Pitney Bowes Business Insight Reveals Less Than Half of Consumers Trust Their Insurance Provider

TROY, N.Y. - Pitney Bowes Business Insight, a global leader in customer data, analytics and communication software and services, announced a study revealing that only 48 percent of consumers in the U.S. and the UK trust their insurance provider. This represents lower levels of trust than are seen in the banking industry (57%). The study also found that a mere 32 percent of respondents thought that their insurance providers were doing a good job implementing policies that favor the customer’s best interest.

The results of the study, commissioned by Pitney Bowes Business Insight and conducted by the ESCP Europe Business School, demonstrate a need for increased customer centric communication across all channels in order to develop higher levels of trust. Key findings include:

• Only 41 percent of respondents trust insurance companies to do what is right.
• 45 percent of customers believe that, if they shared their problems with their insurance provider, they would receive a caring response.
• 47 percent said they trust self-service technologies like e-commerce platforms and online accounts.
• In addition, only 53 percent answered positively about their insurers when asked whether they feel satisfied with the treatment, the relationship and service they receive.

“One of the major struggles for the insurance industry is commoditization and customer churn,” said Bill Sinn, strategic marketing director, Pitney Bowes Business Insight. “The key to addressing these issues is creating a dialogue with customers that is consistent, reliable and creates a relationship that extends beyond the policy renewal date.”

The report found that trust in the marketing communications of a service provider determines between 15 and 23 percent of overall trust. Still, less than half of respondents (48%) trust the marketing communications of their insurance provider. Survey respondents believed that improving customer communication would have the greatest impact in terms of developing trust. In particular, consumers cited that higher levels of quality, clarity and transparency would be most helpful in communications from their insurance provider. Additionally, consumers cited that they look for companies that provide high-quality service and demonstrate a high level of competency and conduct from employees.

To meet these recommendations and continue building trust, Pitney Bowes Business Insight offers a wide set of solutions for the insurance industry, including strong customer communication management programs that drive businesses to be more customer centric, effective, efficient and profitable. Pitney Bowes Business Insight has helped leading insurance providers such as Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs, James River Insurance and Petersburg Life address their unique challenges and build lifetime customer relationships.

About the Research

The ESCP group interviewed 20 senior marketers in order to gain a deeper understanding of the importance that organizations place on customer trust, the benefits they’re looking for, the way they measure trust and the management policies they put in place to influence it. In addition, ESCP issued an online consumer survey of 1,000 UK and 1,000 U.S. residents.

To read the entire study, please visit: http://www.slideshare.net/pitneybowes/the-role-of-trust-in-consumer-relationships-pitney-bowes-white-paper

About Pitney Bowes Business Insight

Pitney Bowes Business Insight is a software and services company that provides solutions to help organizations acquire, serve and grow relationships with customers and citizens. These solutions enable lifetime customer relationships by integrating data management, location intelligence, sophisticated predictive analytics, rules-based decision making and cross-channel customer interaction management to increase the value of every customer communication while also delivering operational efficiencies.

Pitney Bowes Business Insight is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), a customer communications management technology leader. For more information, please visit www.pbinsight.com and www.pb.com.