Customer retention is key for North American insurers: Gartner

The top priority for information technology leaders at insurance companies is keeping the clients they have, Gartner Inc. said in a recent report.

In a survey of IT professionals from five Canadian and 57 U.S. property and casualty insurers, 81% of respondents cited client retention as their Number 1 priority for technology investments.

“Insurers have increasingly been looking to customer retention as a means to preserve revenue and avoid customer churn,” said Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “Protecting the customer base through improved customer service is key for P&C insurers, as well as helping to avoid negative brand images as consumers continue to use social media channels to share complaints and opinions about insurance companies in a public forum.”

The next top-rated priority is to promote relationships with brokers and agents, followed closely by the need to move from legacy assets to more modern claims and policy management solutions, according to Gartner.