COMMENTARY: CUSTOMER LOYALTY
Ahead of the game Brian Levine, Vice President of Strategy and Analytics at Mobiquity, walks insurers through its latest study into loyalty among younger insurance users – and why providers should stay one step in front of them Canadian ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky famously said: “I skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” That’s not a bad mantra to have in business, too – it’s the ability to anticipate and provide for future customer demand and behaviour that separates the companies that survive and thrive from those that are outflanked by the future. The problem with the insurance industry, though, according to Brian Levine, vice president of strategy and analytics at full-service digital transformation enabler Mobiquity, is that it’s ‘still very much where the puck is’ when it comes to innovation – heavily focussed on digitising to meet current customer needs but not greatly concerned with those of the younger
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TheInsurtechMagazine | Issue 6
generation coming up behind, who it mostly regards as too fickle to warrant investing in heavily. While, if correct, that is understandable, it’s also short-sighted, argues Levine, citing what’s known as the Innovator’s Dilemma. “Companies that focus on underserved [for which, in insurance, read ‘younger’] customers are those that wind up building better digital tools for the future and, ultimately, taking the business. If the big companies aren’t investing in young, underserved customers – if all they’re doing is digitising what exists – then they’re not seeing where those young customers are going,” he says. It’s easy to see why insurers would want to focus attention on older, more loyal, premium-paying demographics – the problem is, the definition of ‘older’ is
creeping up all the time. Mobiquity’s recent report, How To Drive Loyalty And CLTV (customer lifetime value) Among Young Insurance Customers, revealed that consumers aged 55 and under were three times more likely to switch insurers in the next 12 months than those in the 56-orolder category. Under-55s are also between 50 and 100 per cent more likely to use digital tools to manage their insurance, according to Levine. These customers place twice as much importance on being able to use an insurer’s app – with policyholders aged between 25 and 40 indicating that the availability of good digital solutions is a key reason for switching providers. In particular, they are looking for a better mobile app, more online options for changing their policy or handling claims, and an easier-to-use web portal. www.fintech.finance
