Implementing a virtual agent powered by conversational AI has given Storebrand a significant return on investment. In just four months, they experienced a 162% increase in customers interacting with their virtual insurance agent.
Artificial intelligence has become a key factor in the digitization of today’s leading customer-facing industries. While banking and telecom are among the most visible sectors currently implementing conversational AI to improve their customer interactions, it is actually the insurance industry that is reportedly outspending both (and many others) when it comes to AI.
In a report published by the Global Trends Study 2017, it was revealed that the insurance sector invests, on average, $124 million per company in artificial intelligence, compared to a cross-industry average of $70 million.
So, what exactly is driving a traditionally conservative industry to adopt the latest advances in conversational AI? For an answer we need look no further than one of Scandinavia’s largest insurance companies, Storebrand. Since implementing a virtual insurance agent powered by conversational AI, it has seen a significant return on investment, including benefits such as:
- 162% increase in customer interactions through chat
- 2 111 conversations handled each week
- 70% of conversations successfully handled without the need of any human support
Challenge: increased capacity and automated customer interaction
Insurance is often thought of by consumers as an important but decidedly unexciting industry. It’s common to hear customers complaining of having to wade through mountains of complex jargon and legalese in order to file claims or simply find answers to their questions. And who can blame them? The last thing anyone wants to do in a time of crisis is search helplessly through a website or sit on hold over the phone for several minutes - or even hours - on end.
In implementing a virtual insurance agent, Storebrand was not only looking to shed their industry’s stiff, conservative image, but also to increase its capacity and automate responding to an ever-growing number of customer queries without the need to ramp up any additional support staff.
Solution: market-leading conversational AI
Conversational AI presented a unique solution for Storebrand. Thanks to boost.ai’s market-leading software, the company was able to develop a virtual insurance agent to complement their existing customer service channels, one that goes far beyond the capabilities of an ordinary chatbot. Still in its early stages, the virtual insurance agent is doing the equivalent work of eight full-time human employees and is able to respond to questions on over 1 900 topics. This translates to an impressive 2 111 calls per week, leading to the insurance company seeing a 162-per cent increase in customers interacting with their conversational AI as of October 2018.
Another important facet to the success of Storebrand’s implementation of conversational AI is the personality injected into the service it provides by its human AI Trainers. Made up of experienced customer service staff, these upskilled employees are in charge of establishing the brand’s unique tone of voice through the machine. They help customers feel comfortable chatting about insurance, while still ensuring that conversations remain meaningful, helpful and consistent.
Results: deflecting queries and transforming relationships
The response from customers towards Storebrand’s virtual insurance agent has been overwhelmingly positive. Since its launch in May 2017, it is now successfully answering and deflecting 70-per cent of all incoming customer interactions from human operators. The sheer numbers of interactions are also impressive; there have been over 100 000 to date.
By combining Storebrand’s own expertise in customer service with advanced conversational AI, the insurer has managed to not only strengthen brand loyalty amongst its customers but also provide instant 24/7 support without putting undue strain on its customer center - and all within a short space of time.
Storebrand’s resounding success is a concrete example of how a future-looking insurance organization can capitalize on the benefits of conversational AI to drive business and improve customer relationships.