Image by: samiph222, ©2017 Getty Images
A recent report from market research company IBIS projects the insurance software market will exceed $8 billion in 2016. The company attributed growth in the sector to an increased interest in cloud computing, data accessibility, and cybersecurity.
As I discussed in my last post, whether you are a document professional in insurance or in another industry where customer communications are key to keeping satisfied customers, your organization's choice when it comes to a customer communications management (CCM) solution can touch on all three of these important areas of interest.
Organizations today recognize that it’s essential to communicate with customers in a personalized, timely way. In insurance, as in many transaction-based industries, customers may interact with the organization primarily via monthly statements, so it's imperative that every communication is effective. However, for many organizations, getting the right data in the right hands with the right tools to create those communications is a stumbling block.
As the IBIS research notes, data accessibility is an issue. Marketers and business users often don't have a way to quickly access data or create, test, and approve content across print and digital channels without involving overburdened information technology (IT) resources. Making even the smallest change on an account statement, policy, or other routine document can take weeks or months. As a result, it is difficult, if not impossible, to appropriately respond to the shifting needs of customers in a cohesive, timely, and personalized way.
Industries are learning that a cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) approach to CCM, which puts an emphasis on business user enablement and ease of use, can solve these problems by centralizing data access, content creation, and change management. This approach incorporates an internal user management system that enables centralized control of individual and group rights to ensure consistency and compliance, as well as an integrated workflow system that controls the required steps for creation, edits, and approvals.
Modern cloud-based CCM solutions also enable self-serve proofing and testing by non-technical business users, who can see what their content will look like in real time. Once they are sure it's correct, formatted properly, and being sent to the right customer, it can quickly be approved and moved to production using the organization's existing composition and communications delivery channels. A configurable approval workflow can ensure only the content changes that are approved by the right users make it into production.
In addition to streamlining the production and management of complex content assembly documents insurers (and similar organizations) face—such as contracts, Annual Notification of Changes (ANOCs), and Evidence of Coverage (EOCs)—a cloud-based SaaS CCM solution can achieve the same results with other communications, such as welcome packages, forms, letter correspondence, ID cards, and monthly and annual health statements that are part of the customer communications life cycle.
As I discussed last time, another key benefit of taking a hybrid cloud approach is that it doesn't compromise data security. Content and rules can be managed in the cloud, while customer data stays behind the organization's firewall.
All in all, hybrid cloud CCM enables a more agile, responsive, and less costly way for insurers and similar enterprises to achieve customized customer communications. The risk of penalties from non-compliance as well as operating costs will be less, and the opportunities to differentiate from the competition and enhance the customer experience will be improved.
Visit Prinova at Booth #212 at DSF '17, May, 1-3, 2017 in Downtown Chicago. For more information, visit documentstrategyforum.com.
Nick Romano, P. Eng., is Co-Founder and CEO of Prinova. He is an expert in the customer communication management space and on the design, successful implementation, and management of high-volume, enterprise-class customer touchpoint messaging strategies. Over the years, Nick has helped many Fortune 1000 companies transform the way they communicate with their customers. Contact him at nickr@prinova.com. Follow Prinova on LinkedIn and Twitter.
