Today's Chinese insurance market is undergoing profound changes, posing increasing challenges to the back-end operations of insurance companies. From the viewpoint of the external environment of the enterprise, customer behavioral needs are changing, especially in the Internet era, insurance consumers' demand for convenient, integrated, information consistent and integrated services is gradually increasing, challenging the service capabilities of insurance companies.
At the same time, new technologies are emerging, such as cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT), etc., which contain huge potentials and make it possible to further improve the efficiency of enterprises, and how to effectively utilize new technologies to improve the efficiency of enterprises has become an issue that needs to be studied by enterprises. From the viewpoint of the internal environment of the enterprise, under the influence of the market and policies, the profits of insurance companies at both underwriting and investment ends are being squeezed, and how to reduce costs and maintain profits determines whether the enterprise can survive in the long run. And along with the expansion of business scale and the continuous adjustment of business structure, the demand for rapid innovation is also increasing, and the workload and complexity of back-end operations are rising, testing the comprehensive operational capabilities of enterprises.
In summary, changes in customer behavior, the development of new technologies, profit pressure and structural adjustment have all put increasing demands on insurers' back-end operations. In such a context, a competitive insurance company must have excellent operational capabilities to achieve three major goals: consistent and convenient customer experience, effective optimization of operational cost and efficiency, and effective prevention of operational quality and risk.
Currently, there are five major trends in the transformation of global insurance operations
Operational models address the issue of "how to do it", from interface, to delivery, to management. In order to achieve the goal of operational excellence, global insurance companies are actively looking for ways to transform their operations to achieve consistency, convenience, *** enjoyment and value by focusing on the customer. Currently undergoing five adjustments and changes:
1, customer-centric end-to-end perspective to make up for the traditional service scope is small, the customer concept of the shortcomings
Traditional enterprises are subject to functional departments and lines, line to line isolation, the customer service concept of the pattern is limited, and often can only provide a limited range of fixed services, such as simple operational services and customer service. Although each line upholds the guideline of "no error", from the perspective of the whole process, there is no lack of breakpoints resulting in a lack of customer experience.
In order to meet customer needs and enhance customer experience, insurance companies need to shift from a small, limited scope of service to a customer-oriented, holistic approach. Taking Allianz Insurance, a leading global insurance group, as an example, it has transformed its business line model, which was originally based on the independent operation of three business lines, into a ****xian synergy model that integrates front-end customer acquisition and back-end operation, and fused the three business lines to establish an integrated management mechanism for the customers, which ultimately realizes the transformation to an end-to-end customer perspective. In the process, the enterprise has established a set of mechanisms to pull services by customer demand, including the establishment of a customer demand listening mechanism, a customer demand integrated management mechanism, a customer-centric guiding principle, and a mechanism for supervising and optimizing the day-to-day management of operations to support successful transformation.
2. Provide a consistent customer interface to eliminate the problems of dispersed customer information and inconsistent service standards
To enhance the customer experience and facilitate internal management, insurance companies also need to achieve a unified customer interface and implement data management. Traditional insurance companies, despite the fact that each line of business, each channel more or less master customer information, but subject to the lack of technology, cross-line integration is not good and other limitations, these information has not realized effective interoperability between the customer once the cross-channel, high-quality service is difficult to connect, the customer experience has been affected. Therefore, it is crucial to provide customers with a unified and consistent customer interface as well as standardized services.
A unified and consistent customer interface has two meanings. First, companies need to provide customers with unified service information and knowledge, including product types, product terms, business channels and processes, and other knowledge-based information, to ensure that multiple channels answer the same type of questions with the same caliber. Second, the enterprise needs to provide customers with unified customer information data, including customer personal information, purchase records, communication records, etc., to ensure that multiple channels of customer information **** enjoy real-time synchronization, reflecting the consistency of service.
To realize a unified and consistent customer interface, enterprises first need to open up the isolation between channels from the inside, and then establish unified data standards, including data caliber, statistical methods, etc. Furthermore, they must make the data source of different channels requesting data consistent, and ensure that multi-channels have a unified data directory.
3, simplify the process, relying on new technologies to make the operation intelligent, instead of the traditional complex process
Simplify the process is the insurance company to play the "intensive" effect of the road, the traditional process is based on the scene, paper, layers of authorization, the process of front and back-office interaction. In the case of the claims process of the general insurance agent channel, for example, the traditional process of authorization alone involves multiple round trips between the insurance agent and back-office operations. If the enterprise can centralize the operation steps such as document authorization, then the optimized process can make the division of labor between the front and back office clear, and the multiple interactions can be changed to one time to complete, so that the cost can be reduced and the efficiency can be improved.
Using new technologies to make operations intelligent has also become a key trend for insurance companies to improve their operational capabilities. One of Japan's leading life and health insurance companies has applied artificial intelligence (AI) optical character recognition (OCR) technology to customer letter business acquisition, policy administration and claims management processes, and robot process automation (RPA) to the approval process to enhance intelligent operations. Today, the new technology has covered 60% of the company's operational business, bringing about a 20% reduction in operational costs.
4. Maximize Specialized **** Sharing, Flexible Scheduling, and Reversing Resource Fragmentation in Traditional Models
Today, many leading financial institutions in China are expanding their operational footprints, and against this backdrop, better **** sharing of resources has become a key step in their development. Effective ****enjoyment of resources can help companies efficiently control and utilize customer data to maximize customer potential, lay a solid foundation for new business, provide rooting conditions for old business, and maximize centralized deployment of resources to effectively improve resource utilization efficiency.
Taking Allianz Insurance, the world's leading insurance company, as another example, in order to achieve specialization*** enjoyment and elastic scheduling, it has established a unified demand acceptance interface and a task distribution platform to achieve operation tie-up management and control customer data, as well as centralized distribution and intensive work to improve the utilization rate of corporate resources.
5, operations to the transition to productization and specialization, changing the traditional cost center setup
Insurance companies with the development of internal control systems and business advancement, operations should not only play the role of cost center, the value of operations management should become the norm. Under this trend, the operations department will become a provider of professional services to internal and external customers.
The realization of the value of operations can be achieved through the following three ways: first, the operations department can integrate internal and external resources and become the information resource center of the insurance company; second, it can be shifted from internal service to serving both internal and external customers, productizing the services, and completing the transformation from a cost center to a profit center; and then, it can be differentiated from the sales department by having its own charging method and proprietary brand to provide paid services. brand, providing paid services.
The transformation of operational excellence is a must, and global insurance groups with multiple business lines have long constructed group operating segments to ensure coordination and resource ****sharing. Chinese insurance companies should refer to the above direction to change the traditional concept of operation in time, and build a lower cost and more efficient claims system.
How can Chinese insurers upgrade their operations?
Now that the concept has been changed, what initiatives should insurers take in practice as soon as possible? We suggest that the first step is to define the goal of operations optimization. Operational transformation is an ongoing process, and its motivation for transformation mainly comes from the evolution of business models. With business models changing rapidly, insurers need to constantly think about operational transformation and set new goals in terms of customer experience, cost efficiency and quality control. Common quantitative goals are customer satisfaction improvement, comprehensive cost optimization and risk error rate reduction. At different stages of development, it is particularly important to effectively balance the priorities between the three objectives.
With clear objectives, customer-centeredness starts with the following four major aspects: interface integration, process leaning, resource ****sharing, and transparent management.
1, interface co-ordination
Customer interface refers to the physical existence of the channels through which customers are provided with services, including call centers, mobile APPs or WeChat, stores, salespersons and so on. Customer interface coordination and information interoperability*** is the core point for the success of operational excellence transformation, and insurance companies should pay enough attention to it. At present, although many insurance companies have constructed offline and online diversified customer service interfaces, the positioning of the functions of various interfaces, mutual diversion and support, as well as the integrated planning of interface construction still need to be considered.
BCG's insurance customer research shows that in the future, customers will be more receptive to the online interface, and more than half of the customers are willing to complete various activities through the online platform. Based on this, we believe that the mobile terminal will carry more service functions and increase customer stickiness in addition to information push, while other interfaces will assist the mobile terminal to better accomplish various complex activities. However, at present, most insurance companies have the phenomenon of multiple and mixed mobile terminals, with the rapid launch of various business units and a lack of synergy. Some unsuccessful APPs or WeChat public accounts are also not exited in time, causing trouble for customers.
How to optimize and unify the existing customer service interface? How to coordinate and plan the upcoming development of the interface? We suggest that insurance companies establish "five mechanisms" and focus on "two major concerns".
A. Five Mechanisms
Product System: Before developing mobile products, insurance companies need to define in advance what categories of mobile applications should be formed? At the same time what is the relationship between different products? Construct a product system as a guideline.
Demand access and exit mechanism: insurance companies need to have a clear plan for the vision of the mobile ecosystem and the realization of the sequence, to do something and not to do something. During the development process, the enterprise can allow each professional subsidiary or functional department within the scope of authority to develop mobile products according to the demand, but at the same time, it is also necessary to set up a corresponding exit mechanism, set the time point for the acceptance of the product effect, and stop the development of the product that is difficult to meet the standard as soon as possible in order to prevent unnecessary investment.
Quality control mechanism: Insurance companies should control the quality of products from the dimensions of content, functionality, ease of use, interface design, etc., to create a superior user experience. This mechanism can also serve as an important reference for the exit mechanism.
Resource allocation mechanism: Insurance companies need to form a synergy in resource investment in development, distribution, operation and maintenance to avoid waste of resources caused by duplication of investment.
Departmental Collaboration Mechanism: When problems and new requirements arise, each line and department should establish an efficient collaboration mechanism, which must break down the barriers between departments so as to realize rapid response and iteration.
B, two concerns
Mobile application development capability: development capability is a key factor in determining the quality of the product being developed, so the insurance company needs to pay attention to what leading development concepts and tools are being used in the current development process. At the same time, the simplicity of the interface, the ease of operation, and the efficiency of the back-end system are the basis for mobile acceptance.
Mobile application promotion and operation capabilities: Increasing the number of users and their frequency of use is crucial to boosting the activity of mobile products. Therefore, in the process of product development and later iteration, insurance companies need to always think about how to improve the customer flow and easy frequency of mobile applications. The establishment of a points system can also help promote the mobile interface. For example, QANTASASSURE in Australia has launched a points program in conjunction with Qantas Airways, and its mobile health management platform incentivizes good health behaviors through points and returns them as value to customers, while helping them find the most appropriate insurance products.
2, process lean
There are six main means of process optimization: first, is the process simplified? Second, is the process standardized? Third, which process aspects can be centralized to achieve efficiency gains and cost savings? Fourth, which operations can be outsourced? Fifth, can't some process segments apply more digitalization and automation means, or even advanced technologies such as robotics (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI)? Sixth, can't management be more optimized to reduce unnecessary resource investment? Allianz Deutschland is a model for process innovation, having enabled NPS to monitor the customer experience over the past 10 years, inputting requirements for process optimization, and continually enabling process innovation through an end-to-end lean process optimization mechanism. The company as a whole has achieved about 15-20% cost savings through this effort.
3. Resource ****sharing
Resource intensive ****sharing refers to the optimization of resource combination methods and the overall arrangement of resource inputs to improve the overall effectiveness of the operation system. Through ****sharing, costs are reduced, efficiency is improved, and the customer experience is enhanced at the same time. With the advancement of technology, resource *** enjoyment is no longer limited to the construction of physical centers at the group level, but can be logically pooled through the construction of cloud platforms.
Definition of a resource cloud platform: a platform model based on the network that realizes ****-enjoyable operation services in a demand-driven and easy-to-expand manner. For customers, this platform can bring a consistent experience; for companies, this platform can ensure the flexible deployment of resources and enhance efficiency; for enterprise employees, this platform can accurately collocate and maximize the ability of employees to enhance their skills.
While the concept of "cloud operations" has yet to be widely implemented in the field of insurance operations, there have long been mature applications in other industries. In the case of DDT, for example, the resource scheduling platform helps broker deals between passengers and drivers, and at the same time tracks and analyzes the passenger group's usage patterns through background time, GPS positioning and other data, which in turn provides services to the driver group; the platform also serves as a management platform, helping to manage the fleet and drivers. From this, we can see that demand coordination, accurate matching and closed-loop management are the core features of the cloud platform operation.
BCG's program experience shows that many insurers have multiple opportunities for resource ****sharing: interfaces, jobs with the same responsibilities, simple basic operational services, and customer communities can all be ****shared across lines to drive operational excellence.
4. Transparent management
Operations are easily "ruined by details", and scientific, fine and transparent management is the foundation of operations. The current operation index system is designed for service assessment, mainly reflecting the work results on a macro level, and not enough to transparently reflect the operation efficiency in this aspect. To build an operation value management system, it is necessary to start from the operation goal, take value-driven orientation, decompose the core operation indexes such as efficiency, quality, risk control, service, key projects, etc., and correspond the index system at different levels with the scope of authority and responsibility of each management level (group, subsidiary, branch, and sub-branch) and management unit (operation management-related departments, back-office centers, etc.), so as to form a logically rigorous system, It forms a logical, comprehensive and figure-based value management system. The formation of the value management system is the basis for the transition of operations from cost center to value center, and it is a bit premature to talk about value creation without this foundation.
Data quality has a direct impact on the effectiveness of value management, so the construction of an operational value management system requires the establishment of a clear mechanism for collecting and sharing operational data. At present, domestic insurance companies are generally facing data quality governance problems, including inconsistent data caliber across branches or departments, lack of uniform standards and a single person in charge of parameter settings, lack of a "collection point" for data in the system, and lagging data due to extensive manual processing. In order to improve the quality of operational data in the future, we need to start from both governance and technology aspects.
In terms of governance, the source of operational data often involves multiple lines and departments (operations, human resources, finance, various business lines, etc.), so it is necessary to set up a cross-line data management working group to sort out the operation-related data, and appoint a person in charge of each "data category", who will take the lead in standardizing the "data category". The person in charge will take the lead in standardizing the definition, calculation method, and access path of "data categories". In terms of systems, the automation of key operational data, including updating, collection and reporting, is carried out according to the requirements of the data owner; databases are stripped from various production systems and integrated into a centralized operational data platform to reduce overlap.
In addition to the above four aspects, we believe that it is crucial to establish a fast and agile operation optimization system, through the agility of the project team to ensure that the operation is rapidly transformed in line with the transformation of the business model, and through the specialization of the division of labor to achieve stability of the operation to form a "two-speed mechanism", to find a balance between change and stability.
Operation
Operation optimization is a long-lasting battle, and we firmly believe that insurers with good operation systems will increasingly show their competitive advantages.
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