By Jacki Johnson, The Buzz Insurance
The launch of a total online insurance business within the Insurance Australia Group was about a fundamentally different business model, enabled by a variety of technologies, with the internet as the main customer interface. In the journey to launch, we discovered some insights about customer behaviour and desires that helped us shape the new online insurance experience.
In 2008, we engaged insurance consumers in face-to-face and online insight sessions on myinsuranceideas.com.au. Our target customers made it clear they wanted to control their price and product features and stressed the need for transparency in price, coverage and fairness. They were very aware that a low price may mean a lack of product features or/and a high excess.
Increased access shapes consumer attitude. For the first time, we are seeing a significant increase in the number of consumer “switchers” based on policy/service than price. Research show s many online transactors are providing comment or seeking advice from other consumers on line through social networks such as blogs, Facebook or Twitter.
Activist baby boomers are now marching online in Insurance too. The online transactors driving the success of internet businesses such as eBay and Amazon are the tech savvy mid to high socio-economic group who are 25-54 years old. It’s also this group who want to influence the service and product offerings. They truly are the activist baby boomers!
General mistrust of the financial sector has led customers to automatically look for the catch. So in creating The Buzz, we built features the customers asked for while ensuring there was ‘no catch’. Our product allows customers to select their own options and choose their agreed value and basic excess – about 20% of our customers are taking up these options.
Customers are also annoyed that the ‘entry’ price is not what they get when they renew. We make sure we price risk appropriately with little volatility. Renewal and loyalty is important. We need to be competitive while basing price on risk rather than policy growth.
The initiative to have live chat and not click to call came at the request of consumers. We provide full online claims lodgement but we offer phone support too. For many small claims like a chipped windscreen, customers want very fast, responsive service – they do not want to wait on the phone. Ironically the most common question has been where the company is based with customers expressing the desire to deal with an Australian company.
Jacki Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer of The Buzz Insurance, the leading online insurance company in Australia. The Buzz Insurance is owned by Insurance Australia Group which underwrites $8 billion of premium per annum and operates in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Asia.
