If you’ve already read CCC's Moments of Truth report, you know it's packed with valuable insights about the key moments in the auto claims and repair journey that drive customer satisfaction and retention. You've likely seen how clear communication, quality repairs, and satisfaction with the rental can make or break your post-claim customer satisfaction score.
But now the real question is: What's next? How can you get your team on board to develop an action plan based on the report insights?
First, you need to come up with a roadmap of action. But you can't do it alone within Claims. Because many of the Moments of Truth that impact customer satisfaction and retention involve groups outside of claims, it’s important to get the right minds in the room to create a good plan.
Step 1: Gather the Right Team for the Brainstorm
The success of your plan depends on having the right the people in the room. The cross-functional team should include:
- Claims leadership: That’s likely you, dear reader. Without your sponsorship, no action can even be taken.
- Product management/underwriting: These teams create the products and policies. They sit upstream of Claims and impact many of the Moments of Truth before a claim is even filed.
- DRP/Repair relationships: These individuals own the relationships with repair facilities, without whom you cannot deliver on several Moments of Truth.
- Distribution and customer communications: These individuals are responsible for working with the agents who distribute your products and communicate to your customers. Since clear communications about the claims process is a crucial Moment of Truth, you need to have these teammates represented in the room.
- Marketing/retention: Anyone who is focused on customer retention will want a hand in designing an action plan based on winning the Moments of Truth.
- IT and digital/customer experience: These teams are instrumental in the technological and back-end implementation of your action plan and strategies.
Step 2: Review the Key Moments of Truth
Once you’ve got your team together, it's time to refresh everyone's understanding of the Moments of Truth findings or present them to anyone who isn't familiar with them. Remember to review the top 3 moments in consumer satisfaction with their insurers:
- Clear communication about the claims process
- High-quality repairs
- Satisfaction with the ability to get a rental from either the insurer or repair facility
Also review the top three predictors of customer defection:
- Those with the financial ability to cover a loan gap in the case of a total loss
- The presence of injury (either 1st or 3rd party)
- First-time claim filers
And because high repair satisfaction generates even more satisfaction with the insurer, you'll want to review the top three Moments of Truth in repair satisfaction as well:
- Transparent and detailed explanation of the vehicle’s repair needs
- Satisfying drop-off experience
- Clear communication about the claims process (Sound familiar?)
Step 3: Ideate and Brainstorm Solutions
This part is key – get your team to brainstorm how they can positively impact each of these Moments of Truth. Here's how you can facilitate a productive, idea-generation session:
- Ask your participants to write down one idea per sticky note for how your organization can win the top Moments of Truth.
- You’ll probably see ideas like, "Get photos with FNOL," or "ID the lienholder at the beginning of the claim," or "Create a 'What to Expect'Letter" - all of these are great, just make sure they’re 1 idea per sticky.
- Limit this brainstorming session to about 30 minutes to keep the energy focused and to prevent overthinking.
- Remember, there are NO BAD IDEAS in brainstorming!
- Once everyone has contributed their ideas and stuck their sticky notes on a large, shared whiteboard or notepad, start grouping or deduplicating them.
- You'll notice that great minds think alike, and many ideas will fall into the same general category. The goal is for everyone to hear the full range of ideas so the group can build on each other’s input.
Step 4: Prioritize Using the Impact-Effort Matrix
Now it's time to move from ideas to action. Use a 4-square exercise (also known as an Impact-Effort Matrix) to categorize the brainstormed ideas based on two factors: impact (how much the idea will impact the outcome – in this case, your outcomes are winning those moments of truth) and effort (how much time, money, and resources it will take to execute). Take each deduped group of sticky notes and ask your participants to place them into one of the following categories:
Clearly, you're going to prioritize those ideas that you put in the upper right-hand box, because you're all agreeing they are high-impact, but low-effort. Spend 20 minutes on this exercise to ensure you’re prioritizing the right actions that will yield the best results in the shortest amount of time.
Step 5: Dot Voting to Find the "Front Domino"
Once your team has identified the ideas that are worth pursuing, it’s time to narrow down the focus even further. Use a simple dot voting method to determine which of the "Do Now" or "Make it a Project" ideas should be tackled first. Ask each participant to vote on the ideas they believe will have the most impact but only give the two dots – in other words, give them physical "sticky dots" and ask them to select just two ideas to place those dots on. Why will this help? Because if your upper half of your 4-square is filled with good ideas, this will help the team find the "front domino" –– the first initiative that, once tackled, will help everything else fall into place.
Step 6: Create an Action Plan
Your top ideas will be the ideas with the most dots! With your top three ideas identified, translate them into an actionable roadmap. This is where cross-functional alignment comes into play. Identify potential risks and barriers for each idea and involve your IT team to ensure the right technology is in place to support the necessary changes. By the end of this exercise, you should have a clear path forward, with defined ownership, timelines, and next steps.
This is just one way to get the team aligned. Sometimes it can be helpful to have a facilitator take you through this process. After all, you want everyone ideating, not worrying about the flow of the day. And if you’d like a strategic partner to help, don't hesitate to reach out to us!
In the meantime, if you're looking for more detailed guidance, download our Moments of Truth report here for deeper insights into the moments that matter most to your customers.
If you’ve already read CCC's Moments of Truth report, you know it's packed with valuable insights about the key moments in the auto claims and repair journey that drive customer satisfaction and retention. You've likely seen how clear communication, quality repairs, and satisfaction with the rental can make or break your post-claim customer satisfaction score.
But now the real question is: What's next? How can you get your team on board to develop an action plan based on the report insights?
First, you need to come up with a roadmap of action. But you can't do it alone within Claims. Because many of the Moments of Truth that impact customer satisfaction and retention involve groups outside of claims, it’s important to get the right minds in the room to create a good plan.
Step 1: Gather the Right Team for the Brainstorm
The success of your plan depends on having the right the people in the room. The cross-functional team should include:
- Claims leadership: That’s likely you, dear reader. Without your sponsorship, no action can even be taken.
- Product management/underwriting: These teams create the products and policies. They sit upstream of Claims and impact many of the Moments of Truth before a claim is even filed.
- DRP/Repair relationships: These individuals own the relationships with repair facilities, without whom you cannot deliver on several Moments of Truth.
- Distribution and customer communications: These individuals are responsible for working with the agents who distribute your products and communicate to your customers. Since clear communications about the claims process is a crucial Moment of Truth, you need to have these teammates represented in the room.
- Marketing/retention: Anyone who is focused on customer retention will want a hand in designing an action plan based on winning the Moments of Truth.
- IT and digital/customer experience: These teams are instrumental in the technological and back-end implementation of your action plan and strategies.
Step 2: Review the Key Moments of Truth
Once you’ve got your team together, it's time to refresh everyone's understanding of the Moments of Truth findings or present them to anyone who isn't familiar with them. Remember to review the top 3 moments in consumer satisfaction with their insurers:
- Clear communication about the claims process
- High-quality repairs
- Satisfaction with the ability to get a rental from either the insurer or repair facility
Also review the top three predictors of customer defection:
- Those with the financial ability to cover a loan gap in the case of a total loss
- The presence of injury (either 1st or 3rd party)
- First-time claim filers
And because high repair satisfaction generates even more satisfaction with the insurer, you'll want to review the top three Moments of Truth in repair satisfaction as well:
- Transparent and detailed explanation of the vehicle’s repair needs
- Satisfying drop-off experience
- Clear communication about the claims process (Sound familiar?)
Step 3: Ideate and Brainstorm Solutions
This part is key – get your team to brainstorm how they can positively impact each of these Moments of Truth. Here's how you can facilitate a productive, idea-generation session:
- Ask your participants to write down one idea per sticky note for how your organization can win the top Moments of Truth.
- You’ll probably see ideas like, "Get photos with FNOL," or "ID the lienholder at the beginning of the claim," or "Create a 'What to Expect'Letter" - all of these are great, just make sure they’re 1 idea per sticky.
- Limit this brainstorming session to about 30 minutes to keep the energy focused and to prevent overthinking.
- Remember, there are NO BAD IDEAS in brainstorming!
- Once everyone has contributed their ideas and stuck their sticky notes on a large, shared whiteboard or notepad, start grouping or deduplicating them.
- You'll notice that great minds think alike, and many ideas will fall into the same general category. The goal is for everyone to hear the full range of ideas so the group can build on each other’s input.
Step 4: Prioritize Using the Impact-Effort Matrix
Now it's time to move from ideas to action. Use a 4-square exercise (also known as an Impact-Effort Matrix) to categorize the brainstormed ideas based on two factors: impact (how much the idea will impact the outcome – in this case, your outcomes are winning those moments of truth) and effort (how much time, money, and resources it will take to execute). Take each deduped group of sticky notes and ask your participants to place them into one of the following categories:
Clearly, you're going to prioritize those ideas that you put in the upper right-hand box, because you're all agreeing they are high-impact, but low-effort. Spend 20 minutes on this exercise to ensure you’re prioritizing the right actions that will yield the best results in the shortest amount of time.
Step 5: Dot Voting to Find the "Front Domino"
Once your team has identified the ideas that are worth pursuing, it’s time to narrow down the focus even further. Use a simple dot voting method to determine which of the "Do Now" or "Make it a Project" ideas should be tackled first. Ask each participant to vote on the ideas they believe will have the most impact but only give the two dots – in other words, give them physical "sticky dots" and ask them to select just two ideas to place those dots on. Why will this help? Because if your upper half of your 4-square is filled with good ideas, this will help the team find the "front domino" –– the first initiative that, once tackled, will help everything else fall into place.
Step 6: Create an Action Plan
Your top ideas will be the ideas with the most dots! With your top three ideas identified, translate them into an actionable roadmap. This is where cross-functional alignment comes into play. Identify potential risks and barriers for each idea and involve your IT team to ensure the right technology is in place to support the necessary changes. By the end of this exercise, you should have a clear path forward, with defined ownership, timelines, and next steps.
This is just one way to get the team aligned. Sometimes it can be helpful to have a facilitator take you through this process. After all, you want everyone ideating, not worrying about the flow of the day. And if you’d like a strategic partner to help, don't hesitate to reach out to us!
In the meantime, if you're looking for more detailed guidance, download our Moments of Truth report here for deeper insights into the moments that matter most to your customers.
