How can Insurers Improve their NPS?

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) has long been a global benchmark for customer feedback. It lets us know how happy customers are with our businesses through a scoring system that simply reflects how likely they are to recommend the company to others. This can then be used to compare business across multiple sectors. Ignoring the passives or mid-range numbers, NPS is calculated as a percentage of Promoter scores minus the percentage of Detractor scores, giving a rating between -100 and +100.

In a recent survey M&S Food scored 31 and Apple computers 28, whilst easyjet and Royal Bank of Scotland are languishing at minus 16 and at minus 20 respectively. Auger currently enjoy an NPS of 78 against an average for the insurance industry as a whole standing at 51. The insurance sector has experienced a 9.9 point overall drop in NPS over the last 12 months, suggesting it is becoming harder for insurance organisations to earn customer endorsement. Customers are now expecting more because of what is offered in other sectors including innovative IT and first-class delivery and logistics. Some challenges are easier to resolve than others. Indeed, nine per cent of insurance customers had a problem in 2017, up from eight per cent in January 2016, and it is no surprise that poor communication and delays are high on the list of root causes.

It is important to get the basics right: answering the phone in five seconds, correct resourcing to avoid delay, claiming ownership to encourage the right outcome first time. However, there is no doubt that big ticket items such as legacy IT systems are still holding the industry back when Big Data is becoming ever more important. In our recent survey of 2,000 consumers across the UK, one central theme shone through – even when using online chat.

Across all ages and all demographics, insurance customers want a personal touch even using technology. When we design bespoke software and apps, we put ourselves in the place of the customer. What would we want as a customer, how will it improve the experience? Whatever it takes – we must get the basics right first time. In insurance, like any industry you have to strive to set the pace, with increasing use of technology to improve service. But, you must also differentiate your business, retaining the personal touch at all times. With rising demands from consumers who want self-service online as well as reassuring customer service support, what was good a while ago is not good enough now. As a customer measurement of how we’re doing, the NPS score doesn’t lie so use it and be judged. Chris Cowen, Client Relationship Manager, Auger