Looking for insurance advice? The Siri of insurance may offer you one. The insurance industry is launching chatbots to increase insurance penetration.
Taking over the traditional customer service functions, chatbots essentially answer queries on insurance related policies and educate customers on various insurance plans.
HDFC Life was the first insurer to launch the chatbot service for its customers. The bot, comprising a host of features helps customers resolve queries in minimum time. Also, it gives insurance advice on health to tax planning and retirement on the basis of a 60 seconds quiz.
Customers of Birla Sun Life also will have access to its comprehensive chatbot service that will be available on its website and facebook. In a press release, Pankaj Razdan, MD & CEO, Birla Sun Life Insurance said, “We have launched the chatbot to help our customers get any information related to their policies on the go, obtain quotes and enable quick and personalized experience to their life insurance related queries. We understand that today’s customer is looking for instant solutions and our chatbot is right there to assist them instantly.”
Likewise, PNB MetLife too, recently launched an interactive chatbot, Dr. Jeevan on facebook messenger platform for engaging with customers. Abhishek Rathi, Head-Marketing, Digital, eCommerce & Analytics, PNB MetLife said, “This chatbot solution is in line with our customer centricity philosophy of providing simplified and interactive information to our customers and prospects. Dr. Jeevan will converse with users to simplify information on Heart and Cancer, which constitute approximately 70% of total critical illnesses in India.”
Chatbots are not only preferred by millennials but also by the Gen ‘X’, owing to the simple platform to access insurance information.
Speaking about the upside of chatbots, Gurpal Dhingra, Director, Prudent Insurance said, “The biggest impact of chatbots would be on customer service. It will reduce the cost of service making insurance cheaper and efficient to the end consumer.”
Commenting on the future of bots he said, “Chatbots are a paradigm shift in customer service technology. However, I do not see them selling policies in the near future. Sales will always have human intervention as it involves getting a sense of the person’s intuition and the intellectual level of chatbots is yet unknown.”
Call centres, websites and mobile apps are now passé and no longer the only means of interaction with customers. A more personal interface, the chatbot is much faster than any other traditional customer touch-point and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week making mundane tasks interesting.
