In this crowded marketplace, it can be difficult for insurers to distinguish themselves from competitors on price and coverage. Performance in claims handling and excellence in customer service can offer a much-needed competitive advantage. Insurers who strive to place their clients' needs front and center can turn any insured event into an opportunity to refine their processes, improve retention and build brand loyalty.

Listen to feedback and analyze data

The secret to understanding the needs of your clients is to listen to them. Throughout the life of a policy there will be many opportunities to get feedback from your clients, but this wealth of data can easily be squandered. It is quite a challenge to effectively leverage all the data from phone calls, surveys, web-based forms, mobile apps and social media. Data will be collected by different individuals and departments but must be consolidated in one location to be analyzed. Get this right and you can get ahead of the competition and significantly boost customer loyalty.

Make it easy for customers to give feedback and respond in real-time so that they know you are listening. Become an advocate for your customers by sharing the data you gather at all levels to drive improvements. Connect customer feedback to business outcomes. Measure and monitor metrics such as customer retention, range and extent of coverage requested, speed of claims handling, and likelihood that the insured would recommend your products and use them to benchmark your service against your competitors.