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Many insurtech start-ups tend to use exciting new advances in technology as their jump-start point – but an expert has warned that listening to customers should be their number one priority.
Kelly Ward, sales innovation director at AXA Partners, said that start-ups often forget that customers want solutions that are both usable and cost-effective.
“We’ve seen a lot of start-ups coming to us as an organisation and solving what they think is the problem,” Ward said. “But the problem is not that the customer is looking for exciting tech around their home. The problem is that they want to make the usability and the cost work.”
“So, we asked our customers: ‘If you had a perfect connected home, what would it look like?’ We then looked at how much it would cost, and it was about £600. We then asked how much they would be willing to pay for it, and it was £107. That’s the problem, so how do we solve it? We get better technology and better usability at a cheaper price.”
Ward said that listening to and working with customers will also allow start-ups to find ways to optimise their services.
“We’re starting to join up a lot of things, and also exploring new ways of working,” Ward said. “By doing so, we are able to provide added-value services to our customers, whilst meeting changing lifestyle needs.
“For example, we have a start-up business within the AXA family called Fixter. Fixter provides customers with hassle-free MOTs and other garage services. Working together [with customers], we can now not only help a customer when they have broken down at the roadside, but also help them with other day-to-day vehicle-based services – all of which make life easier for them.
“The most important thing here is choice. Give customers a choice of how we can help them during their time of need, to suit their individual situation.”
