Social Mixer 2024 Singapore
marketing interactive Content360 Singapore 2024 Content360 Singapore 2024
#AsiaeCommerceAwards 2021 highlight: AIA’s data-driven platform puts customers at heart of biz

#AsiaeCommerceAwards 2021 highlight: AIA’s data-driven platform puts customers at heart of biz

share on

As a provider of healthcare and life insurance with one of the largest agency forces, AIA realised that they needed to digitally equip its insurance representatives to become agents of positive change in an increasingly online world to ensure that their customers continue to receive the counsel, support, and solutions they need.

To place their customers at the heart of the business, AIA launched the iSMART app, a data-driven platform to help agents provide more tailored financial advice to meet the specific needs of individuals. The app was successful in allowing AIA to understand their customers and personalise each customer experience, resulting in AIA clinching the gold award for Best Use of Personalisation at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Asia eCommerce Awards 2021. 

Challenge

According to a repot by EY in 2020, only an estimated 20% of Singapore’s financial services industry have fully incorporated digitalisation and most businesses were unclear on how to derive value from the wealth of information at their fingertips. As an industry leader with one of the largest agency forces, AIA needed to digitally equip our insurance representatives to become agents of positive change in an increasingly online world, so customers can continue to receive the counsel, support, and solutions they need, tailored to every stage of life.

An analysis of its existing customer base found that 66% were inactive customers. AIA urgently needed to re-engage this user base to help them achieve their protection and financial goals and bridge the six figure Critical Illness (CI) gap that many Singaporeans have. 

Another challenge that AIA faced was the poor reputation of insurance companies. Singaporeans often perceived financial consultants to be solely sales motivated.  In addition, the industry has gotten increasingly competitive with many near-identical products being touted by small and large players alike. Thus, AIA needed to empower its agents to continue putting the evolving needs of its customers first and helping them to seize growth opportunities before competitors close in. 

Solution

Previously, insurance companies placed minimal effort and investment in developing their data infrastructure. This meant that agents were unable to retrieve customer data to identify their needs on-demand. Coupled with inconsistent data and a fragmented digital experience, earlier insurance apps had a disjointed platform that resulted in poor performance. 

AIA wanted to offer agents a a multi-path approach to connect with customers from a single touchpoint. Through the iSMART app, agents can effectively manage their customer base and identify policyholders who need immediate assistance. Every feature has been engineered around the customer, going beyond presenting statistics to tell a holistic story, helping agents provide more tailored financial advice to meet the specific needs of individuals.

Through iSMART, AIA was able to shift from a policy-centric industry mindset to one that puts customers front and centre, enabling its agents to not only close sales but also to match customers and prospects with the right insurance solutions they need to lead healthier, longer, better lives.

iSMART is the first AIA platform to leverage on:

  • React Native and Expo Over-The-Air technology, enabling AIA to release new features to agents via transparent app updates with no downloads required. This also allowed AIA to build and test iterations quickly within 2-week development sprints. 
  • Common API gateway for data consistency, scalable to other platforms such as My AIA SG (a 24/7 secure ‘self-service’ platform) and eBenefits (another ‘self-service digital platform for employee benefits and claims) 
  • Adobe Analytics for tracking digital behaviours, usage patterns, and AIA’s Digital Feedback System to get real-time agent feedback to improve platform experience and drive better business outcomes 
  • Data-driven lead management that enabled agents to take a more targeted and personalised approach to business development, accurately pinpointing prospective customers’ needs to identify relevant solutions.


Execution

Launched in 2020, iSMART is an everyday superapp specifically designed to support AIA Singapore’s largest sales distribution channel – its agency force. Through analyzing user behavior, agents can nurture deeper relationships with customers and integrate cross-functional capabilities into a single, seamless experience. By giving agents access to real-time data at their fingertips, they can proactively identify customer touchpoints and coverage gaps to deliver a more seamless, personalised, and service-oriented experience. 

It does this by: 

  • Utilising data enrichment to present contextual bite-sized information at a glance –personalised product offers, membership (AIA Vitality), and a consolidated overview of customers’ insurance coverage
  • Aggregating a customer’s insurance portfolio by applying AI Machine Learning to develop models, providing deep insights to agents on the ‘Next Best Needs’ of their customers and, leveraging timely and relevant digital promotion codes 
  • Proactive notifications on suggested touchpoints such as upcoming birthdays or policy maturities build relationships through non-sales related interactions 
  • Providing campaign insights about each lead profile; customer segment, claims history, family structure and campaign-specific information

With iSMART, AIA agents could have a more integrated digital experience and this has allowed them to:

1. Build relationships and generate leads 

  • Customer filters to slice customer base by demographics, membership type, product(s) held, last purchase date 
  • Daily updates on details such as upcoming birthdays and policy maturity 
  • Tracking end-to-end sales funnel, from lead nurturing to pre-sales, to conversion 
  • Proactive sales management of existing customers and prospects by giving agents a visualised activity tracker of in-app interactions 
  • Customer’s normative view of needs to spur financial review 

2. Elevate professionalism as a trusted advisor 

  • A centralised resource hub of curated content to help agents easily connect with customers via social media platforms
  • Business dashboards enable agents to stay on top of their business performance, prompting them with training or coaching interventions

3. Enhance customer service 

  • Allowing agents to service customers seamlessly and collaboratively, resulting in a smoother end user experience 
  • Integration with the AIA NOW self-fulfilment sales platform enables a cohesive and seamless advisor and customer experience, augmenting the sales capabilities of AIA’s distribution force
  • Integration with AIA’s suite of customer servicing platforms MAIA Chatbot, POS EZ, Claims EZ and Pay EZ to enable servicing anytime, anywhere

Results

The iSMART app was a hit among AIA’s financial advisors. They were able to easily retrieve information and data from the app immediately. The resource hub was also cited as one of their favourite features as they could obtain materials online and share with their customers with minimal hassle. iSMART also allowed advisors to have a holistic and comprehensive view of the ongoing campaigns and promotions. This allowed them to provide updated and insightful advice to their clients –– enabling Healthier, Longer, Better Lives to all AIA customers.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

share on

Follow us on our Telegram channel for the latest updates in the marketing and advertising scene.
Follow

Free newsletter

Get the daily lowdown on Asia's top marketing stories.

We break down the big and messy topics of the day so you're updated on the most important developments in Asia's marketing development – for free.

subscribe now open in new window