The entire insurance community is wrapping its head around the big disruptions: shared economy, autonomous vehicles, Internet of things and so forth. These new models and technologies will in fact change the industry. That an industry with “rich heritage” (overheard term meant to convey so much about a more established industry like insurance) is focused on these changes is a good thing. But there is something simpler and more base that needs to change insurance: Our Unified Customer Experience Expectation.
Our Unified Customer Experience Expectation
When I lived in New York back in the day when the Beastie Boys, Grandmaster Melle Mel, and Afrika Bambatta roamed the earth, we would call car service to get from Brooklyn anywhere. It sucked. The call sucked. The not knowing when or if the guy would show up sucked. The air freshener sucked. You get the picture.
Now we use the Uber (or Lyft, ) app. I don’t have to talk with anyone. The darn thing tells me where my driver is and simply works with as low a ‘cognitive load’ as possible. It is the definition of easy, and it’s the definition of the customer experience I expect in all of my transactions. Business executives are getting wise to the fact that it’s no longer acceptable to have “best in class” on anything including customer experience. Customer expectations don’t stay within a class. It’s not okay for one type of service to suck just because no one else in the industry delivers “Amazon-level” experience.
We now have a “unified customer experience expectation.” The simplicity and elegance of the ride service app of today means that my rental car experience must measure up (not yet), my roadside assistance experience must measure up, my restaurant reservation system (thanks OpenTable) must measure up.
Brands that aim to be “best in class” and willing to settle for being in the top three within their industry, are missing the trend. Customers expectations are set by the best of what they experience in their lives and that bar is constantly going up as VC money looks for ways to disrupt and dislodge slow-moving business.
Build a method for a cycle of meeting and exceeding the expectations of the new connected customer. That means aim towards “best” not “best in class.”
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