{"id":1174,"date":"2016-09-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motionpoint.com\/?post_type=blog&p=1174"},"modified":"2016-09-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T00:00:00","slug":"insurers-cut-costs-with-multi-language-online-service-support","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.motionpoint.com\/blog\/insurers-cut-costs-with-multi-language-online-service-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Insurers Cut Costs with Multi-Language Online Service & Support"},"template":"","blog_categories":[107,15],"resource_categories":[],"targeted_localized_audience":[],"document_categories":[],"class_list":["post-1174","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry","blog_categories-translation-technology","blog_categories-website-translation"],"acf":{"blog_short_description":"Insurance companies can save money\u2014and supercharge customer satisfaction among Hispanics\u2014with Spanish online customer support.\n","news_inline_styles":"","blog_video_id":"","article_body":"

Insurance companies greatly benefit from translating their customer support websites to serve a diverse customer base.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Spanish-speaking population is a great example: Currently, more than 41 million<\/a> native Spanish-speakers live in the U.S., representing about 13% of the population. If you work within an insurance company, this percentage of consumers is probably even higher in your call center, if you\u2019re not offering them the ability to serve themselves online.<\/p>\n

Industry veterans know self-service solutions such as FAQs, knowledge bases, how-to articles and troubleshooting guides are especially effective customer-service tools. And they\u2019re especially critical for brand-new customers.<\/b><\/p>\n

For companies serving Spanish-speaking consumers, migrating customer service to the web dramatically lowers costs. Research shows it also improves customer and employee satisfaction.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Hispanic Opportunity<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Before we explore how in-language online self-service generates significant savings, let\u2019s examine the Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanic market.<\/p>\n

These consumers have been growing in influence and affluence for decades. Just between 2014 and 2015, 1.2 million Hispanics<\/a> joined the U.S. population, representing nearly half of the total population added during that time frame. About 75% of Hispanics speak Spanish at home. Native Spanish speakers and bilingual Hispanics currently account for nearly 20% of U.S. consumer spending\u2014over $1.5 trillion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Despite this, U.S. Hispanics have historically been underserved by the insurance industry. Currently, about one in four eligible Hispanics is uninsured. According to Common Census, nearly 50% feel uninformed about the industry or products. Nearly 30% haven\u2019t purchased life insurance because \u201cno one has asked them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s a mistake. As seven of the Top 10 health insurers<\/a> know, these customers are worth courting\u2014and they know how to do it. U.S. Hispanics are early adopters of new devices, are Internet savvy, and are widely considered \u201cmobile-dominant\u201d consumers. (This means they often prefer using smartphones to access the web over their desktop computers.) They\u2019re 1.5 times more likely to buy digital media than non-Hispanics, and access mobile banking and coupon services more often, too.<\/p>\n

And like English-speaking consumers, they go online to find answers to their customer-service questions.<\/b> If they visit their provider\u2019s website and can\u2019t serve themselves, they\u2019ll call their provider\u2019s customer service center to engage a Spanish-speaking support agent. Or worse, they\u2019ll feel unsupported and alienated.<\/p>\n

Insurers that don\u2019t offer multilingual online self-service experience much higher non-English call volumes, higher costs, lower customer satisfaction and agent burnout.<\/p>\n

Online Self-Service Decreases Costs<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Within the past decade, digital channels have become the<\/i> preferred method for customers to seek product information, and support. According to one industry survey<\/a>, nearly 50% of consumers search online first for customer service questions; another nearly 25% \u201cusually\u201d search online first. The math is simple: well over 70% of customers are hitting the web for answers long before they call a customer support line. The demand is undeniable. And so are the cost savings. For years, we\u2019ve known that online self-service content reduces call center and other customer service costs. One McKinsey report<\/a> suggests the practice doesn\u2019t just \u201crepresent a paradigm shift in customer satisfaction\u201d by reducing call volume by up to 20%, but also delivers incredible savings when compared to operating a call center. <\/p>\n

As Consumer Reports<\/i> reported<\/a> in 2014, a customer-service transaction handled by a human often costs businesses between $2 and $10. In contrast, online self-service solutions cost \u201cjust pennies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizations that invest in web self-service content can generate a virtuous cause-and-effect cycle that results in \u201can average $22 million saved<\/b> on unnecessary channel escalations,\u201d one analyst<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Most insurers have already done the hard (and expensive) part\u2014they\u2019ve created robust online self-service capabilities in English. Many of the leading insurers have figured out that MotionPoint makes it quick, easy, and inexpensive to extend this experience to non-English speakers, too.<\/p>\n

Spanish Self-Service Increases Customer Satisfaction<\/h2>\n

Allowing Spanish-speakers to serve themselves online makes sense because they\u2014and English-speaking consumers\u2014have already embraced online customer-service options. According to one Forrester report (which goes way back to 2010), over 70% of customers prefer this content to phone or e-mail support. A more recent study indicates over 90% of customers would happily use an online self-service knowledge base if it catered to their needs.<\/p>\n

In fact, companies that don\u2019t provide intuitive solutions to Spanish speakers\u2019 online customer-service requests stand to lose customers.<\/p>\n

2015 Forrester data<\/a> reveals that nearly 80% of U.S. online adults believe that saving customers\u2019 time is the most important thing a business can do to provide great customer service. <\/p>\n

Another way FAQs, knowledge bases and other self-service content woos customers is by improving \u201cfirst call resolution,\u201d or FCR, rates. (This is the percentage of issues that can be resolved in a customer\u2019s first customer-service call.) Research indicates<\/a> that for every 1% improvement in FCR, call centers see a 1% in customer satisfaction rates. <\/p>\n

According to a Capgemini and Efma World Insurance Report,<\/i> insurance companies should consider this content as \u201cmust haves\u201d in their self-service support sections\u2026<\/p>\n