A self-service portal is an intuitive, easy-to-use platform that is designed to help customers proceed purchase stage without any external assistance. In other words, this unified platform offers 24/7 online support to solve queries within a few clicks. Self-service portal benefits insurers to provide a designated knowledge base to the users that helps them find solutions effectively without human intervention. According to a Gartner Study, 52% B2B sector emphasized customer self-service portals as a beneficial platform that gives users the authority to take care of themselves and speed up the sales team process.
B2B self-service portal can help insurers provide customers get onboard and access one-to-many customer support services like training curatorial, downloaded resources, file support issues, online discussion forums, and FAQs. However, this does not mean that B2B self-service portal benefits can completely replace the traditional sales or marketing channels that involve the presence of a sales representative. Therefore, this rather augments the existing sales team and improves business performance to deliver a cohesive customer experience.
A Harvard Business Review survey suggests that 81% of customers choose self-service portal as a “one-stop solution” to resolve common issues quickly and seamlessly which improves customer experience.
B2B customer portals empower users by giving them easy access to a knowledge base and resources through which they can efficiently manage minor or common problems on their own.
Here is the list of common B2B self-services that caters to:
Innovative B2B self-service portal benefits are all on the rage nowadays, the primary reason being customers require such solutions. According to Forrester – Insurers observed that 70% of B2B buyers find purchasing insurance-related products from a website more convenient rather than reaching out to a sales representative for the same service. As a result, companies opting for such self-service options earn 30% more on average which creates a win-win situation for both parties.
Furthermore, let us look at a few key benefits of the self-service portal that will majorly contribute to enhancing B2B customer experience and business efficiency.
Insurance leading companies are encompassing the entirety by putting customer centricity at the heart while building a well-designed B2B customer portal. Insurers investing in B2B customer support with a comprehensive self-service portal can significantly increase satisfaction rate, enhance the personalized experience and robust access to information leading to reduced churn rate and advancing sales growth.
For Instance, In Salesforce when a customer encounters a problem regarding insurance products or services, their initial thought is to opt for effective and seamless digital solutions that include a self-service portal rather than reaching out to an agent or support representative. Additionally, a self-service portal can benefit insurers and customers to solve common issues via FAQs, learning material, and service requests, and promote collaborative spaces like community forums to provide useful feedback.
Here are seven key self-service portal benefits that will help deliver a positive B2B customer experience:
B2B self-service portal benefits to provide a faster and more scalable purchase experience that engages policyholders with personalized offers and discounts for selective insurance products at right time. For instance, Microsoft’s global customer service report estimated over 50% of customers decides to purchase a product and leave midway due to a lack of personalized offers or services.
Did you know? 8 out of 10 customers prefer buying insurance products or services from organizations that cater to online self-service support portals.
Thus, customers can connect the self-service portal with a customized knowledge base that helps gain insights into product usage. In addition, most B2B purchase decisions can be accustomed to a comprehensive self-service portal that will boost customer loyalty, and sales to deliver an improved customer experience.
Offering global support to the customers is the main USP that will keep users engaged and deliver a holistic customer experience. Similarly, this is not only restricted to meeting customer satisfaction, but it also helps sales team efficiency. B2B self-service portal benefits customers with 24/7 access to relevant product information from easy-to-use search functionality and efficiently reduces administrative strain using internal procedures.
A study from Gartner research concludes that 70% reduction in the call, chat, email inquiries or any complaint escalation after implementing an intuitive self-service portal.
Insurers provide a customer self-service portal for users to offer a quicker and more convenient digital-first experience. Therefore, B2B customers choose not to be dependent on an agent’s availability rather they prefer to take the accountability to engage with self-help option while providing round-the-clock exceptional services and get satisfied with instant answers
Self-service portal benefits customers with a sense of control over the insurance-related products they have purchased or are yet to purchase. The self-help option is a component of a wider customer service strategy that enables smooth cross-channel interaction. However, there are a few sections of customers who prefer speaking to a sales representative. But most insurers and customers use the self-help portal as it reduces wait time and delivers an overall customer service experience.
According to Zendesk, 90% of customers expect organizations to have an online self-help option that reduces turnaround time and provides a personalized experience.
Therefore, the B2B self-service portal offers insurance providers with right resources that can be easily accessible to customers in need. Self-help option integrated with core systems customers can easily access all the internal business applications to resolve simple or complex problems seamlessly.
B2B customers prefer to have a seamless, fast yet hassle-free experience while solving service issues without any human intervention. Empowering B2B self-service portal benefits insurers with easy access to an unlimited knowledge base where they can add up-to-date product information and customers can gain access to acquire such information to their advantage. Thus, this increases brand transparency and reduces churn rate keeping customers happy and satisfied.
For Instance, Amazon’s B2B e-commerce evolution report showed that 62% of B2B insurers consider the digital customer portal as a top priority as it provides a positive customer experience
Enhancing customer journey across all touchpoints leads to an increase in engagement and a higher customer retention rate. Therefore, great self-service starts with a powerful search support portal that is easy to navigate and well-equipped to escalate customers satisfaction by using in-built features like automated notifications on existing renewals, new product offers and personalize the service solution as per customer requirements keeping them engaged
The benefits of a self-service portal allow insurers to personalize the customer experience by addressing customer profiles and keeping a record of their service history. Adopting a cognitive search engine powered by AI and machine learning (ML) solutions, insurers can effectively display relevant topics, blogs, learning manuals and FAQs that will help customers locate solutions and offer personalized support for inquiries.
However, managing support inquiries with a touch of personalization becomes very difficult for agents or sales representatives to handle. Therefore, B2B customer portals add a heavy dose of personalization and crafts tailor-made purchase decisions that result in increased B2B revenue and meet cohesive customer experience at all stages of the buyer journey.
Do you like saving money? Well, who doesn’t? The customer self-service portal is an easy-to-use and comprehensive platform that benefits agents and sales reps to save support costs big time by providing a detailed FAQ section and raising support tickets when required. Implementing a peer-to-peer support community self-help strategy harness the power of crowd-based support that efficiently leads decrease in support tickets and increases customer experience. This means the sales team will spend less time resolving common issues by providing features like customer feedback to track future improvement, allowing quick query status checks, and offering a unified agent portal.
For Instance, the McKinsey customer service report states customer portal is a service platform where all product catalogues and promotional content are stored and communicated with robust automation. In this way, companies don’t need to bear the costs of printing and mailing catalogues manually to clients. Thus, resulting in reduced manpower and addressing dwindling support tickets.
One of the most effective ways to make a self-service portal become a valuable resource is by identifying key reasons why customers are reaching out to the support team. – Is it due to customers facing password-related issues? Or customers call the support team to find out about any product-related information. Thus, to make relevant information available at their fingertips – FAQs which are typically seen as the first line of defense will be a well-suited feature in the customer self-service portal that strengthens brand reputation and create positive customer engagement.
As per a salesforce survey, 49% of millennials check a company’s FAQ first when they have any query that shows a clear preference for finding a solution independently.
FAQs make insurers and customers feel more at ease with their dynamic features. This helps generate quick policy transparency, a seamless claim process, reduced sales turnaround time and response to service issues. Therefore, using a robust automated tool without needing to raise tickets or contact sales, representatives
B2B customers sometimes have specific demands and require attention to detail which is not easy to impress. It takes all the effort and planning to provide an exceptional digital self-service experience.
Therefore, here are a few points that will majorly help insurers efficiently optimize self-service portals to drive potential customer service.
Leverage the benefit of a self-service portal that provided customers access to a centralized information base regarding products, services, and other insurance-related services within a few clicks. This knowledge forum includes extensive product catalogues with specifications, blogs, and ultimate guides to product usage. Hence, in-built features like an FAQ section, and feedback forums will help insurers understand customer needs and look for ways for better implementation.
Complete dependency can ruin the B2B customer experience. Efficient use of a self-service portal can provide different aspects such as product personalization, sales history, and modifying orders and payments without having to consult the support team. Therefore, a competent customer portal is designed to offer a reasonable level of administrative functionality.
In the B2B sector, the sales team often require in-depth insights regarding various pain points faced by the customers and such analytics can help make further improvements and create a seamless digital experience. For Instance, insurers can forecast various service issues which customers commonly come across and enable a potential solution by augmenting the knowledge base to gain abundant information, check SL status and solve troubleshooting requests within a few clicks.
A self-service portal is a competent system that ensures users perform mundane tasks without requiring the assistance of a customer support representative. With an omnichannel approach coming into the picture, it becomes difficult to manage, scale and unify various support channels. The ideal solution to fill this gap is to integrate the benefits of the self-service method into the omnichannel strategy.
A Zendesk survey found that 74% of customers prefer using company’s website instead of social media, email, or live chat support channels. Opting B2B self-service portal to modify channel distribution by enabling omnichannel advertisement capabilities. Furthermore, insurers can promote and drive products and services to policyholders via powerful search functionalities, social media ads etc.
Stay on top of the game by implementing B2B self-service portal:
Self-service portal benefits insurers with effective solutions for common service issues. With the help of customer portals and cognitive search engines, insurers can deliver and implement personalized experiences while taking the burden off the support team.
Explore more to learn how insurance companies can make the best use of how self-service portal will enhance potential customer experience in the future. The key USP of this unified portal is to provide a centralized hub for all knowledge bases that consist of a FAQs section on the self-service home page, articles, training manuals, videos, and other relevant information.
Are you wondering to futureproof your self-service portal to improve the B2B customer experience? Then consult our expert team who drives high-value insurance sales and customer support.
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