Measuring and valuing customer relationships

The general insurance sector in the UK should take note that the link between personalised communication and satisfied customers is critically important. Customers will always switch suppliers for a better price offer, but it is also clear that poor service and customer communications trigger an active desire to move. Andy Wood , managing director of marketing communication consultancy GI Insight, argues that if insurers increase the relevancy of their customer communications, the result will be improved retention and a much more responsive community for carefully targeted additional offers

General insurance lines in the UK, especially those directed at consumers, are now one of the hotly contested competitive markets in the UK. Yet because of its historical nature, the industry tends to focus on streamlining process to improve earnings, rather than market creatively. In the past, crude efforts to price for market led to disastrous consequences, and have rather put writers off creative marketing initiatives, especially in new customer recruitment efforts.