Published on June 28th, 2022 | by Bibhuranjan

Improving Customer Experiences in the Insurance Industry With RPA

A new industrial revolution is well underway—the automation revolution. Taking tasks out of human hands and placing them into the care of tirelessly accurate robots has the potential to save businesses time and money while boosting quality outcomes. There’s a good reason why industries such as the automotive sector have embraced automation wholeheartedly.

The office isn’t immune to these changes, although you won’t find a physical robot taking up space in a cubicle any time soon. Instead, software robots are having a considerable impact on businesses today in the form of robotic process automation, or RPA.

RPA frameworks let businesses build strictly rules-based robots that mimic human interactions with computer systems much faster and continuously. From scraping numbers off an invoice and into a bookkeeping system to routing customer requests to the appropriate party, a well-configured RPA system can deliver many benefits to many types of businesses.

One industry that is rich with opportunities for applying automation with RPA is the insurance sector. With a vital mission that provides peace of mind for millions and a vital lifeline when disaster strikes, insurance providers must be able to deliver excellent service. That importance makes it a more than $1 trillion industry in the USA alone.

Being efficient at collecting premiums matters for the company’s bottom line, but that isn’t the concern of clients looking for a policy, filing a claim, or seeking more information. They need excellence in customer service and fast response times.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. Insurance customers are often high-maintenance and may have complex requests to handle. With a limited number of staffing hours available even in larger firms, that can mean sacrificing other important work simply to service clients. What major roadblocks hold insurers from achieving the best outcomes, and how might RPA be the answer?

Cover Image by Freepik

What’s Holding Back Insurers from Giving Good Customer Service?

No business sets out to fall behind on quality in customer service, but various factors can lead to degraded performance and poor client feedback. Four main problems can lead to these issues:

Slow service. Finding the right information for a customer with disconnected and siloed systems and databases may take time. Sometimes, important information may even fall through the cracks, further delaying service and increasing customer dissatisfaction. Even basic customer service, such as phone support, can suffer—and after about two minutes of holding, most callers hang up. That’s not ideal for how customers think of your business.
Errors committed by individuals in your business. When a customer encounters a problem through no fault of their own, it’s usually a sure-fire way to earn an irate phone call. Clerical errors, billing problems, and other issues can stem from human-introduced errors into important datasets.
Too many tasks, too little time. Teams may have almost no time to devote to customer service due to their heavy workload. If they do focus on customers, they could neglect other important duties.

With robotic process automation, you can strike a better balance that solves these problems and introduces new growth opportunities.

How RPA Can Impact Insurance Customer Service Positively

The versatility of RPA is its strength. With a low- to no-code environment, there’s seldom a need for advanced, expensive engineers to build your automated processes. Instead, mapping out your teams’ workflows and determining which mundane steps represent too much time-wasting tedium for human intervention is the way to go. With this understanding, you can build new automated workflows that unlock the following benefits:

De-siloed databases and a freer flow of information through the business. RPA makes it trivial to instantly retrieve and display important information, even from disparate systems. Imagine a customer who calls in for support, and an agent can instantly pull up all the information in their file, no matter which department originated the document. This leads to faster and more consistent outcomes for direct customer contacts.
Convenient self-service solutions. With robots that can retrieve account data and write information back into the insurer’s systems, it’s easier to build self-service options, so customers have another option in addition to calling your business.
Error-free workflows. Since robots don’t get tired, they can continuously scrape data and input it into your systems without making mistakes. Customers experience fewer problems, and your teams spend less time chasing down the source of the issue.
More time for teams to work effectively. With less time wasted on repetitive tasks, staff can pivot to focus their energy on higher-value tasks—such as providing customers with a five-star level of customer service.

Across the entire company, RPA has the potential to transform operations in a way that produces better service outcomes every day.

Building the Workforce of the Future for Better Results Today

Ultimately, RPA isn’t here to replace humans—it’s to make them happier and more connected at work. The results can prove stunning with a fast, well-configured and well-maintained system of software robots working in conjunction with human staff. Fewer errors, higher job satisfaction, reduced customer wait times, and improved client happiness—it’s all possible with the hybrid workforce of tomorrow.

By transforming customer service with RPA, insurers can improve their brand image and boost positive word-of-mouth about the business. Most importantly, they can deliver better outcomes at every stage of the process—from sales and underwriting to claims management and beyond. The future of automation is already here—and it’s time for insurers to embrace it.

Cover Image by Freepik

Tags: customer experience, customer service, insurance, RPA, RPA framework

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.