Given that consumers have become intensively interconnectedthrough social networking, insurers must become acutely aware ofhow the experience of one customer can be amplified—and canseriously impact the company’s image among a wider base ofpotential and existing customers, according to twoPricewaterhouseCoopers experts.

In a session titled “Survey Results: Strategically Enhancing TheSocial Experience,” to be held today at the ACORD LOMA InsuranceSystems Forum, Anand Rao, principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers’Diamond Advisory Services, and Jamie Yoder, principal and co-lead,insurance advisory practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, willpresent the findings of a customer-experience survey and thenexplain to the audience of insurance-technology professionals howcompanies should monitor and leverage social-networking platformsto their maximum advantage.

The customer-experience survey Rao and Yoder will discuss intoday’s session from 10-11 a.m. asked 5,000 individual consumerswhat they believe a good experience in insurance should be. Rao andYoder will share the survey results and also talk about what theresults mean for agent advisors.

Here’s a preview.

EXPANDED SOCIAL CIRCLES

Because of social networking, Yoder says that customers are nolonger just relying on information from a company or an agentadvisor to form opinions on a brand or product.

Rao adds that in insurance transactions, consumers have alwayshad a relationship of trust with agents.

“But what we see happening with social-networking groups is thatconsumers hear from each other—not in a physical presence, but avirtual presence,” he says.

Feedback via word-of-mouth is no longer limited to theexperiences of a close circle of friends and family. That circlehas expanded through social networking so that “friends” nowinclude consumers around the country.

And, as Rao says, “You trust your friends and family far morethan anyone else—even if these friendships exist only online.”

Yoder explains, “People have always looked to those they know[to form opinions on a company]; the evolution today is clearlythat the boundaries of where that information comes from and thedepth of the connection—and the information that one can gatherfrom the networks—has changed dramatically and has a greater affecton how the customers experience their interaction with companiesand each other—and how advisors also experience that interactionwith the carriers.”

Since customers are making purchasing decisions based on theexperiences of a wider circle of fellow consumers, Yoder sayscompanies have to look at how they facilitate each interaction andfocus on delivering a positive experience for customers. Further,he says companies must understand the customer experience as awhole, “even in places [where the company] may not be.”

Rao says, “If something bad happens to a consumer, in theearlier days [the consumer] would probably just tell a few of thefolks that they meet, whereas now, today, they can just broadcastit and it can be picked up by various people—and before you knowit, in a 24-hour timeframe, your company brand could be tarnishedsubstantially.”

Companies, says Rao, should monitor sitesthrough which consumers communicate so that when something negativehappens, the company can respond immediately and have a genuineresponse. If it’s the company’s fault, Rao says, the company shouldaccept fault and try to neutralize the problem.

“What companies often tend to do,” he says, “is they go throughthe whole chain of command.” He notes that the process can take 24to 48 hours—and in Internet time, that may already be too late torepair any damage that has been done to the brand.

GOOD NEWS CAN TRAVEL JUST AS FAST AS BAD

But it is not only bad news that gets amplified on the Internet.Yoder says the presentation will not only discuss the expandedscope of interactions between companies and consumers in the age ofsocial networking, but will advise on how to drive a positiveresponse on the social networks.

“What are the attributes you’re trying to promote to themarket?” Yoder asks. He explains that companies can measure if theyare establishing those sentiments in the segments they aretargeting, and also can raise awareness and position by leveragingsocial media and networking.

Consumers can even help amplify companies’ efforts throughblogging and sites like Facebook, Rao adds. For example, eachperson who becomes a “fan” on an insurance company’s Facebook pagemight induce dozens of his friends to check out the site and becomefans—and future clients—in turn.