How SMS, Whatsapp and IVR calling usage have increased to boost business in this COVID times.

The flood of Covid-19 claims is undoubtedly putting strain on the resources and reputations of insurance carriers and agent-brokers.

According to Forrester analysts, There is a vast gap between leaders and laggards in the insurance industry and when it comes to Covid-19 response, now is the time for insurers to demonstrate their customer advocacy.

There has been a spike in consumers searching for life insurance and income protection policies to protect themselves and their families in the wake of Covid-19. Realising this as an opportunity for insurers to help consumers get the right coverage while demonstrating empathy and an understanding of customer needs. Companies like Tata AIA Life Insurance played the masterstroke of leveraging technology at the right time.

Tata AIA LI was faced with challenges while confronting customer needs and managing work flow of call centre agents from home.

But Sachin Goel, EVP and CIO, Tata AIA Life Insurance supported business continuity by implementing digital platforms for sales while managing customer experience with bots and ensured internal productivity with VDI, remote monitoring and virtual platforms for effective communication.

“We have faced challenges while moving our entire business suite to digital. But with partner support and management trust, we have seamlessly adopted digital methods for BCP readiness. So far, the business impact is contained as we are continuing to serve the customers remotely via Bot calling, Whatsapp and email support as well as IVR services that are being rendered from the safety of the call centre Agents’ home,” Sachin Goel, EVP and CIO, Tata AIA Life Insurance said.

In the initial days of lockdown when businesses started rattling with the thought of losing customers, Goel and his IT team seamlessly moved to the digital support. The company has moved their major operations internally and for sales into digital platforms.

This migration came into practise in nearly 2 weeks ago. They have initially started 24/7 bot support which is further backed by customer agents for more queries. IVR service rolled out with manual back-up support of external customer agents working from home. Whatsapp, SMS are among the other services which are especially introduced to manage customer requests.

The company has cloud backed applications and digital platforms for sales and customer service teams. They also leverage data analytics tools and AI/ML based models to predict customer response, buying behaviour and help in decision making. In this crisis, Goel and his team has also ensured IT infrastructure support for better operational efficiency.

“Tata AIA has enabled its customers to buy protection policies through digital platforms. Our online sales platform allows our distributors and our customers to interact and buy policies remotely. Our field teams are enabled with digital devices which they are already being used for post sales video calling. These enablers help them to engage with our customers seamlessly as it allows them that personal touch without venturing out of their homes,” Goel said.

Through these online platforms and video calling, company’s advisors can assess customer needs and offer suitable customised solutions. They can electronically send the quotations and seek approvals from the customers. They can assess how well the customer has understood the policy terms and ensure that they are getting what they require.The company has reported that 80 percent of the transactions for Tata AIA Life now happen via self-service modes.

“Once the customers make an informed decision, they can initiate the buying process and make the payment digitally. The platform has always had Video Post Sales Call, but now the entire process from the time of initiation, is managed remotely in this pandemic situation. This end-to-end purchase feature that is enabled via digital platforms also eliminates possibilities of mis-selling,” Goel explained.

To further strengthen our processes, Tata AIA, going forward, is also planning several online initiatives for our distributors and advisors to help engage with our customers more seamlessly. “We are enabling communication with our employees and partners via the Zoom and MS team platform. Our online sales platform allows our distributors and our customers to interact and purchase policies remotely. We are offering Bot calling which is a great feature that addresses multiple needs of the consumer. We have also enabled IVR calling from home so this facility continues to be available though we are encouraging people to use other modes like email, SMS, WhatsApp and email. Our field teams are enabled with digital devices that they use for video calling. This helps them to engage with our customers as it allows them that personal touch without venturing out of their homes,” Goel highlighted.

For digital payments, the platform has multiple options such as Jio Money, Paytm, EBPP (electronic bill processing and payments), IMPS, Wallets, ICICI Bank QuickPay facility, in addition to paying protection premium online, as also through EMIs.

“We have always invested in technology and skills, which is today showing a successful ROI. In this crisi, we have a 24/7 active and operated infrastructure, network, all digital platforms are in place with support of cloud backed applications. With all of these technologies, we have a skilled workforce which is adapting this agile workflow in a very quick and efficient manner,” Goel emphasised in his closing statement.

Another challenge faced by the company was managing hardware and software requests of a huge workforce to provide required arrangements for their work from home phase.

“To address these requirements, we had our partner and vendor support which helped us facilitate hardware and software to our employees at this pandemic stage. We work with technology providers such as TCS, Microsoft, and IBM among others. With a collaborative strategy and partner support, we have seamlessly managed WFH for our employees. Technologies such as MS Team, Zoom, VPN, etc are being leveraged separately for tackling this crisis while contunitypuing work communication. We have provided encrypted connections and software for employees to work remotely. Their workflow and operations are monitored by a 24/7 operated SOC,”.

Reliable communication is a provider of such platforms for SMS, Whatsapp and IVR Calling.