Aaron Weiss, director of marketing, HPLaserJet Enterprise Solutions Business

Insurance, like any service-based industry, is focused onproviding the highest quality service to customers to supportinsurance policy sales. Agents are at the forefront ofcustomer experience, so it's imperative that work teams areequipped with the tools essential to exceeding customers'anticipations. To meet the needs of changing customerexpectations, agencies need to invest in advanced technologyand solutions to simplify the processes of selling and servicinginsurance policies.

More insurers are investing in cloud applications toimprove customer communication and overall satisfaction. Here arethree strategies for customer satisfaction that insurance canimprove upon by using cloud-based solutions:

1. Improve service with face-to-facecommunication

The growth of Internet-enabled devices has made a major impacton how all service-based industries conduct daily operations withcustomers, but the value of direct customer interaction remainsapparent for the insurance industry. In fact, survey results indicate that only 23 percent of customers inthe Americas region actively perform online research beforepurchasing insurance policies. The low number of consumers that areperforming online research further establishes value of personalcommunication between agents and customers when presenting policyinformation.

Insurance companies that encourage their agents topersonally meet with clients should invest in cloud-baseddocument management solutions, which will enable agents to betterserve customers in person by having access to the same repertoireof tools and information they would typically only have at theirdesks. By utilizing documents stored in the cloud, agents can offersolutions while physically at the customer's home or worksite,allowing them to build a closer relationship and improve thequality of communication.

Read related: “Case Study: Great American Looks to Cloud for Modern InsurancePlatform.”

2. Streamline communication for accurate customer datamanagement

While providing customers with policy support, agents andbrokers exchange customer information among claims adjusters,underwriters, accounting professionals, and agency support staffincluding lawyers, actuaries, and administrative professionals.With so many sources editing the same document, multiple versionsoften arise, which can create confusion and potentially lead tooversight on important details.

Agencies should invest in the cloud to improve interofficeteamwork between agents, brokers, and agency support staff. Thecloud provides work teams with a secure solution for sharingdocuments and equips teams with the most up-to-date version offiles, which facilitates collaboration and eliminates versioncontrol issues. And because most of the information exchangedincludes confidential customer data, maintaining a detailedaudit trail of those who have accessed documents and made changesis necessary to keep personal information protected. Cloud-baseddocument management systems allow approved work team members toaccess documents and tracks who makes changes as they are made,keeping customers' personal data secure.

3. Create customer-friendly environments

External economic situations are prompting businesses in everyservice industry to reduce costs and streamline workflow to remaincompetitive. One of the biggest benefits of implementing cloudsolutions is the anticipated cost reduction, which can equate to 40 percent to50 percent savings for companies switching to an internal privatecloud from dedicated IT services.

Agencies should invest in cloud services to improve operationsthat affect the customer both directly and indirectly. Operationalcost savings can be dedicated to customer-facing assets, suchas user-friendly website improvements or additional customerbenefits. The costs saved by utilizing cloud services can beallocated to hiring more staff to balance agents' workload,creating a less stressful environment so agents can spend morepositive time interacting with customers and meeting theirneeds.

Implementing cloud-based document management solutionsstreamlines agency operations and reduces administrativeobligations, making it easier for agents to work effectively. Equipping agents with access to their documents from anywhereboosts overall productivity and efficiency, which allows them tofocus more on providing customers with the highest quality ofservice.