With my spouse, Mary Ann, away for two weeks, I'm always looking to score some good food. My home is a small town, in which the Super Walmart may be the local cultural and epicurean haute cuisine epicenter, so I normally must travel to another town to locate something decent to consume. I'm not attempting to be a food snob, but that is just the way it's within central Florida, where the three basic food groups are understood to be Bar-B-Q.
While Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen is not anywhere near any Michelin stars, I love their spicy fried chicken. Forgive me, Julia Child, but I like the flavor and texture.
So last Sunday I made my method to the closest Popeye's drive-thru line. My spouse had suggested which i order enough chicken for multiple meals, rather than for lunch, and I was happy to follow this advice. So, when I reached the menu, instead of ordering a three-piece, I made a decision the eight-piece family meal was the right choice. I am talking about, my wife made the suggestion.
As I pulled up to the microphone, I heard a friendly Popeye's employee ask for my order, approximately I believed. The sound quality was inadequate. I said I wanted the eight-piece family meal, spicy.
What happened next is how the unlikely alliance starts.
The Popeye's employee began to speak, however the sound was so garbled and filled with static that I could not make heads or tails of it. I did recognize the number nine, but which was about all I understood. Because there was a type of cars behind me which was wrapping around the block, I didn't want to do something that would slow the process, and so i repeated which i wanted the eight-piece family meal, spicy, and that i could write out an “OK” within the speaker.
As I acquired as much as the window to pay for the happy and friendly Popeye's employee, I pointed out that I heard something about the number nine but couldn't understand what the person was saying.
It works out that Popeye's was running a promotional deal. The conventional, eight-piece family meal is $13.29, but there was a nine-piece meal available for $12. 99. I cocked my head to one side and said, “So, I can get an extra piece of chicken and cut costs at the same time? What a deal! Please change my order from eight to nine pieces. And make sure to really make it spicy.”
They changed an order; I acquired an additional piece of chicken while saving 30 cents, and that i was happy. That extra bit of chicken appeared to be especially tasty.
My satisfaction like a customer have been blocked since i could not comprehend the information or my options. My customer experience was later elevated when I got the right data and options, to be able to make an informed decision. The data was there constantly, but faulty technology made it difficult, if not impossible, for me to understand my options.
I began to wonder: Just when was the final time that an employee pulled up towards the drive-thru and tried to order something similar to an ordinary, everyday person? What about the shift manager? The shop manager? The franchise owner? Harper Lee was right when she wrote those immortal words in “To Kill a Mockingbird” for Atticus Finch to share with his children, “You never really understand an individual before you consider things from his reason for view…before you climb into his skin and walk around inside it.”
While I'm not a betting man, I'd gladly wager the money in my pockets and my checking accounts that no one in management has ever gone through the drive-thru. If they had, I feel confident that my technology experience would have been radically better.
Is it the same?
Whoever you are, you are looking over this because you are curious about the insurance coverage industry. And you are thinking one of two things;
- Yes, ordering chicken and insurance ARE the same. Chicken is chicken, and insurance is insurance. Both are commodities. Or,
- No, ordering chicken and insurance Won't be the same. While chicken may be chicken, all insurance coverage is not created equal and isn't an investment.
Irrespective of the perspective, selling and servicing insurance depends on clear communication with prospects, customers and authorized organizations. When the data and communications aren't clear, then cost and frustrations go up while satisfaction and utilization go down. It is paramount that selling and servicing insurance depend on information, communication and transparency.
If you're responsible for systems that collect or share insurance data, just when was the last time that you simply personally examined the machine from an outsider's standpoint? Brought someone alongside who's not directly involved with the insurance space and walked the person using your data collection and exchange solutions? Collected direct feedback for the users? Made alterations in reaction to user feedback?
Moving forward
From a technology standpoint, there's much that can be done to enhance communication with prospects, clients and third parties while mitigating miscommunication. Here are six areas to consider;
User eXperiences:
- Don'ts – pave the historical cow path of ACORD/company forms, internal screens or database layouts.
- Do's – reimagine the experience based on the user's perspective alone. Make it simple to follow and employ, be responsive to screen real estate size or constraints.
Start and Stop:
- Don'ts – force users to collect and complete data entry according to what's convenient for your system or organization.
- Do's – allow users to start, suspend, restart and alter the fundamental intent from the transaction, even allowing them to reorder the screen and field flows.
Big Data:
- Don'ts – think that third-party information is valid, clean or up to date.
- Do's – tell users what third-party data you will access before you decide to retrieve it, show the data for them and request feedback.
Artificial Intelligence:
- Don'ts – hide the AI process, results or how it hurt their eligibility or rate.
- Do's – practice complete transparency about your use of AI, explain what it is, what data you are using, sharing both intermediate and benefits.
Risk:
- Don'ts – camouflage do you know the favorable risk factors that you are searching for.
- Do's – be transparent on both favorable and unfavorable risk factors and what the user can perform to lower their risk.
Reading:
- Don'ts – use arcane, overly complex and statutory-sounding insurance jargon and terms.
- Do's – as the March Hare said, “say that which you mean” as simply and straightforwardly as possible for those text on screens, definitions and forms.
If you are searching for some instant, quick fix, low-hanging fruit or some other consult-speak buzzword solution, you need to read another article by a different author. Improving clarity, understanding and transparency are long-term tasks requiring refinement with time. But we need to start somewhere, where we are is really as good a location to start as any.
