Not long ago, when you wanted to buy a service or product, you'd call up local stores, ask friends for recommendations, browse the Yellow Pages, or look in the newspaper for a sale. Perhaps you researched the product in Consumer Reports. But today, the Web offers a completely different way to buy products and services and evaluate providers, and user communities play a key role.
Say you need a set of tires. Instead of going to a tire dealer, you can visit an Internet tire store, which will give many tires to choose from and a list of local installers. At the site, you can read candid reviews from customers who've bought the tires you're considering. You might read that a certain tire works great on compacts but not on large cars, or vice versa.
Name the product or service, and people are going online to research and buy it, using peer reviews to make informed decisions. Consumers trust their online peers as unbiased sources, and it's not just people in their 20s and 30s. This mindset is spreading rapidly to baby boomers and beyond.
It's crucial for insurers to reach the growing Web-savvy demographic, and claims is a particularly promising arena. While today some insurers let policyholders report the first notice of loss online and then access their claim on the Web, that's only the first possible step.
Insurers can do much more, and auto physical damage claims offer the biggest opportunity. Insurers handle about 15 million PD claims a year–15 million chances to make a good or bad impression on customers.
A good experience can help cement a lifetime relationship with a customer, who'll be far less likely to shop around to save a few dollars in premiums. Poor service or inadequate communication will send the customer on the hunt for a better provider.
People want more control over the claims process, and more involvement and information. They want to know exactly what's going on with their car at all times. Most don't switch carriers because they weren't satisfied with how their car was repaired. Poor communication from the insurer and/or the body shop is the most common culprit.
How can insurers leverage the power of the Web and online communities? One way is to put customers in the driver's seat by involving them as an active part of the repair process, and letting them select their auto body shop online and report their service experience to an online community.
Every body shop will tell you its service and quality are first-rate. But consumers are skeptical. It's infinitely more convincing when they read an online review from another consumer that XYZ Body Shop fixed their car on time, competently and professionally. Real-life word of mouth–or "word of mouse," if you will–is far more convincing than advertising.
If the vehicle owner agrees to participate in a Web-based auto body referral service, the adjuster uploads the loss information to the service. Next, the service instantly assigns an independent appraiser who inspects the vehicle, takes pictures, writes the estimate, and uploads the estimate and photos of the damaged vehicle to the site.
The system–which is built on .NET architecture and Web services–notifies local body shops, which view the appraisal online and submit "proposals" to the vehicle owner via the Web. The shop indicates how soon it can begin the job and how long it will take to complete it.
The customer reviews the proposals and reads reviews of the shops written by actual shop customers, along with information on the shop's training, certifications and warranty offering. With this wealth of information, the customer can make an informed decision on which shop to use.
Once the repair is completed, the vehicle owner fills out a brief survey about their experience. This is crucial because people trust information from online peer communities. It also gives auto body managers an incentive to communicate with customers and give good service. They know that if they don't, they'll get bad reviews on the Web and lose business.
Insurers receive many benefits beyond improved customer service. Web-based repair referrals can lower loss-adjustment expenses, because cycle times are shorter and the insurer doesn't need to actively manage the program.
Once the insurer gets the customer's okay and uploads the loss information, the appraiser, body shops and vehicle owner take it from there. The insurer can monitor the progress of the repair as well, through automated communications from the service. Since everything works through a browser, the carrier doesn't need to invest in any new technology.
As demographics change, consumers are driving change because of their expectations about online services. Increasingly, they will expect their insurance company to provide extensive claims functionality on the Web. Easy access to peer-reviewed repair providers is an innovative step companies of all sizes can take now.
The technology is available, and many are eager to get their claims serviced and choose repair providers via the Web.
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