In a world where record-setting weather events are becoming thenorm, insurers have more to worry about than just claimspayouts.

From this year's very active hurricane season to rampantwildfires and devastating floods, major catastrophes are putting anenormous strain on insurers' resources — and notjust financially.

Disasters stretch customer service resources as well: companyemployees are stretched to their limits, third party vendornetworks are tapped from all directions, and internal system loadsand process are constantly stress tested.

Related: Price tag for 2017 natural disasters could reach$353 billion

Yet maintaining a high quality customer experience during thesurges brought on by disaster — when the largestnumber of people rely most heavily on their insurancecarrier — is when customer service matters most.A 2015 Medallia study found that 40% of customers are likely to switch insurersafter bad claim filing experience, up from 15% when they have agood or average experience.

Poor brand perception, increased regulatory scrutiny and anerosion of trust in the insurance market overall can also havelasting negative effects on insurers long after the disaster itselfhas ended.

Neglecting the special circumstances of customer experienceduring a disaster can cost insurers even more in the long run. Hereare three ways insurers can prioritize customer relationships evenwhen they are at their most taxed.

Related: Keep older adults safe in natural disasters withthese 7 tips

No. 3: Create opportunities for two-waydialogue.

Customers need access to their provider during anemergency, and providing as many contact channels as possiblewill ensure a better experience. This is especially important sincethere is a lot of friction surrounding communications duringdisasters — downed phone lines, decreased cell service andunreliable internet access can significantly disrupt and complicatethe typical interactions between the customer and their insuranceprovider. They also need a way to let the insurer know whensomething isn't right, so there is an opportunity to quicklyaddress any issues.

Make sure your call center routing and Interactive VoiceResponse (IVR) systems are streamlined, monitor social media, andleverage live chat and automated chatbots to connect with customersas quickly and efficiently as possible. Conduct feedback surveysthroughout to collect customer experience information and make surethere are no service breakdowns — reaching out tocustomers for feedback before their claim is settled gives theinsurer the opportunity to make things right before it's too late.

Maintaining a high quality customer experience during thesurges brought on by disaster — when the largestnumber of people rely most heavily on their insurancecarrier — is when customer service matters most.(Photo: AP Images)

No. 2: Empower employees to take action

It's not enough just to provide ways to field an increase incustomer interactions. In times of crisis, every minutecounts — so once those customers are on the line andproviding feedback, empower employees at every level to respondquickly and with minimal red tape.

If that means that every single worker in a call center canimmediately hand out a $50 gift card for food, then that must be anoption automatically triggered in an insurer's internal proceduresduring a crisis. If any call may need to be fielded by a manager,then that call should immediately get routed to someone with theauthorization to handle a more challenging request. Bydecentralizing control and providing more authority to eachemployee, organizations can keep the focus on servicing customersand resolving issues as quickly as possible.

Related: 5 types of land development vulnerable to naturaldisasters

No. 1: Prioritize effectively using customer experiencedata

With limited time and resources, good prioritization isessential to resolving the most urgent customer needs. Existingcustomer experience (CX) data can help insurersidentify and prioritize the drivers of experience where they mattermost — whether that's wait times, policy documentation,online support or other interactions.

For instance, when call centers are overloaded during a disaster,CX data can help identify which groups (like insurance brokers) areparticularly sensitive to long wait times and prioritize thosecalls to keep the customer experience high. If a business knowswhat people value most during a time of crisis, they can addressthose pain points with in-depth knowledge of how to best meet theirneeds.

Customer experience counts more than ever in times of crisis,and this year won't be the last that insurers need to respond tomajor disaster scenarios. Already this year, deadly mudslides following raging wildfires inSouthern California have destroyed property and displaced entirecommunities. A data-driven approach can provide the tools tomaintain critical service in a high-pressure situation and buildcustomer relationships that last a lifetime.

Alex Glanz is the global insurance principal at Medallia. Inhis role, Alex advises the world's leading insurers oncustomer-centric strategies that drive long-term financialperformance. He can be reached by sending emailto [email protected].

See also:

Mitigating the No. 1 natural disaster in theU.S.

7 ways to mitigate risk for businesses before thenext natural disaster