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Customer Experience is the “New Battleground”

Customer Experience is the “New Battleground”

Someone in the Insurance market asked me the other day, what does it take nowadays to deliver a “great customer experience”?

That got me thinking about a number of things:

  1. How do I want to interact with my Insurers(s) & service providers?
  2. What would really meaningful interactions & consumer engagement look & feel like?
  3. What would my children say?

It prompted me to consider what really matters to me, as a reasonably “tech savvy” consumer:

I want my Broker & insurer(s) to focus on understanding my preferences & behaviors whether that’s:

  • Communicating with me through my preferred channel of communication (in my case digital)
  • Using data that I choose to share as a consumer to understand what information might be relevant to me, or that I might be interested in … In other words, I’m happy to be engaged with if it’s relevant to me
  • Time is important to me, so I want to access all of my insurance & protection needs in one easy to access place rather than having to go to a plethora of places to find/organize the products & services that are both important & relevant to me.

Doesn’t it feel “archaic” in today’s world that this is hard to achieve.

From speaking to a spectrum of colleagues in the industry it seems I’m not alone … indeed, the feedback from my children, took this even further. They expect to be able to interact with their insurers via their tablet or mobile, & will actively be influenced by social media activity & commentary when it comes to fulfilling their insurance needs. So if you haven’t already done so, move your thinking from:

  • Product journeys to customer journeys
  • Traditional marketing to Content marketing

I read an article recently , which stated that just 2 in 5 companies understand the customer journey and adapt their channel mix according. If 60% of businesses havent invested the time to map their current & potential customer’s journey to get a holistic view of the experience from the customer’s perspective and really understand what it’s like for them on a personal level is it any wonder that there remains significant room for improvement.

Done well the customer journey map is an illustration or diagram of all the places (or ‘touchpoints’) your customers (or prospects) come into contact with your company both online and off. The map can be used to improve the customer experience through identifying how customers are interacting with you now and help you to identify areas for improvement moving forward. The best customer journey maps are rooted in data-driven research, and visually represent the different phases your customers experience.

Done well, Customer Journey mapping:

  • Will help you locate improvement opportunities, as well as identify the areas where there’s a risk of dissatisfying a customer
  • Brings different teams together for a common goal: the customer experience
  • Drives cross-functional change involving all elements of the organisation and is not just left in the hands of the marketing function
  • Not only makes customers happy but also delivers quantifiable value to the business through driving customer loyalty whilst reducing cost to serve

Customers needs & expectations are changing & increasing, & the Insurance market need to rapidly evolve to keep pace.

Speak to us today about enhancing your Marketing strategy for a business that shows real growth and development.

Author Derek Findlayson

Shaping your LinkedIn Profile to Stand out

Shaping your LinkedIn Profile to Stand out

What do people want to see in LinkedIn?

If you look at the majority of LinkedIn profiles what do you see … a resume … packed with “historical information” – past roles, achievements education etc that never changes. Ok, there’s some merit to some of this, but think about why you’ve taken the time & effort to complete your LinkedIn profile in the first instance. For most people it’s not to “document the past”, but to stand out, look great, & BE FOUND to help success.

I love the way a past colleague describes LinkedIn as a “Flashing Digital Message board”. A digital message board is constantly changing, & providing fresh & relevant news & information to its audience. A “Stand out” linkedIn profile needs to do the same.

So, here are a few tips to make your LinkedIn profile Look Great and stand out from the crowd:

  1. Understand your Goals
    Perhaps most importantly what is the purpose of your LinkedIn profile and the goals for being on this excellent networking tool
  2. Look Great
    On LinkedIn, a photograph is important … Be sure to get a professional headshot for your LinkedIn profile. It’s money well spent …
  3. Know Your Branding
    The Professional Headline area on LinkedIn (just under your name) allows for 120 characters … use them wisely to cover:
    the title that best describes what you do
    your brand statement
    and the industries that your interested in.
    This area is high in search engine optimisation …
  4. Be Aspirational
    In your 2000 character Summary area, make sure that there are at least 50 keywords. In the Summary let people know what you desire, what your goals are and what you have accomplished.
  5. Summarize Achievements in the Experience Section
    Don’t just copy and paste your resume into the Experience area. Look at your accomplishments and rank them based on what you want to do in the future.
  6. Highlight Successes
    There are many new areas on LinkedIn where you can display your experience such as Volunteer, Honors and Awards, Publications, Organizations, Certifications, Courses and other sections of your profile.
  7. Show What you do & have done
    In the “media-rich” formatting area in the LinkedIn Summary, Experience and Education sections, you can add links, videos, Presentations, PDFs or photos.
  8. Highlight Your Skills
    The Skills and Endorsements area is important on LinkedIn.
    You can add up to 50 skills. Make sure that the top 10 listed skills slots are the one’s that have the most endorsements. You can move these around by clicking ‘Manage skills’ and then clicking on the skill and dragging it to a new position.

Speak to us today if your looking to change your Digital Marketing focus to drive real growth & improvments in customer engagement.

Author Derek Findlayson