3Vs - Video, Vernacular and Voice are going to be key drivers of customer experience: Kayzad Hiramanek, Bajaj Allianz Life

While the customer has always been important for companies, the COVID-19 pandemic redefined the meaning of customer experience on various levels. There were certain measures that were introduced to ensure business continuity, which the customer now cannot do without. Kayzad Hiramanek, chief- operations and customer experience, Bajaj Allianz Life recently spoke to Dataquest about the importance of customer experience in the insurance sector, and the long term impacts of the pandemic on the industry.

DQ: The pandemic has been tough for all companies across verticals. What were some of the common challenges you faced when it comes to customers due to the pandemic?

Kayzad Hiramanek: In the pandemic, maintaining a seamless communication with customers and other stakeholders was the need of the hour. Our priority was to enable them to stay connected with us and ensure there is no inconvenience caused to them.

Keeping this in mind, we strengthened our existing digital assets and established new digital touchpoints that helped our customers to stay connected with the organisation in a seamless manner. We encouraged our customers to adopt these digital services, and established seamless modes of virtual communication, for assisting them in their policy related requirements. These tech-led strategies have enabled us to stay committed to our customers’ life goals in a safe and smart manner.

To summarize, maintaining constant communication with stakeholders through their preferred channel was the approach used to help customers during the pandemic. 

DQ: What are some of the pandemic induced changes that customers can now not do without?

Kayzad Hiramanek: One of the major positive influences of the pandemic was that customers as well as companies adopted the digital way of life. Of course, we strengthened our digital architecture and tech backbone to enhance customer experience and offer all our stakeholders a secure and seamless experience when they engaged with us. It’s encouraging for us to see this digital habit strengthen across customer segments and that we have been able to be a part of this journey. It’s unlikely that this behaviour will change anytime soon.

The convenience offered by these digital services have led to tremendous growth in their adoption rates. Digital will continue to be the preferred mode of communication by customers, and the bouquet of such services is only going to expand in the future.

DQ: What are some of the trends that will drive customer experience post-pandemic?

Kayzad Hiramanek: While post-pandemic is a time we haven’t experienced or are unsure when it will be, I think some key trends that will remain with us for a long time are:

1. Digital-first customer / stakeholder (in our case partners, distributors, agents etc.)
2. Investment towards both front-end and back-end technology – from UI/UX to back-end analysis will play a crucial role in customers’ decision making process
3. Video, Vernacular & Voice will be key drivers for enhanced customer experience
4. Customisation is the need of the hour – whether it is the product or the time when a customer wants to reach a brand, everything will have to respond to the evolving customers’ needs
5. Ensuring customers feel safe and secure while engaging with the company’s digital assets – considering we are in the financial services space this cannot be emphasised enough

• Similarly - the response time. Irrespective of the business one is in, the customer wants the same experience on your digital platform that they have had on a food delivery platform or an e-commerce one

DQ: How are new age technologies impacting the business of customer experience?

Kayzad Hiramanek: The 3Vs – Video, Vernacular & Voice are going to be the key drivers of customer experience. In addition, customers are preferring content to be shared in their local languages to ensure that they are able to make the right choices.

New-age technologies like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, NLP (natural language processing) are playing an important role in helping companies connect with customers meaningfully through various innovative application of 3Vs - individually or via hybrid formats.

Advancements in these technologies will further help improve the back-end efficiency, thereby improving front-end customer experience as well. The need for continuous innovation will continue to drive organizations to invest in both front and back-end technology.

DQ: Kindly highlight some initiatives taken up at Bajaj Allianz Life to deliver superior customer experience?

Kayzad Hiramanek: As an organization that continues to adopt to the rapidly evolving business environment and customer needs, we take the effort to introduce a myriad of digital-led technologies that will deliver superior customer experience.

During the pandemic, we launched a first-of-its-kind co-browsing service in the industry – Smart Assist to ensure that customers receive the same service experience even while maintaining the social distancing norms.  We also introduced a comprehensive set of policy servicing options on WhatsApp for customer ease.

With a view to make customers’ experiences hassle free, we also introduced new initiatives such as video-based services for submitting Certificate of Existence (COE) or Life Certificate by senior citizens and tele and video medical examination reports for simplifying the buying process for customers. These interventions have enabled us to stay committed to our customers’ to help them achieve their life goals.

DQ: Any final comments that you would like to add?

Kayzad Hiramanek: The end goal for any service provider is to improve and optimize the quality and value of products and services, their availability, and the overall customer experience. The first step towards this goal is to understand how today’s consumers think and behave in the new normal and then innovate with what they want. Companies must offer quicker and more scalable online solutions that will transform customer experience at every stage of their journey.

While addressing consumer needs is a major focus area for us, we also work closely with our partners, agents and employees to help them adapt and adopt to the changing environment and latest technologies. We are actively listening to all our stakeholders and will continue to introduce necessary interventions as and when required.