KEY TAKEAWAYS:
--Because they facilitate interactions, web portals can be used to gather data on customers and tailor products and services to them. Portals can provide a better customer experience and increase retention.
--Portals can also streamline business operations, saving time and money, while improving data security.
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With the global insurance market expected to grow 9% a year and reach $8.4 trillion in 2026 (according to Statista), competition is so fierce that insurance organizations need to stand out in every way they can.
One means that is too often overlooked is the development of a web portal. Unlike websites, which are primarily used to sell products or services, portals can simplify and speed communication and transactions between service providers and customers, also serving as a customer support tool, with a broader range of interactive elements. Portals usually require authentication and offer highly personalized content targeting specific groups. Moreover, a typical insurance portal provides automation and self-service capabilities, which helps manage an insurance business.
This article covers the five main benefits of web portals from a business perspective.
Increased customer retention
With the proper functionality, a web portal can help an insurance provider retain its customers continuously. For example, an insurer can send automatic reminders to keep customers engaged by notifying them of discounts and special offers.
In a more advanced scenario, an insurer can personalize these reminders to make them even more effective and engaging. Such personalized alerts can help insurers improve the quality of their service and sell more to existing customers, maximizing their lifetime value. Insurance providers can also notify customers when they should pay invoices, helping them avoid late payments while improving collections.
Outstanding customer experience
An insurance portal can also help insurers tailor their products to different audience segments and provide customers with self-service options demanded by modern customers.
According to the Future of CX: 2022 report by Freshworks, 39% of customers prefer self-service over any other channel, while 61% admire organizations that offer a mix of self-service and human touch.
Improved data security
The cost of cybercrime will reach $8 trillion this year and increase to $10.5 trillion by 2025, according to the 2022 Official Cybercrime Report by eSentire. Fortunately, by following specific cybersecurity practices, web portal developers can help insurance providers protect customer and corporate data from most cyber threats.
Data encryption
With data encryption, all information stored or processed by a web portal is coded and hidden from potential attackers. Only users with a corresponding key can access and view such encrypted data.
Role-based access control (RBAC)
By implementing the RBAC model, developers can limit access to web portal data and built-in functionality based on the user's role and position within an organization. With RBAC, an insurer can significantly reduce the risk of cyber-attacks, including those that use social engineering, while reducing the potential attack surface.
Data backup
Developers can back up insurance portal data using local or cloud storage. Even in the case of data leakage, it can be quickly recovered with a backup, helping an insurer prevent complete data loss and avoid unnecessary expenditures of time and money.
However, all the recommendations can only help if an insurance portal is developed correctly and securely. Therefore, developers must adhere to the latest cyber security practices and have validated software development certifications (such as ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 9001).
Meanwhile, organizations should monitor their insurance portals and run regular security audits to ensure maximum security. If an insurer does not have enough resources for security maintenance, it is worth considering managed IT security services.
Optimized business performance
An insurance portal can make an insurance business more productive through automation and reduced manual labor. For instance:
Customer management
An insurer can manage its entire customer lifecycle and specific aspects, such as onboarding and retention.
Quote and policy management
Insurers can manage multiple policies in parallel and renew or cancel them as needed.
Underwriting management
Insurers can quickly assess the insurance risks of their applicants and calculate the amount of coverage for each of these risks.
Inquiry management
Agents can prioritize inquiries, manage them and track customer payment history.
Claim management
Insurers can streamline and expedite claim registration and processing by implementing the right tools.
Document management
With robust functionality, insurers can quickly search for necessary files and data, share them and promptly generate documents (such as policies, claims or invoices) based on predefined templates.
These are only some features to integrate into a web portal to improve insurance business performance. For example, depending on its business requirements, an insurer can instruct developers to adopt tools for accounting, reinsurance and automated marketing.
More advanced analytics
Typically, insurance portals store and collect large amounts of data. Insurers should empower their web portals with in-built analytics features to reap the benefit of all this data.
For example, an insurer can track sales and transaction data and then apply machine learning models to predict demand for specific products or services. Or, an insurer can track usage metrics, such as login rate, session duration and bounce rate, to make the insurance portal more efficient and user-friendly.
Final thoughts
The insurance industry is growing, but this growth has a downside. Each day, service providers enter the insurance market, leading to more intense competition. Adopting digital technology is a natural step for and standing out.
If developed properly, an insurance portal can provide outstanding customer experience, enhance customer retention and streamline business performance. In addition, a robust web portal will guarantee the safety of customer and corporate data.
