Insurance is inconvenient. We ask policyholders to fill out forms and talk with several ecosystem partners through the entire claims process. These tasks inevitably create endless phone tag as well as piles of unread emails and unheard voicemails, causing frustration and poor customer experiences. Carriers know this process needs to be improved and are tackling some of the complexities by offering texting – a more empathic, simple and convenient communication channel that customers often prefer.

Texting is accessible, personal and ubiquitous in the age of smartphones to the point that there are quite a few surveys that provide stats like 99% of texts are opened or 97% of adults text daily. We even found it to be true for policyholder interactions with insurance carriers. In our study of insureds and texting, we found that 84% of policyholders would save a carrier’s texting number to their contacts and would text with an insurance carrier about a service or a claim. In fact, more than 60% said they would have a group text with their insurance carrier and a third-party to resolve their claim. Policyholders want to text with you to make insurance convenient, but not all texting solutions are the same. Here are four key points to consider when choosing a texting solution for your company.

1. A texting solution that is insurance specific.
   Insurance is unique. We have an extensive set of regulatory requirements and nuanced workflows. The right texting platform will accommodate these necessities while simplifying the policyholder experience. SMS has high engagement because there is limited spam and chatbot usage. Your texting platform needs to have the right industry knowledge to provide you workflow guidance to reduce the number of bot questions for FNOL intake or for inbound service questions. Additionally, compliant transcripts and PII filtering is a must. Texting is not built for insurance unless it can meet discovery and privacy requirements.

2. A texting solution that works with the insurance ecosystem.
   Insurance is inherently an ecosystem of internal and external players – agents, underwriters, claims adjusters, TPAs, car rentals, repair shops, contractors and more. Your insurance texting solution needs to accommodate this network through group texting and integrated workflows.

   Simple processes like receiving a proactive text message, noting a claim payment being processed or sending pictures of broken windows or leaky pipes can significantly ease policyholder and claim adjuster stress. Having a four-way group text between the independent agent, an APD adjuster, a BI claim adjuster and policyholder can reduce the hassle of retelling the same story while keeping everyone informed as a claim moves forward. Texting chains also provide a quick reference if a policyholder needs to go back and check the details of a conversation.

3. A texting solution that coaches your team to get better at every interaction.
   Insurance is data-driven at its core. Texting conversations are insight-rich and can provide needed advice on structuring user journeys that improve policyholder retention and growth. Insurance texting platforms must provide real-time feedback on what policyholders think through surveys and how they feel through sentiment analysis. The text data should be accessible and portable to internal data lakes to be combined with claim and policy master data and to be mined for insights. But the most critical item is that every dashboard, metric and insight needs to be actionable at the moment-of-truth when the rep interacts with the policyholder – coaching the rep to get to the right result through augmented intelligence.

4. A true-to-life pilot experience.
   There is no better way to learn about the platform and gauge its effectiveness than trying it out. Hi Marley’s pilot program is different than other texting platforms. We provide the same exceptional service during the pilot and after you buy. Our Customer Success and Implementation and Enablement teams are in the trenches with you on day one. We learn about your unique processes and provide helpful recommendations based on best practices for insurance and for your company. Hi Marley offers a free, 30-day pilot for adjusters to use the solution and easily incorporate it into their day-to-day workflows.

If you are interested in learning more about Hi Marley and texting, contact us to get started. Choosing the right insurance texting platform makes policyholder communication lovable.