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Chuks Udo Okonta
Insurance customers now desire more and new ways of purchasing policies; managing risk including more fit-for-purpose cover and services, Chairman, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Offices Representatives Committee (ORC) Peter Offiong, has said.
He disclosed this on Thursday at the 2022 Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Offices Representatives Committee workshop in Lagos, adding that customers also desire immediate
delivery and wished to interact through various channels when searching for and purchasing insurance products.
“It is important to acknowledge also that the spread of information –
comparison sites – can diminish the loyalty of the insured as increasing automation brings about progressive depersonalisation of the insurer-insured relationship,” he said.
He noted that the increasing lack of human relationship due to the dissemination of digital distribution must move towards new digital-ready models of insurance intermediation, which require customer centricity and continuous market research.
On how to use the emerging technological trends to attract and retain the modern-day customer, he posited that practitioners should go on the offensive with digital tools; adopt a digital mindset; use technology to aid and disrupt distribution and build products and services to meet demands of a digital world.
Continuing he added that they should also embrace customer centric eçosystems; re-imagine the customer value; design for digital collaboration, by building a network of trusted partners; enable shared value to increase adoption and uptake;
put a premium on collaboration; partner innovators to ensure policies and guidelines are aligned with the current
realities; forge partnerships to develop new offerings and distribution arrangements for new markets; initiate and operate an effective sandbox in collaboration with NAICOM and consider the possibility of setting up a joint technological platform for the industry, but ran by technology experts.
He submitted that end game is taking insurance to the nooks and crannies of the nation and ensuring that
individuals and corporates appreciate and value the insurance experience.
“It is about the ease of buying and receiving claims and all the processes in between.
“It is about insurance education at the speed of light and with the simplest of grammar.
“Needed but not prioritised, relied upon but not trusted these are just some of the perceptions that have characterised interactions with the Nigerian insurance sector for many years,” he stated.
The ORC boss noted that the
sector has been grappling with the challenge of delivering relevant products for a long time, especially to customers at the base of the economic pyramid and that it does appear that the solution might lie in part in the adoption of emerging technology as well as a cultural and mindset shift among players.
Marketing Lead, Octamile.Com,
Princewill Akuma, who is also
a VC-backed Insurtech startup simplifying access to insurance in Africa, stated that by leveraging technology, practitioners would enjoy opportunities such as; increased profitability; data-driven decision making; Improved knowledge of customers; new partnerships & products; agile & productive teams and improved resource management.
On what consumers would gain, he noted that there would be trust & retention;
improves customer experience; tailored products & premiums and freedom
