High-Tech Travel Insurance (and why the human touch still matters)
Aug 02, 2018 | Aon
For as much as technology has evolved the travel experience for consumers (ahem, online, mobile and blockchain), much of the industry has been slower to adopt innovative technologies than other markets. The tide is turning though and is doing so in ways that can make different aspects of the travel experience more in tune with consumer needs and wants. The travel insurance industry is no exception, particularly in customer service.
“We’ve experienced more of a technology evolution in this industry in the last two years than we did in the last 20,” said Beth Godlin, president Aon Affinity Travel Practice. “It’s been driven in large part by the consumer experience, but also with our customer partners who are devising more sophisticated ways to engage and support their audiences. It’s an exciting time to be in the travel insurance business.”
Here are just some of the ways technology is working to enhance the consumer experience in travel insurance.
- Seamless connections. At Aon Affinity Travel, we create travel insurance programs for some of the most respected travel brands in the world. This means that we are an extension of our customer’s brand in delivering a high-quality consumer experience. As such, our contact center platform is designed to provide a rich, cloud-based solution. Custom applications are designed for each of our client’s branded toll-free numbers and dynamic routing ensures maximum efficiency in call delivery.
- Consistency, consistency, consistency. Today’s consumers are used to having easy access to what they need and are accustomed to leveraging omnichannel solutions to have their needs met. So, whether a consumer needs to connect via mobile, desktop or phone – they need to access an intuitive solution for their travel insurance platform that’s consistent. This stretches across voice and chat benefits to intuitive speech-based voice recognition. The technology has to be intelligent or else the consumer will face frustration.
- Catch trends. Seeing and hearing the voice of the consumer is an incredibly powerful tool for identifying timely concerns and analyzing changing needs. Technology allows us to detect key words that can provide insight to identify operational opportunities to enhance the consumer experience in the future or to inform our customers of areas in need of enhancement. After-call surveys are another way we can truly hear the voice of the traveler and assess opportunities to evaluate and improve our processes and tools.
- Reach out. Sometimes it’s the call the consumer doesn’t have to make that’s the most important one. Outbound call technology can automate customer outreaches, connecting the consumer with the resources they need. We also can send pre-determined text messages to a designated list of numbers to share important information proactively.
- Let’s get real. And sometimes technology just isn’t the right solution. Travel is personal. There’s enough nuance to people’s lives, circumstances and experiences that one-size-fits-all simply isn’t a fit, at all. That’s when we need to ensure consumers can still have a direct path to engage with real people who can absorb and evaluate the details of the situation and communicate back effectively. This can help a consumer better understand why a claim was denied or can help successfully process a claim.
The high-tech nature of today’s travel experience has pushed travel insurers to try to keep up. Leveraging dynamic, omnichannel solutions are just one way businesses are working to meet those needs with speed and agility. Constantly listening, evolving and re-shaping those resources is a challenge the industry will continue to address. But we cannot lose the human side of service in that quest for improvement.
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