Farmers Insurance puts the latest technology into its agents’ and customers’ hands.
Jeff Dailey felt a jolt on the side of his car during a recent journey to work in Southern California. One of his doors had been punched through by a piece of road debris.
An insurance adjuster would visit him, document the loss, and estimate the damage in the case of a similar claim in the past. It was a complicated, time-consuming procedure that needed to be fixed, and Dailey, as the CEO of Farmers Insurance, was in a unique position to do so.
Farmers created a streamlined loss-reporting process and a truly unique customer experience.
“With our customers in mind, we built a claims reporting platform using Salesforce technology,” Dailey explained. Farmers takes about 12 minutes on average to answer a phone call reporting a first notice of loss, according to Dailey. “From start to end, the Enterprise First Notice of Loss, or EFNOL platform, can take as little as three minutes.”
EFNOL, which can be accessed via the Farmers Mobile App or a computer, allows an agent assisting a customer or the customer alone to report a loss and upload images so that a Farmers adjuster can be assigned to the customer’s loss, the customer can choose a repair shop, rent a car, and complete the process quickly and seamlessly.
Farmers gets more out of mobile technology with the help of Salesforce.
Farmers are no strangers to embracing technology to create innovative products and services that today’s customers desire — and increasingly expect.
The Los Angeles-based firm purchased one of the first mainframe computer systems accessible in the 1950s, and its early adoption of distant data backup shielded its operations from the impacts of a devastating earthquake in 1971.
The aim to continuously improve the customer experience from start to finish drives the organization’s openness to new ideas and innovation. And it all starts with a better grasp of what customers want. Farmers redesigned its website and upgraded its mobile app based on feedback from customers.
“There has been a huge acceleration in thinking about how the consumer engages with Farmers on numerous levels in the last five years, as well as the technology required to achieve this aim,” said Mike Linton, Chief Marketing Officer. “When we invest in digital, we prioritize customer service, then sales, and last marketing, because that’s how people use it.”
With Salesforce, everyone has access to all the right information, all in one place.
Farmers has benefited from Salesforce’s cross-discipline Customer 360 solution, which comprises Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Community Cloud, CRM Analytics, and the Customer 360 Platform. Farmers clients, employees, and agents may log into Salesforce using a single sign-on from any of the platform’s 15 entry points. It enables for secure data and knowledge sharing, and it will eventually provide customers with a single view of their whole portfolio of insurance policies.
Farmers agents now spend their time nurturing deeper, more meaningful customer relationships.
“Our goal is to enable Farmers agents to improve the client experience at every engagement,” stated Ron Guerrier, Chief Information Officer. “Whether it’s on a phone via a mobile app or in person, technology has the potential to improve everything.”
Farmers’ “customer-centered, agent-powered” strategy includes using technology to save time spent on repetitive operations and give agents more time to create meaningful relationships with clients. Farmers agents may also better understand clients because to new technology and intuitive data, and provide a faster, more efficient, and responsive level of service.
The necessity of human interaction will never be replaced by technology, and the relationship between a Farmers agent and a customer will always be vital. The benefits of technology, on the other hand, can improve personal relationships. “We’re aiming to facilitate wonderful relationships between our clients and Farmers agents at the foundation of our approach,” Dailey added. “With technology, we’re trying to do everything we can to support that relationship.”
Salesforce helped broaden customer-agent communication across the board.
Farmers Customer Self-Service (CSS) is now one of the most popular Salesforce communities on Community Cloud, with millions of policyholders. While the CSS community provides Farmers with a direct line to their customers, Salesforce aids in the customer-agent interaction.
“Our ultimate goal is to provide tools agents may utilize to enhance their existing communications with customers as we look at Marketing Cloud and how an agent can chose to use it in their day-to-day operations,” Amanda Reierson, Head of Digital, said. “At Farmers, our goal is to make customers feel more knowledgeable about insurance.” Salesforce enables the company and its agents to engage with customers on a larger scale and through a number of channels.”