FORECAST 2024: Customer Experience

By: Tammy M. Appel, Contributing Editor, LIMRA and LOMA

January 2024

We asked Forecast survey participants what their company is doing to improve customers’ experiences and/or meet customers where they are or want to be. They say that there are many ways they are working to better engage with customers, including investing in digital tools, working on employee engagement, using generative artificial intelligence (AI), enabling more self-service tools, providing more customer personalization and listening to what customers need.

“We are making numerous investments across the entirety of the value chain,” says Aaron Ball, SVP & Co-Head of the Foundational Business, New York Life, “including investments in financial education and wellness; digital marketing capabilities — both at the corporate and local agent level, including social media; sales experience and sales data analytics; purchase experience, including automated/accelerated underwriting; digitization of service tools and capabilities, including expanding self-service capabilities; and generative AI.”

Chris Blunt, President & Chief Executive Officer, F&G, says F&G is using several strategies to better improve customers’ experience including, “technology, targeted hires at key moments of customer truth, more integrated customer experience and better employee experience and engagement.” Blunt also notes that the company is “seeing strong employee engagement scores and was recently named #1 by J.D. Power for annuity service.”

Understanding the wants and needs of the customer remains key for many companies. “Listening to our customers to understand their unique needs and where they’re at on their journey continues to be the best way we begin to improve their experience,” says Amy Friedrich, President, Benefits and Protection, Principal Financial Group. “We know employers play a critical role in helping their employees access financial security, so we understand the need to make the employers’ engagement easier. We’re continuing to invest in a more seamless benefits experience, from digital onboarding and claims to consolidated billing. With the combination of people and technology, we’re continually improving experiences and increasing the ease of doing business with Principal.”

Adrian Griggs, EVP & Chief Operating Officer, Pacific Life, says Pacific Life has implemented accelerated underwriting and launched several customer and advisor self-service tools, which have improved the overall customer experience. “Much of our investment in experience focuses on streamlining and digitizing experiences for advisors, focusing on new business and policyholder servicing,” he says. “Digital platform enhancements have given customers the ability to see their policy (whether workforce benefits, life or annuity products) to improve the overall digital experience.”

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