Outsourcing Can Give Insurance Companies a Competitive Edge

By Ashok Bindra
TMCnet Contributor

Like the U.S., insurance is also a big business in the UK, which is the third largest in the world and the largest in Europe. A vital part of the UK economy, it is facing a number of challenges as the industry tries to combat decline in profitability due to global financial crisis and the growing trend of consumers going online to compare prices.

In an article on Call Centre Focus site, Ant corporate sales director Richard Nicholls wrote that insurance companies are cutting costs and enhancing efficiencies. And customers are switching firms based on performance. In other words, wrote Nicholls, the insurance marketplace is getting competitive.

Since major insurance providers are offering many similar products with equally competitive websites, there is little to differentiate one provider from another. However, outsourcing can make a difference here. The corporate sales executive thinks that outsourcing can deliver customer experience to make a difference.

Hence, the sales executive is calling outsourcing agents like call centers to sharpen their skills related to insurance industry and become fully versed with the needs of that industry. And, thereby, possess capabilities to help these companies enhance their image in that market.

For that, Nichols adds, “Outsourcers are able to ensure they maintain and continually develop teams of highly skilled people adept at making calls within the insurance, banking and other financially focused sectors.”  That means, to deliver quality service, the outsourcing companies must enhance the knowledge of the support staff regarding the world of financial services, as well as engage themselves with insurance media online and hold regular product briefing sessions delivered by the clients.

A study carried out by the Association of British Insurers reveals that fraudulent claims are on the rise. As per this report, in 2011, 122,000 fraudulent insurance claims were uncovered, a 14 percent increase over 2010.

“The outsourcers can help by providing technology-based solutions using voice analytics and specially trained agents.

In short, Nicholls believes that outsourcing can improve efficiencies cost effectively, as well as deliver a competitive edge by providing great customer service to insurance companies.

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