What is the status of video consulting at the 20 leading Swiss insurance companies?

PRAGMATICA AG
09.02.24
11:38

There is always room for improvement in video consulting and the upstream and downstream processes. Nevertheless, pioneers can be identified among the insurers.

In September and October 2023, we carried out a comprehensive market analysis of video consulting with the leading 20 Swiss health and multi-branch insurers. The study was carried out using desk research and real consultations as part of mystery shopping. It should be noted that this is not a scientifically prepared study.

Online appointment booking only possible in some cases

The market analysis showed that the option of binding online appointment booking is not yet established with most insurers. This often leads to an unwanted media disruption, as the appointment has to be made by telephone after filling out the online contact form. In the area of health insurance, three companies set positive accents with particularly simple and seamless online appointment scheduling, while only one multi-branch insurer offers such a solution – albeit without the option of a video consultation.

Lots of potential in the appointment invitation

The professionalism of appointment confirmations, invitations and reminders varies considerably. Only 25% of the insurers analyzed meet a high quality standard when sending out invitations for video consultations by ensuring that all relevant information about the advisor, the consultation and, if applicable, the technical introduction to the consultation is included and that the invitation contains correct branding and an email signature. In contrast, 75% of the invitations to video consultations appear improvised and less professional, with individual components often being forgotten.

Response times of up to two weeks

The response times from the appointment request to the written invitation to the video consultation vary considerably. For the few insurers with an online appointment system, appointments were confirmed immediately and automatically. The turnaround time was correspondingly short and, depending on availability, the consultation could be held the very next day. However, it was very surprising that almost half of the insurers required several inquiries via the contact form in order to arrange an appointment. In the worst-case scenario, this meant that a response to the appointment request only arrived after two weeks.

Our analysis and experience as a fictitious customer shows that direct online appointment booking leads to a more seamless and convenient customer journey and significantly shortens the time from the appointment request to the consultation. This can make all the difference - especially during the notice period.

Interaction with the camera needs to be learned

The professional competence of the advisors was not explicitly examined. However, this much can be said: we felt that we received competent advice throughout. The focus of our analysis was on video consulting skills and in particular on performance and tool skills (e.g. interaction with the camera, general camera settings, handling of tools such as Microsoft Teams, etc.). Our experience was very mixed and ranged from cropped heads, very blurred video images and camera angles from the side down to very distracting factors in the background.

The consulting experience was only occasionally convincing

A key advantage of video consultations is the ability to share the screen in order to explain insurance solutions in an understandable and visually supported way. Surprisingly, almost half of the insurers surveyed achieved low results, as they either did not use the screen sharing function or only shared basic information. Only six insurers were convincing in this area by providing interactive advice and using various supporting tools to visualize insurance solutions or calculate and compare different options live.

Media discontinuity when signing documents

As the customer experience does not stop at the consultation, we have also investigated the possibilities for an electronic signature. Digital signatures are offered by many insurers, but very few offer them in the form of an electronic signature that is properly embedded in the process. In the end, we were often referred by the advisor to the physical route with postal delivery of the documents and a handwritten signature. Another media disruption that we didn’t like in our role as a digitally savvy customer.

No secure channel for the exchange of sensitive information

document exchange for new customers. Sensitive or particularly sensitive data – for example health data – should have been sent by email. Alternatively, it would have had to be sent by post, which would have created another media disruption. As a new customer with a digital affinity, this physical alternative would not have been convenient enough for us, which is why, for better or worse, we would have sent our data by e-mail and at the same time run into a data security problem. This problem must be solved by the insurers.

In recent years, customer demand for video consulting services has increased significantly, offering great potential for an effective and efficient sales process and optimized customer interaction. We’ll help you overhaul what in many places began as a digital version of an analog process to create a modern customer experience and increase close rates on digital consultations. In addition, we support you when it comes to video, tool and process expertise in order to support the many years of routine, experience and advisory skills of your customer advisors. We would be pleased to offer you a non-binding exchange of experiences, during which we can already highlight initial optimization possibilities and provide more details about our services related to video consultation.

Room for improvement throughout

Our market analysis has shown that health insurers are several steps ahead overall. Nevertheless, no insurer convinced us unreservedly across all the points examined. So there is still room for improvement, even among the pioneers.

We are convinced that the advisory process of the future will require a hybrid approach, especially for products that require intensive advice. Video advice is an effective piece of the puzzle that makes it possible to experience personal advice from anywhere. However, it is not enough to simply transfer a physical consultation to the video channel. Rather, video consultations must be seen as a new form of consultation. And this requires new approaches and solutions to offer customers a personalized and seamless experience.

Legend: Dark = multi-branch insurer / light = health insurer

We are convinced that a hybrid advisory approach with the clever use of video consultations, an end-to-end omni-channel approach and smart processes is the key to efficient and effective sales.

Would you like to find out more?

If you are an insurer and would like to find out the individual results of our market analysis, including our recommendations for action tailored to your needs, please contact us at info@pragmatica.ch. We look forward to exchanging ideas with you!