A large number of insurers have now opened-up some form of direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel, but many still face challenges and aren’t realizing the full potential of their investment. Others are increasing their investment in the direct online sales channel already part of their business. Often, these efforts complement recent investments in remote claims handling and greater underwriting automation.
When going direct-to-consumer, the biggest question insurers must ask themselves is this: Can (and should) we ‘go it alone’ on our journey? Or would we be better off partnering with others?
At Sutherland, we believe the answer is simple. There are clear, overwhelming benefits to journeying with the right partner—especially when that partner has a track record of delivering the people, processes, and technologies insurers need to reach D2C success.
Here, in short, are some of those benefits:
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Speed to market.
Partnering with an experienced third-party will get you direct to your consumers faster. This is especially true if you’re an insurer new to the D2C digital journey. Taking on the full complexity of building out an omnichannel customer engagement model—across all the channels your customers want—is no small feat.
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Lower costs.
Many of the capabilities to deliver D2C value, such as customer facing cognitive assistants, in-app messaging, automation, etc., are available “ready-made”. They already exist in a form that can be adapted to specification rather than built from scratch. Delivering value digitally in keeping with brand standards and customer expectations is expensive. Why take on the full cost of scaling up customer engagement operations when you don’t have to?
![Why Make the Journey to D2C Alone When You Don’t Have To]()
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Better experience, faster.
Better customer experience comes by way of being able to interact with an insurer from home—or from anywhere, for that matter. Many customers & prospects who receive personalized solutions digitally will consider that a better experience. And that experience is generally available faster when it is delivered by people, process and technology already proven to deliver results.
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Resourcing the right talent.
Standing up a fully integrated, omnichannel customer engagement—and the data & systems to support it—requires insurers to nurture an entirely new set of skills & capabilities. An experienced customer engagement partner is better equipped to source that talent, and resource it cost-effectively to meet the challenges of D2C.
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Outcome accountability.
Innovative customer engagement partners come to the work with an outcome-based commercial model—one that’s targeted to business outcomes such as customer growth, written premium, or profitability. Such partners are laser-focused on helping a carrier expand the D2C model in the most effective way and the shortest term possible.
When it comes to going direct to your customer, you don’t have to provide all the resources and do the work yourself. Instead, you can take advantage of what already exists—and reap the benefit of what others before you have learned.
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