Life insurance: Bridging the customer experience divide

The report explores how life insurers can make innovative choices today to drive customer centricity in the future in ways that will resonate with key customer segments even as demographics shift. The key is to offer adaptability, flexibility and coverage and an array of personalised policy types an engagement channels. In this first installment we examined the great customer experience (CX) divide which presents as a threat to the long-term viability of the industry.

The great CX divide

Between 2007 and 2023, life insurance penetration in mature markets dropped from 5.4% to 3.6%, prompting many carriers to rethink their customer engagement approach. However, outdated legacy systems, limited adoption of emerging technologies, cost-oriented cultures, and ongoing regulatory scrutiny have hindered transformation. In addition, the low success rate of transformational initiatives perpetuated a cycle of underperformance and outdated practices. With today's technologies, including Generative AI (Gen AI), insurers can navigate these challenges, drive experience innovation, create a future-ready workforce, and transcend long-time performance constraints.

Customer experience has been a business mantra for decades. Corporations across industries have invested significantly to understand customers more intimately and offer more satisfying experiences. Firms that successfully transform their CX typically generate higher customer satisfaction and loyalty, produce more repeat revenue, and run more efficient operations. Some leaders have converted deep customer centricity into high-value brands and market dominance. Few, if any, of them are in the life insurance industry.