I recently spoke at the International Travel and Health Insurance Conference in New Orleans about technology and customer experience, a topic that not that long ago would have prompted a discussion of technology hardware – the hulking systems that used to take up entire rooms back in the day. It also may have prompted a discussion about call center technology, abandon rates and voice activated call routing.
More recently, the customer experience conversation has shifted to apps, but we’re already seeing that focus start to fade. While we know that some travelers use apps, it tends to be the most brand-loyal consumers. The transient consumer, the shopper, or the omni-channel consumer are generally not app users.
So, the conversation about customer service technology has now evolved to mobile, bots, face recognition and other types of immediate, dramatic customer experience methods that completely change the customer experience vs. enhance the standard. Travel insurers and service companies are using technology to influence and sometimes transform products and customers’ interactions with those products in ways we all hope will keep our products relevant to new generations of travelers for many years to come.
When it comes to flight disruptions, we have innovations like AXA Fizzy and Freebird – they know how, when and where someone’s traveling and they help without the traveler asking. For bag delay, there is BlueRibbon Bags to the rescue. And in the world of travel insurance, we’ve created a formless claim process at Aon that can be completed in less than 8 minutes. It is intuitive, mobile and doesn’t sacrifice the loss ratio to deliver the experience.
These are just examples of what’s happening right now, but what’s even more interesting is what could happen. Today, we can track luggage. So, I know when my bags have been misdirected and can get a text when I land letting me know they won’t be there.
But in the future, with technology, I could find out right away that my bags are not going to make it and have a solution set up to know my style and size, identify where I can find what I need in my destination city, as well as order and deliver replacement clothing to my hotel so it’s waiting for me when I get there. And, of course, cover all the costs. Would that not be the ultimate customer experience?
Now, are we there yet? No. Are we close? Absolutely!
As an industry, it’s opportunities like this that we have to work through as we embark on this new frontier of leveraging technology to thoughtfully and thoroughly serve the customer. And, as the world’s leading firm focused on risk and people, Aon is at the forefront of the next generation of travel insurance customer experience.