Customer Service and its Importance 客戶服務及其重要性

The Importance of Customer Service 客戶服務的重要性

Customer service covers how an insurer assists customers and handles its dealings with them, with emphasis on efficiency, courtesy and business ethics. Insurers need to keep improving their service. As customers become more aware of the treatment they expect, poor service can drive them elsewhere and harm the image of the whole industry.

General insurance commonly involves renewals, so retaining existing customers helps maintain business continuity. Renewals generally require less staff effort and cost than underwriting new risks. Intensive marketing may increase business briefly, but maintaining business also requires customer loyalty. Satisfied customers may recommend their insurer to family and friends; this ability to generate additional business is called customer 'productivity'.

Efficient and fair treatment helps prevent complaints, reducing adverse publicity and the time and expense of handling them. Staff can then spend more time on productive work, supporting profitability. These commercial benefits do not mean that every customer will renew or that the insurer is guaranteed a profit.

Service quality also affects intermediary support and market prestige: insurance agents need confidence in their principals, while insurance brokers need confidence in the insurers they recommend. Good service helps attract and retain intermediaries; poor service weakens market colleagues' confidence in an insurer's integrity and efficiency. Insurance service also affects Hong Kong's reputation as a financial services centre, so poor service may attract the Insurance Authority's concern and, where necessary, action.