Love them or hate them, there’s no doubt that supermarkets are very good at what they do. One of the reasons for that is they employ sophisticated methods of tailoring their service to each individual. Think about the way a loyalty card works. You use the card whenever you go shopping. Data is then generated that links your purchases to your identity. This allows the supermarkets to create special programs for you – special offers on your favorite items and suggestions (at a discount) on similar products you might want to try.

That might seem a little intrusive but it’s not really. The supermarkets don’t study each person’s data in depth – they use computer analysis to provide each client with individual offers, etc. that’s a great way to gain our loyalty. It’s also a nice way for us to save a little money when we’re shopping on products that are actually relevant to us. A vegetarian is unlikely to dance round the living room in excitement if they receive a “50% of all steaks” coupon are they?

Insurers vs. Supermarkets

Supermarkets invest heavily in technology to assist them in winning your business. They want the latest and best tools for the job. There are similar tools for insurance companies available too – a good example would SchemeServe Insurance Software. Yet many insurance brokers and insurers are still running complex, legacy systems to handle your data rather than transitioning to unified, simple systems that offer you a better deal.

The benefits of these tools for insurance companies are simple:

• Lower premiums. Nobody wants to pay more for their insurance than they have to. Yet, you’re footing the bill for complex admin and maintenance of these legacy systems. That bill comes in the form of a higher premium. If you’re not sure about how to handle legacy system maintenance, you can always seek the advice of specialists who can assist you in your quest for modernisation. (For more info, check https://www.absolute-performance.com/services/ibm-legacy-support/).
• Lack of custom offerings. Wouldn’t it be nice if your insurer could analyze your insurance needs as a whole package? Then they could offer you (in the same way supermarkets do) discounts and custom policies that provide the value you need. This is a simple process if your insurer holds your data on a single up-to-date software system but it’s nearly impossible if your data is across multiple systems. Don’t you think you deserve better value for you money as well as lower premiums?
• Efficient service. Time on hold while someone scrambles around to get your data is time wasted. None of us has time to burn nowadays. With the demands of work as well as family and social lives it’s important that we get great, efficient service when we deal with our suppliers. If you go to a supermarket they can call up your data in a second from your loyalty card and help with whatever you need. Surely an insurance company should be able to the same
• Always up to date. Insurance is a complex field and offerings and terms and conditions change regularly. Without a single system to keep you notified, it’s possible you might not find out about these changes until too late or worse you might find out about them again and again for each policy you hold. You pay for the postage as part of your premiums too wouldn’t one letter be better than 5?

It might seem a bit strange to wonder what kind of software your insurer is using but it is directly relevant to your wallet and to the service you receive. If supermarkets can do it, so can your insurer.