"Online community" may seem like a concept that is halfbuzzword, half powerful potential. The very idea of using acommunity in a business context is exciting for some,groundbreaking for others, and downright frightening to a few. Thekey is to uncover the right social media tools to support astrategy. Here is an under-the-hood look at how an online communitycan be built and used to enhance the auto claim process.

An online community is a group of people interacting viacommunication media rather than face-to-face. Thanks to theexploding use of the Internet by consumers for everything fromgaming to holiday shopping to finding a plumber, virtualcommunities have spread widely. Almost everyone has heard ananecdote about a friend or family member who receivedhelp/reviews/advice from the Internet and online communities.

Individuals interact in communities in a variety of ways. Theymay simply observe and view content, they can contribute, and someeventually become considered a veteran participant — a contributorworth watching. Many communities are marked by their highcooperation levels and the eventual establishment of a uniqueculture.

There are also various motivations for contributing in onlinecommunities. According to researchers, they fall into the fourcategories: anticipated reciprocity (participants contribute withthe expectation that they will receive useful information inreturn), increased recognition by others online, a sense ofefficacy (participants believe they can have an effect on the groupor environment at large), and a sense of community.

An online community has the ability to bring people together inways that are far more robust than traditional push marketingbacked by call center-style support. The online conversations canhelp identify trends, assist in obtaining feedback, and even fieldquestions, all without a call center, 24 hours a day, 7 days aweek. Users can even assist each other, answering each other'squestions, and sharing information with one another. A car crash isupsetting. Even if there is no personal injury, it is distressingto have a valuable possession banged up and out of service. Whatbetter time for the insurer to harness the power of a supportiveonline community?

Plan Carefully for Success

Any claim organization looking to develop an online communitymodel needs to engage in careful planning. Insurers and third-partyadministrators need to focus on the value an online community canprovide to their customers, not themselves. Be sure to avoidseveral common blunders.

The first mistake is that concentrating on bells and whistlescan lead to an overreliance on technology to carry the day. Firmsshould instead focus on identifying and reaching out to potentialcommunity members. Second, there must be someone with experience incharge of the project. One part-time staffer isn't enough to run anonline community that strives to be truly vibrant. Finally,measures for success need to be consistent with goals. Businessesoften say that their primary objective is to generate brand loyaltyand increase word-of-mouth buzz, yet they measure success by thenumber of visits to their sites. What businesses want and what theyare measuring are often disconnected.

Overspending to try to force results just doesn't work online.Money cannot buy human relationships and interactions, which isexactly what successful online communities require. When taking aprocess, such as auto claims, and mapping it to an online solution,you must take these challenges into account.

Build It So They Will Come

Auto claims is well suited to an online community model. Keypoints for success are clarity, communication, andaccountability.

Clarity comes into play in the following manner. If your insuredhas been in an accident and does not have a repair shop in mind, anestablished online community can be an unbiased place to go forreviews, information, and shop feedback. By allowing insureds totap into such a powerful system, they can feel more comfortable andin control of any shop selection they make. The ability to look atother users' comments, service metrics, and additional shopinformation — such as certifications — can give a more robustpicture than just reading a shop name off a list.

Communication is also strengthened through an online system.Everything can be posted directly on a central site — all notes,questions, comments, and other information are now documented andarchived at a central hub. Each stakeholder in the repair —insured, carrier, and repair shop — has the ability to gain accessto the ongoing conversation about the repair. In addition, if oneparty is not online, e-mail or text message notifications can helpkeep all parties in the loop. This is a useful way to track therepair cycle as well as keeping tabs on cycle time.

Accountability becomes almost self-regulating. Shops with poorperformance will drop out of the community or be forced to examinewhy they are performing at a lower standard than community norms.It also builds in accountability for the carrier. Each adjuster'sinteractions are documented for reference and future training.Carriers can spot good trends and replicate them and nip bad trendsin the bud.

These points are especially important, as summarized in thefindings of the J.D. Power and Associates' "2008 Auto ClaimsSatisfaction Study," which noted that managing expectations,showing empathy, ensuring convenient service, and communicatingeffectively are hallmarks of an enhanced claim experience. Each ofthese practices is enhanced through the addition of an onlinecommunity acting as an information hub during the claimprocess.

Putting Users First

An online community can include much more than ratings andreviews. It can incorporate moderated forums and video, photos,blogs, and wikis where customers can contribute information.Conversations about almost every insurer are taking place all overthe web right now, and an online community can help move things ina positive direction. It can be an ideal channel for buildinglong-term customer satisfaction.

For example, if a participant airs a complaint, an online forumcan be a place to publicly address the issue — or use it as ajumping-off point to take things up one-on-one. In this format, acompany has the opportunity to hear things firsthand fromcustomers. The conversations can help identify trends, assist inobtaining feedback, and even field questions, 24 hours a day, sevendays a week — without a call center. Users can even assist eachother, answering each other's questions and sharing informationwith each other.

How can insurers harness this collective energy and use it toprovide benefits for customers with claims? An active community hasthe potential to develop an enormous amount of resident knowledgeto which others can gain access. The quantity and quality ofknowledge is improved with every participant. Consider the exampleof ratings for insureds to review: the more reviews, the strongerthe information that can be gained quickly.

This creates a kind of mutual productivity on all sides. Theshop doesn't need to sell its services as it might if someonewalked in the door cold. The carrier can feel confident about thequality of the shops in the system because low performers will beedged out due to poor ratings. For insureds, the community putsdeep information at their fingertips. The increase in customersatisfaction as well as time and cost-savings for the carrier andshop makes an online community well worth the effort.

The human factors are what really determine how people interactin a community. The boundaries can be as wide or narrow as acompany determines. A claim community can be limited just tobodyshop ratings, or it can be a completely open forum. Either canbe very effective, depending upon ways insureds wish to communicatewith both companies and their peers. Setting boundaries is a veryimportant step. Doing due diligence by profiling potential usersand talking to customers, checking out the competition and theirofferings, and researching social media trends can be thedifference between success and an expensive cyber ghost town.

Once this information has been gathered, the next step is toselect the technologies and features that can meet your customers'needs. The right tools will enable activities and conversationsseamlessly and facilitate overall site goals. Once everythingtechnological is in place, then the real building of a communityfalls to the humans. It is up to the company to make sure thatpeople know the site exists, as well as what the expectations arefor using it. In the auto example, if people neglect to leave shopfeedback, the power of the group is diminished. That is why anysystem will keep evolving according to the needs of both companiesand insureds.

The Power of Community

Just like the town square of old, online communities offer thebenefit of collective opinion and wisdom. According to Deloitte's"2008 Tribalization of Business Survey," companies that sponsoronline communities can use them to generate ideas, discover orfine-tune products, and discuss brands. They are also able toprovide a forum for ratings, opinions, and rankings to help inconsumer selection, as Amazon.com and eBay demonstrate.

Communities can help transform the ways carriers settle claimsas well as strengthen customer loyalty and increase brand building.Insurers would be wise to nurture and leverage online communitiesto realize real business gain.

Chrisa Hickey is director of product management with SceneGenesis in Pittsford, N.Y., which sponsors SceneExchange, an onlineauto claim community connecting insurers, insureds, and repairshops. She can be reached at [email protected].