Across all industries, and particularly within the health insurance market, Chat is becoming an important and necessary component in the portfolio of customer service tools. Chat solutions are enabling health plans to:
- Reduce and deflect more costly phone calls and email communication
- Increase online customer self-service
- Improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty
- Decrease operating costs and call abandonment
- Strengthen competitive advantage.
The Case for Chat: Instant Customer Gratification
The “why” of Chat as an online customer service tool is readily apparent: It enables two people to communicate one-on-one using real-time texting at the point of need. In other words, a consumer asks for, and receives, instant gratification by clicking a button to engage a online “conversation” similar to instant messaging, or IM.Driven by the rapid growth of consumer-driven health coverage, insurance plans in particular are turning to the same Chat technologies that retail businesses – ranging from consumer products to financial services – have employed successfully for years. In the commercial world, one in five contact centers offers Chat-based support, according to a survey by the Purdue University Center for Customer-Driven Quality. One person in four is considering implementing the technology in the next 12 months1.
