Outlined below is the methodology adopted by Insurance Monitor to conduct and compile the Consumer Review Index (‘CRI’) and how insurers may deploy such consumer feedback to continually improvement company performance.

Consumer reviews: a key metric to improve service levels and grow revenue

Consumer Review Index (‘CRI’) is not a keepsake, flashed in the corporate annual statement. Totally satisfied consumers will give the company references, referrals, case studies, more business and better margins for a fraction of the cost of gaining new customers.

Mode

Insurance Monitor collects consumer reviews through its online portal. In doing so, we organize and analyze consumer responses to:

• Provide companies with prioritized survey outcomes and actionable feedback and a prioritized ‘to do’ list which will give them significant competitive advantage; and
• Provide companies with attributed feedback, so they know who said what and are able to contact the consumers to resolve issues.

Periodicity

Our consumer review research takes place on an on-going basis. Insurance Monitor’s company reviews are real-time and an ongoing expression of consumer satisfaction and will change on an on-going basis. We give companies the opportunity to amend their review rating by directly contacting an unsatisfied customer so as to resolve the issue, thereby reducing the number of open tickets.

Sample size distribution

Insurance Monitor provides an open review platform for consumers to leave their reviews of insurers. We use the word consumer as a collective term for any member of the public who has purchased some form of insurance in the UAE. In doing so, the sample distribution for each company will differ. Distribution information that is made available includes: gender, age, ethnicity, location, product and channel.

Questionnaire design

The questionnaire is designed to measure key attributes of insurance service levels from the consumer’s perspective, namely

• Overall satisfaction
• Accessibility and reach
• Transparency
• Efficiency
• Responsiveness
• Pricing
• Customer service
• Customer loyalty
• Claims processing
• Flexibility
• Digitization

Response structure

Insurance Monitor’s questionnaires is designed to provide a balanced response structure, i.e. the scale has as many negative options as positive options and a “neutral” option on a five-point scale for those who might not want to answer a question, or for those who are unable to make a decision or simply have too little knowledge to answer the question.

Consumer Review Index

While attaining a CRI of 100% is a commendable goal for any business, the truth is, it is probably also an unattainable goal. People tend to be inherently critical, and it’s virtually impossible to keep everyone completely satisfied all the time. In fact, on average, any measurement that shows a total satisfaction level equal to or greater than 75% is commendable.

As a guide, the average or mean CRI arrived at, provides an indicative interpretation as below:

Mean CRI of over 90% - Market leader, exceptional performance (zone of loyalty)

Mean CRI of 75%-90% - Good performance but slightly less than perfect with some consumer needs unmet (zone of shoppers)

Mean CRI of 50%-75% - Adequate, but needs attention before the customer switches providers (zone of indifference)

Mean CRI below 50% - Cause for concern, remedial action needed (zone of defection)

• By definition, consumers in the zone of loyalty have no unmet needs or unresolved issues with your company. In their mind, the company is doing everything it can to meet their desires, and it is succeeding. Such consumers typically have no reason and no incentive to seek out a competitor. More importantly, should one of the competitors make an overture to such a consumer, they are unlikely to get an audience.
• Conversely, consumers within the shopper zone are highlighting that one or more of their needs is not being met. In their mind, their relationship with the company is less than perfect. Depending on the severity of the needs and/ or issues they feel exist, such consumers are much more approachable by a competitor. They collectively represent the proverbial foot in the door for your competition.
• Consumers within the zone of indifference is a worse case. Their unmet needs are more severe, to the point that they are typically much more motivated to actually go out and seek a solution, an alternative, from a competitor.
• In most cases, the zone of defection comprises consumers that are simply not satisfied with the company and will most certainly look out for a suitable replacement on policy renewal.

It should be noted that CRI is a snapshot at a point in time. Consumer views change continuously and company performance in delivering consumer satisfaction also constantly changes. Measuring satisfaction must therefore be a continuous process. Tracking surveys over a period of time provides for a good benchmarking practice to monitor a company’s performance.

Benchmarking

Insurance Monitor present benchmarks in two dimensions:

• Periodic comparison of the CRI
• Peer comparison

Consumer database

Consumers registered in our database are verified by way of email and mobile numbers. Consumers that participate in the review process and report an issue or register a complaint are validated with a call back. Where consumers are not reachable within a period of 5 working days post the review, the review will be taken off the portal.

CRI reporting

We release periodic CRI reports that is publicly available through our site.

Please contact Insurance Monitor if you would like further details on any specific report or for special report on problem identification and recommendations.