Omnichannel models outperform lead-to-sales conversion rates fourfold

Only 1 in 8 want a fully digital journey, but 7 in 10 want part of their insurance journey to be digital.

Whilst digital adoption has ramped up across key industries globally, digital sales still account for only a small fraction of sales in the insurance industry. Only 1 in 8 insurance customers prefer a fully digital insurance purchase journey according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

However, about 7 in 10 or 70% of respondents in the study said that they want to complete at least parts of their journey digitally– be it getting advice, comparing quotes, or in applying for and buying an insurance policy. 

This is echoed in a recent whitepaper released by BCG, Income Insurance, and ZA Tech, which found that designing and implementing an omni-channel operating model outperforms typical lead-to-sales conversation rates by 3-5 times.

The whitepaper further unveiled five key omni-channel success factors that drive growth: first, having a seamless cross-channel journey, in which data and context are carried over in real-time without any process repeats.

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Second, customers need to be paired up with a best-suited, dedicated advisor to ensure an end-to-end trusted relationship. Insurance advisors reportedly need to become “bionic” – to be empowered and trained with the right set of digital engagement tools and coaching on digital relationship management.  

Having high-quality, pre-nurtured leads is also a must. Since insurance is a low engagement product, multi-stage nurturing initiatives need to be established with platform partners to gently nudge and warm up leads for the advisors. 

Insurers are also called to provide affordable entry-level insurance products that provide a gentle introduction to life insurance, as few people would spend thousands of dollars on life insurance after encountering an offer on a digital platform. 

Finally, the whitepaper urges insurers to provide a zero-tech integration effort solution, allowing platforms to seamlessly work with insurers with minimal effort on  tech build and integration. 

BCG, Income Insurance, and ZA Tech also outlined a dozen important features that insurers need to implement to be successful in omni-channel and sketch out how to do so.