With changing customer needs and an increased focus on consumer health, insurers must not only keep up with trends but get ahead of them. For example, during the pandemic, the industry saw more digital health innovations and a greater need for insurers that pay attention to individual customer needs.
Today, customers prefer value-driven plans that they can personalize down to their premiums. Improved engagement requires customer-focused innovation, and insurers must prioritize consumers to create necessary systemic change in the insurance industry.
Focus on Initiatives and Product Development
First, assess unmet needs in the insurance market. Look at areas that are currently suffering or consider how to make successful niches even better. Insurers should focus on long-term initiatives that will continue to boost their company and reap the benefits over time.
Many insurers focus their resources on making minor improvements and maintaining their current projects, products, and services. Shifting that attention toward innovation prevents stagnation. However, due to the risk that comes with innovating, insurers need digital health platforms and health risk quantification tools. With dacadoo’s Risk Engine and Digital Health Engagement Platform (DHEP) with Wheel of Life™, insurers can better understand customer needs and focus resources on the areas most likely to make a difference.
dacadoo’s tools determine which risk factors customers face and how insurers can serve them. They help companies refine their approach to innovation, which is crucial to success. Insurers must have clear product development goals and direction. They should also decide whether they want to approach innovation with new products and services, significant changes to existing ones, or minor changes to current offerings.
Understand Value to the Customer
Customer feedback and data can provide a foundation for where to start innovating. dacadoo’s Digital Health Engagement Platform with Wheel of Life™ keeps track of the customer’s Health Score, so insurers can see where their health statistics improve and where they fall or stagnate. This data helps insurers understand where customers need more engaging resources or support.
When insurers innovate, they often appeal to agencies above customers. However, customers boost business, and it’s not all about buying plans. Insurers should consider how to engage customers beyond features alone and think of their overall experience. Look at innovating in areas such as:
- Policy flexibility and individualization
- Generating awareness
- Support and tools
- Policy savings
- New and improved services
Look at what the market needs most, and try not to focus only on a single area and neglect the rest. With dacadoo’s Risk Engine, insurers can learn more about where customers need the most help and use that feedback to improve their experience.
Integrate and Accelerate
Successful innovation requires a fully integrated, cohesive team. Insurers should establish success metrics, timelines, and goals first. Then, create a strategy to meet them.
The company’s business and innovation teams need to work together to understand all aspects of the market and rise to meet opportunities faster. Ensure these teams consistently assess market needs, innovation methods, and how to push them in the industry. Have a plan that stays on track for designing new products, building new solutions, and launching those products.
An accelerator can help drive innovation as a separate and supporting entity, too. While they can speed up the process, they should also know what the insurer does and offer the right expertise to boost development.
dacadoo helps insurers innovate with its DHEP with Wheel of Life™ and Risk Engine. These tools highlight help identify areas that need improvement and generate feedback on how to improve them.
Contact dacadoo or request a demo to see how it can help create groundbreaking innovations and elevate insurance brands.
