Most insurance customers are comfortable dealing with chatbots for low-complexity questions, and carriers from stalwart Progressive to insurtech Lemonade are increasing the role of their
Progressive has grown its chatbot from a Facebook Messenger-exclusive text interaction to a voice-activated conversational experience on Google Assistant, powered by Microsoft Azure. According to Matt White, technology and innovation manager in Progressive’s acquisition experience group, the deployment of the Flo voice-enabled chatbot is a natural next step from the company’s initial launch of the text-only Flo chatbot in 2017, available on
“We’ve recently learned more of what it takes to build the conversational experience and the nuances behind interacting with customers through voice-enabled endpoints. Every time we launch, we learn a lot in the opening days,” White says, particularly around the discoverability of the latest bot and how easy is it for people to find it. “Our first challenge is to be there [for the customer].”
Progressive has used a variety of AI and machine learning to drive its customer digital experiences for some time, and especially in trying to proactively predict what a customer needs before they even ask, according to White.
“Innovation is at our core at Progressive, and we’re willing to take reasonable risks to grow,” White says of the expansion to a voice bot. Progressive’s strategy is to try to stay ahead of what customers expect and not wait until something becomes the norm before adopting it. Nothing will really stop the company from trying new things to better serve its customers, he says.
A survey of more than 2,500 U.S., U.K., and Australian respondents reveals that the vast majority of consumers trust messaging experiences and chatbots to help them with insurance questions. The December release of the “2020 Survey of Consumer Preferences Around Insurance,” issued by LivePerson, a vendor in the space, says 71 percent of customers say they would also trust an insurance company more if it provided personalized service, which conversational AI can help insurers deliver at scale, LivePerson says.
Respondents of the survey said they trust chatbots to help them:
- Provide a quote (76%)
- Change address (75%)
- Make a claim (71%)
- Add a member to coverage (74%)
- Calculate a rate (78%)
- Provide a renewal quote (77%)
- Tell them about waiting periods (82%)
- Update billing information (76%)
"The relationship between consumers and their insurers is built on trust, and the vast majority of consumers now clearly report that they trust insurance companies more if they provide the option to message to get advice, ask questions, and even make purchases," says Robert LoCascio, founder and CEO of LivePerson. "This is a win-win for policyholders and insurance companies.”
Marty Ellingsworth, senior analyst for Celent, a research and advisory firm focused on technology for financial institutions, says the number one reason why companies – not just insurers—are using chatbots is to provide 24/7 customer service. It allows customers the ability to get answers at their own convenience.
“People have a habit of not wanting to wait—or of procrastinating,” Ellingsworth says. “When they finally get around to asking a question, they usually have multiple questions. Frequently with an insurance company, they call about a claim, but then they have another question that requires them to be transferred to another department.” Chatbots often allow multiple questions to be answered without putting the customer through the tedious hassle of being transferred.
According to Ellingsworth, some of the appeal of chatbots are that they are “efficient, effective and available,” in addition to being able to provide empathy (especially the voice chatbots). The chatbot experience “has a bit of empathy in it. It considers that your time is important too.”
Yet the most significant of benefits provided by chatbots is the collection of data. And ultimately, the use of the data is the “real secret sauce,” Ellingsworth says. Now and into the future, companies that aren’t increasing value to the customer through AI and the use of this data, “simply won’t be competitive.”
“At the end of the day, it’s about being more available, giving customers the choice of the channel, the effectiveness of the process, the satisfaction of the process—and the repeatability of that,” Ellingsworth says.
Lemonade, an insurtech offering products spanning homeowners, renters, and pet health insurance, sees itself "a tech company doing insurance, and not the other way around,” says Yael Wissner-Levy, VP of Communications at Lemonade.
Wissner-Levy says Lemonade’s AI bots work around the clock to offer convenient, rapid customer service. “AI Jim focuses on handling claims while AI Maya handles all actions required to help our customers in finding the right coverage for them, resolving billing issues and more.”
Both Maya and Jim allow Lemonade to not only answer customer questions, but they’re actually experienced enough to carry out the task, be it cancelling a policy or sending a new one with a new address, in the case of moving. The bots can also review or pay a claim instantly, according to Wissner-Levy, and “this level of automation in customer experience improves every day.”
"Trough machine learning, our customer experience is constantly evolving and improving with each interaction. As we continue to grow rapidly and safely gather more data from users, we continue to perfect our products. This leads to better customer experience, which leads to more growth, making our algorithms smarter and faster ever more," she adds.
Lemonade’s philosophy of putting the customer at the center required fundamentally changing the business model and technology of insurance, Wissner-Levy says. “Lemonade is built 100 percent on a digital substrate, which allows us to offer policies in minutes, pay claims in seconds, and provide customer experience that is delightful. That’s what 21st century insurance should feel like.”
Progressive is pleased that it’s seeing increased use of its text and voice-bots from consumers, because it allows the bots to answer questions 24/7, according to White, who notes that most of Progressive’s consumer activity is online. The beauty of the bots is that they free up more resources to be used for human representatives who can answer the tougher questions, he says.
According to White, the new voice-enabled chatbot is “very important” to the company. “For one thing, it’s live. We are always paying attention to what people are asking us about and using that information to make the bot smarter. One of the things we’ve learned is there’s real gold there. These are actual consumers, so we can mine that gold. We’re keenly focused on improving the overall customer experience.”
