Sara - Digitalisation: Attracting The Next Generation of Customers by iThink Media

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C OV E R STO RY

Luigi Vassallo, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Sara Assicurazioni, charts the company’s successful digital transformation journey spanning the last four years.

Written by Anna McMahon | Produced by Danielle Harris 2

Luigi Vassallo has worked at leading Italian insurance company, Sara Assicurazioni, since 2017. As COO, he is in charge of all innovation, process and digital transformation – a journey that started four years ago. Luigi remembers, “At the beginning, it was about cultural change. We did a lot of activity in changing the company culture and the way that people worked. The idea behind it was to work together. From a technical point of view, we changed the communication system, introducing Google Workspace. This had an impact on the culture because people understood that they could share documents, work in parallel, 5

and easily communicate with each other.” In 2018, Sara formed its core business platform, adopting a multicloud strategy. Luigi says, “By migrating to the cloud, we were

“We now provide a score (for our car insurance policy holders) to help drive behaviour. At the end of each trip, customers can check their app for the score we have assigned this journey. At the end of the contract, if their overall score is good, they can qualify for a discount on next year’s policy” able to redesign our applications. They are now mobile-friendly, and our sales agents can use them on their tablets or smartphones. By the end of 2018, everything was in the cloud.” The next year saw the development of further 6

applications for the company’s policy holders including online payments, the ability to change contract details online, and a process for opening claims at the touch of a button. Luigi adds, “We now provide a score (for our car insurance policy holders) to help drive behaviour. At the end of each

trip, customers can check their app for the score we have assigned this journey. At the end of the contract, if their overall score is good, they can qualify for a discount on next year’s policy.” Last year, Sara developed its Salesforce Customer 360

platform to provide sales agents with a comprehensive view of the portfolio of their customers. Luigi explains, “Agents can easily find customer details and offer recommendations for their next best product. It is a unique platform, offering complete information about a customer 7

“Accenture is a large system integrator that has worked with us to develop important software. They have a lot of vision and ideas coming from different markets and customers. They are helping to reshape our future and accelerate innovation” 8

using a single point of truth. All the business processes have been reorganised around Salesforce.” Sara is continuing to innovate this year with the launch of its latest application. Luigi says, “It is a new claim application based on artificial intelligence. With this application, a policy holder is able to defend the cause of the damage in the case of a car accident, for example. They can open a claim using the app and will then receive a short message with a guided tour on their smartphone. By taking a picture of the car, the artificial intelligence will be able

Seismic or small, change is all around us With technology and human ingenuity, we can make change work for you and your business.

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to provide an estimation of the damage in just a few minutes.” The idea is to be part of an ecosystem of services integrating Italian tolling service provider, Telepass. Luigi explains, “We will be introducing an offer included in 10

our insurance product – a bundle of services, together with tolling services provided by Telepass. We are also developing a new product for those who have many needs, such as insuring an apartment, a car and a bike. We are offering the possibility of having just one

“A mix of technology has paved the way for improving the experience of Sara’s customers, alongside a steady change management strategy that the company has employed, right from the very start”

single contract, which will be much cheaper and simpler for the policy holder because there will be only one expiration date.” Sara has adopted an omnichannel strategy in order to offer its customers the same experience

on all of its channels. Luigi says, “We do not care whether our customers are digital or not. We offer the option to buy products online or to visit a point of sale. In any case, if a customer buys a product on a digital channel, they will be assigned an agent close to where they live. They can then be contacted for support, consultancy, assistance in opening a claim, or for asking any questions.” In this way, Sara’s digital strategy is not replacing the physical network, but actually enhancing it. Luigi adds, “We want to offer more 11

“The aim is to offer streamline services to our customers so they are able to interact with Sara in an easy way using digital tools. We also want to deliver on our mobile experience, and continue to innovate to become a broker of services, supported by our insurance product” Luigi Vassallo, Chief Operating Officer (COO)

“Tibco assisted us in our transition to the cloud in the first phase of the project. They are an enabler of new solutions and helped us to develop quickly because we did not need to write lots of code”

opportunity to our policy holders and agents. To use digital as a leverage, we can provide new services to help our business grow.” A mix of technology has paved the way for improving the experience of Sara’s customers, alongside a steady change management strategy that the company has employed, right from the very start. Luigi explains, “You need to change the way you work, and this is not easy with sales agents who have been used to working with papers.

Sara Assicurazioni Redefines the Customercentric Insurer TIBCO empowered Sara Assicurazioni to put the customer at the center of its business. The success of its digital transformation shows in the accolades it received. In both 2019 and 2020, Sara received the German Quality and Finance Institute’s Digital Star award for digital insurance innovation. Sara continues to work with TIBCO, adding master data management capabilities to further enhance collaboration across the firm and third-party partners. Sara pivoted from a reactive company to a modern digitallydriven provider that leads with advanced technology and data to predict and satisfy customer demands, made possible by TIBCO.

In its first year with TIBCO, Sara migrated 85 percent of its data and applications to the cloud and reduced costs by nearly 60 percent. 14

Who Is TIBCO For more than 25 years, TIBCO has unlocked the power of realtime data for making faster, smarter, decisions. Data helps our customers gain a competitive advantage — and it’s now more important than ever, allowing them to more adeptly innovate, collaborate, and grow. TIBCO is the foundation for enhancing customer experience, optimizing operations, and rethinking and reinventing the way our customers do business. +39 02 30416050 | www.tibco.com

You therefore need to provide a lot of training and support, as well as workshops explaining how the world is changing.” Aside from improving customer service and obtaining operational efficiencies, Sara’s

“Forming key partnerships has been fundamental to Sara’s success, as it would not have been possible to do everything the company has achieved so far with simply its small IT team” main business goal is to attract new customers. Luigi adds, “We know that the new generation will be more digital than the customer base we have today. If we want to stay on the market, we need to become digital, 16

so this is effectively a strategic decision.” Forming key partnerships has been fundamental to Sara’s success, as it would not have been possible to do everything the company

has achieved so far with simply its small IT team. Luigi says, “We have great partners in the tech area because when it comes to services, we need solid partnerships to guide us with new solutions. Accenture, for example, is a large

system integrator that has worked with us to develop important software. They have a lot of vision and ideas coming from different markets and customers. They are helping to reshape our future and accelerate innovation.” 17

Another partner that has been with Sara from the beginning is Tibco. Luigi adds, “Tibco assisted us in our transition to the cloud in the first phase of the project. They are an enabler of new solutions and helped us to develop quickly because we did not need to write lots of code. Tibco also provides us with a means of connecting platforms, both internal and external, making communication possible between different systems.” Looking towards the end of 2021 and beyond, Luigi is excited to be reshaping the services and applications for policy holders in the future, ensuring the company can compete in today’s digital landscape. He concludes, “The aim is to offer streamline services to our customers so they are able to interact with Sara in an easy way using digital tools. We also want to deliver on our mobile experience, and continue to innovate to become a broker of services, supported by our insurance product.”

For further information, visit www.sara.it 19