option to send photo attachments right away from an accident or damage for documentation, as well as monitoring the live status of the claim process.
Aside from a more efficient claims process, insurance apps can give customers the resources they need to seek medical or vehicle service centers near them using their mobile device’s GPS location.
For example, if a customer gets into a car accident, the location GPS will notify the insurance provider where the accident took place while the customer uploads photos of the damage with descriptive details and information, all without calling their agent, or having the agent come to the scene of the accident.
Not to mention, mobile apps give clients the ability to pay directly through the app.
Or view their policies, make changes, advertise promotions, and chat with an agent.
“Mobile apps have higher engagement rates than mobile-optimized websites or desktop web viewing”
Attract Customers
Promoting your agency’s services and products can be challenging using only the website as the best tool.
Engaging potential customers through a mobile app can lead to better recognition and better advertising opportunities for features such as special promotions and notifications.
Analytics can also be captured through mobile-friendly tools to be used for data analysis to give your agency a well-rounded look into customer insights.
How much time are users spending on certain parts of the app?
What does their journey look like from start to finish for submitting a claim?
Are they getting stuck on a certain step?
Looking into these analytics can help you optimize processes and improve customer satisfaction.
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