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How Low-Code Automation from SmartIQ™ Enhances Customer Experiences

Posted on May 31, 2023 by SmartComm

By: Sally Schulte, Product Marketing Director at Smart Communications

As enterprises around the world face unprecedented levels of disruption and ever-increasing customer expectations, business leaders are rethinking their customer experience strategies—and speed to market is critical. To meet demand, companies are exploring and implementing secure, low-code solutions that transform one-way, siloed interactions into secure, automated digital processes.

Customers are interacting with large institutions such as those in financial services, insurance and healthcare at some of the most critical moments in their lives. Significant life events such as an accident, planning for a major life event or navigating an illness, are opportunities for businesses to create meaningful, simple and sensitive experiences.

Unfortunately, impersonal, and time-consuming, paper-based or PDF forms processes have been the standard way to navigate through these life changes, negatively impacting how customers view the companies that are there to support them. In this post, we will dive into how low-code forms software like SmartIQ enables enterprises to exceed customer expectations while also creating more efficient internal processes. We’ll also share how some of the new tools available in SmartIQ empower businesses to work more intelligently, quickly and digitally with their customers.

Low-Code Forms Solutions for Business Users

In any industry, having the right software and systems can make a huge difference in the way internal users and external customers interact. Your employees — the people who will use these tools most often — can enhance the customer experience when they have greater ownership over how they communicate with customers.

By implementing low-code forms solutions, employees across the enterprise can own their business processes directly — allowing them to better serve customers without relying on internal IT teams. With several pre-built, validated connectors and flexible architecture, SmartIQ is easily implemented and automatically updated, bi-weekly. This ensures business users can quickly take advantage of feature enhancements to deliver a seamless customer experience. This also means that previously resource-strained IT teams can focus on larger, more strategic initiatives instead of installing software updates.

Some additional benefits of the SmartIQ low-code solution include:

Drag-and-drop interfaces make it easy to learn and use while providing specific business units with ownership over projects.
Centralized software application allows for broad use across multiple lines of business without the need for users to obtain added licenses.
Automated approval workflows speed up processing times and allow for real-time status updates.
Real-time data verification through core system integrations reduces incomplete or muddled data. 
Analytics to evaluate forms performance help to identify potential areas of confusion, regional trends and additional process statistics.
High security standards ensure compliance with ISO/IEC 27001 certifications, HIPAA and more.

Optimizing forms processes is just the beginning of creating an easier, more secure experience. Guided, interactive forms can enhance the value of e-signature solutions, for example, and give customers the digital-first, end-to-end experience they expect.

For more on the powerful pairing of e-signature solutions and sophisticated forms, check out 'Get to eSignature Faster: Maximize the Value of Your eSignature Investment with True Forms Automation'

Maintaining Brand Standards in a Digital Environment

There’s a good reason B2B companies devote (at least) 5 percent of their annual revenue to branding every year — it’s integral to creating a consistent experience. That’s why Smart Communications has developed features within SmartIQ that ensure companies can achieve the consistency that wouldn’t otherwise be possible by using paper forms or PDFs. Theme Builder, for example, is a low-code module that allows companies to brand forms based on business unit or the type of project. Business users can control a range of visual elements—from logos and colors to typography and styling—and view them in a live preview that makes it easy to view changes instantly and in context.

These components allow enterprises to create a responsive, cohesive look and feel that is aligned with the company’s brand standards. This can help build brand awareness, loyalty and trust —important factors in attracting new customers and building and retaining trust among existing ones.

Global, Cloud Offering Enhances Security and Compliance

As technology (and the way we all use it) continues to evolve, so does the need to keep information secure across the various platforms and in the different geographies in which data is stored. Not only do companies face regulatory fines due to non-compliance, they can also damage their reputation due to security breaches or other security-related mishaps. And, while regulatory requirements are on the rise around the world, requirements vary by country—adding complexity to an already challenging landscape for software solutions.

Let’s look at Canada, as an example. According to PilotCore’s explanation of Canadian Privacy Laws, it can be extremely tricky to navigate how to operate digitally when it comes to data transfers, transparency and levels of protection. That’s why, in 2021, Smart Communications added a data center in Canada— easing the burden of understanding what to do if data travelled outside Canada and subsequently helping Canadian enterprises deliver secure, compliant customer experiences.

Additional Benefits of Forms Modernization

Consumers continue to have their attention grabbed by any number of things these days. That’s why requiring people to download additional tools or jump through other hoops to complete a form can quickly turn a customer’s experience into a negative one. However, gathering information is still important for businesses as they must understand customer needs and how to meet them.

Fortunately, with more resources – like low code forms solutions – at their fingertips, businesses are better equipped to provide exceptional customer experiences from the very first interaction. Software that allows customers to quickly fill out a form, from wherever they are, allows companies to get the necessary information without bogging customers down with static forms or PDFs. When a company is willing to meet its customers (or potential customers) where they are in order to make their lives easier, they become a brand that people trust and want to do business with.

Learn more about how our low-code forms solution can help your company better serve its customers and enhance the end-to-end customer experience.

Compelling Events Driving the Adoption of Enterprise Forms Automation

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Stephanie Clarke

By: Sally Schulte, Product Marketing Director at Smart Communications

There are a number of challenges that companies have come to expect, regardless of the industry. These challenges include how to manage and retire outdated technologies, meet increasingly high customer expectations, protect an astronomical level of highly sensitive data, and comply with industry and internal compliance standards.

Those are table stakes.

When you add the many compelling events happening around the world—particularly in heavily regulated industries such as financial services and healthcare—companies are being forced to find digital solutions fast. And, if they haven’t already started, the significance of what’s happening will soon increase the urgency. These events will force them to replace the remaining outdated, manual business processes that have been largely overlooked and adopt an enterprise forms automation solution.

Let’s look at a few examples.

Pandemic-Prompted Transformation

No company came out of the pandemic the same way they went into it. Whether it was the need to schedule vaccination appointments, collect vaccination data, administer new federally funded bank loan programs like the 'Paycheck Protection Program', or simply give customers a way to complete forms and sign documents without having to be physically present, implementing an enterprise forms automation solution like SmartIQ™ was a lifeline for healthcare providers, insurers, and financial institutions. Low-code solutions like SmartIQ made it possible for companies to quickly digitalize end-to-end forms processes and safely (and securely) offer access to critical Covid programs nearly overnight.

New Healthcare Regulations Around the Globe

In North America, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (or CMS) has issued a proposal that will require companies to digitalize prior authorization—and have a solution in place by January 2026.

CMS also changed how it assesses the Star Ratings it awards to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription plans—increasing the weight of customer experience to over 50%. And this explicitly includes communications and forms.

Beyond the borders of the United States, the Australian government has issued a report which recommends increasing investments in digital health tools that can support collaboration amongst care providers.

More globally, and even more acutely in the United Kingdom, there are significant staffing issues in healthcare. A shortage of nurses and staff compounded by inflation has led to layoffs and strikes and has elevated the importance of automating and streamlining healthcare form processes.

The versatility and easy connectivity of SmartIQ make it an accessible solution to address these changes.

Regulatory Trends in Financial Services

Moving along to Financial Services, the United States Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued Section 1071 under the Dodd-Frank Act, which outlines new data collection requirements around small business loans. Lenders now need to collect – and report on – geographic and demographic details on borrowers, with the goal of encouraging lending to underserved communities and reducing discrimination.

In Australia, there is new legislation (RG271) by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) around handling time for complaints and disputes. As a result of overwhelming feedback that complaints and dispute processes were taking far too long (and were far too painful), this legislation provides a framework for how quickly complaints must be resolved with a business.

And, at a global level in financial services, higher interest rates have caused lending providers to tighten the criteria for offering loans. This has led to an increase in servicing activities such as loan modification requests and rate lock requests. Coupled with a decrease in new originations, cost pressures are forcing lenders to find a way to automate those complex processes.

SmartIQ eliminates the strains these changes place on organizations. Beyond being able to fully digitalize the complex form and agreement processes, SmartIQ is a low-code solution that allows business units to own their processes—not IT. So, gathering new pieces of information or changing an approval process can happen when the business needs it to, not when IT has time.

What to Look For

These highlights are by no means an exhaustive list of everything happening around the world today, but they are just a few examples of the headwinds companies are facing today, what to consider, and ways to prepare.

When considering a forms process automation solution, some important criteria to keep in mind include:

Versatility – Can the technology solve more than one business problem in more than one line of business?

Business Impact – Does the solution increase operational efficiency that can be tied to revenue?

Usability – can non-developers within a line of business use the solution to problem-solve and digitalize their processes?

Time to Market – how quickly can new processes be created, tested, and deployed?

Maturity – is this a proven technology provider with extensive development experience in enterprise forms automation?

Project Maintenance – how easy is it to update and make changes to existing processes?

Connectivity – can the technology easily integrate with other core systems to transfer, update, and share data?

Security – how is data transferred during a process and once it completes?

Sustainability – does implementing this solution directly impact corporate sustainability efforts?

SmartIQ is a low-code SaaS solution that enables organizations to centralize their forms processes across the entire enterprise and transform them into intelligent, response-based digital experiences.

User-friendly design tools make it easy for business users to build or make changes to existing forms processes in minutes. Changes are applied across all channels and live for all users in real-time. By reducing reliance on IT, SmartIQ provides the agility today's organizations need to adapt quickly to changes in the market and deliver compliant, customer-friendly digital experiences across the customer lifecycle.

Digital Acceleration in Insurance

Posted on March 27, 2023 by SmartComm

By: Thomas Harrington, Global Industry Markets Leader for Insurance at Pega

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wax and wane across the globe, now is the time for insurers to use the digital acceleration triggered by the crisis to reinvent themselves as digital-first businesses fit for the 21st century.

In the U.S., the unemployment rate reached 14.7% in April, a level not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The U.K. saw its highest rate of welfare support claims in six years; and a 3% rise in unemployment is forecast for Asia Pacific. Many insurance regulators have implemented guidance for payment grace periods or temporary protections to prevent policy cancellations. But as mandated forms of help expire, a significant number of consumers will reach out with questions and concerns about their insurance portfolios.

Tackle customer service volumes with digital channels

Industry leaders are asking, “How do we weather immediate customer service challenges and prepare for the new normal?” Requests related to premium holidays, policy options, hardship withdrawals, and rebates are increasing, yet closed offices and distributed workforces slow the ability to respond. As the volumes of inquiries increase, the ability to scale capabilities to distributed workforces, capture a policyholder’s questions or concerns, connect the data from all of these channels and mobile apps, and provide an accurate response is exposing major operational gaps.

The insurance business over the last few decades was built around an inbound model where you wait for something to happen and then react. By contrast, a digital-first experience creates opportunities for customers to engage how they want, and when they want. Increasingly, this means self-service through digital interfaces. This frees time and capacity to deliver more personal and empathetic service to customers who have more complex queries. It’s not just taking some volume off the plate; it’s a fundamentally different thought process.

Digital servicing options help address these pressures now and prepare for the increasingly digital-first preferences of future consumers. In many cases, you can stand up a digital service capability that connects with your systems of record and other apps within days. Examples of the most cost-efficient ways to do this are:

Reduce manual work by automating email – Email bots can process thousands of incoming emails and email attachments fast. Natural language processing capabilities can read, triage, and route incoming mail. You can even automate responses to simple inquiries and personalize the messaging.
Intake and track requests to provide responsive and accurate customer service – Integrate your current systems and apps to capture, triage, and route customer inquiries to the right person or team. Systems should be designed to adapt to changing business processes and regulatory requirements, to help you streamline operations and provide an auditable trail of actions for all customer inquiries.
Unify messaging in a single desktop – Seamlessly connect digital channels and enable agents to smoothly navigate among conversations to deliver efficient user experience. Virtual assistants work alongside agents to help contain service volumes and deliver immediate answers to common inquiries.

Examples of success with this digital servicing approach include an insurer with an at-home workforce that used both chat and email bots to help improve customer service response times; and a government agency that was able to design and implement a case management-based economic assistance app in just five days.

Start engaging proactively with your policy holders

Another way to mitigate customer service volumes is to get ahead of them. Don’t wait for that phone call. If your data shows a customer is experiencing a financial hardship or their needs have changed, proactively reach out. Provide something as simple as the initial steps to submit a claim or arrange a payment to mitigate policy cancellation. An empathetic approach goes a long way in letting customers know you understand their situation and value their relationship.

Think big, start small, scale fast

Companies trying to navigate their way through an uncertain world can be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed. So, start with something small and grow. Do not think about the end point in five years’ time, but about what you can achieve in the next two weeks, the next 60 days, or the next 90 days to deliver value that will make a tangible difference to your customers.

It’s important to think pragmatically as you start any project in the digital space; recognize that you are making initial forays and it’s highly likely that what you do will be changed at some point. This mindset of build and grow puts you in a different stance to build long-term success. More importantly, immediate improvements should be foundational elements of a digital experience that enables insurance carriers to change, expand, and automate servicing today and in the future.

Luckily, implementing new digital tools and leveraging a case-based approach to eliminate operational complexity and deliver customer outcomes does not require ripping and replacing existing systems. It just requires focusing on one customer outcome at a time and building from there. For example, think about the steps needed to respond to and complete a claim status request. Pega calls this a microjourney – an interaction that is part of a customer’s overall journey with your business. By focusing on the steps needed to complete that one microjourney, you define the data you need to access and define the rules for the channels you’ll use to connect with your customers. When you build those processes and rules into the operational layer of your architecture, you can easily reuse and modify them for other microjourneys. Pega calls this building from the center out – an approach that helps businesses transform across all channels and systems. A center-out approach not only frees staff to spend more time helping customers with complex inquiries now, but also enables them to deliver the customer experiences of the future.

About the Author

In his role as Global Industry Markets Leader for Insurance at Pega, Thomas Harrington works with leading organizations to drive performance, customer experience, and revenue growth through digital transformation.

To hear more from Thomas and Neal Keene, Field Chief Technology Officer at Smart Communications, watch the on-demand webinar: Digital Acceleration in Insurance: Meeting New Demands at Speed or read the webinar recap.

Customer Experience Takes Center Stage at Bank Automation Summit

Posted on March 27, 2023 by SmartComm

Automation has always been seen as a pathway to greater operational efficiency, but most banking operations and IT people I met at the Bank Automation Summit this month are aiming at a different higher purpose: better customer experience – for both external clients and internal employees and teams.

We were delighted to sponsor this spring event and get back to meeting with banking executives face to face in Charlotte, N.C. I was particularly excited to discuss trends in automation around commercial lending in a panel alongside Daniel Seay, SVP of Wholesale Transformation at Fifth Third Bank, Ahul Verma, CIO of BMO Personal and Business Banking and Chris Gufford, General Manager of Commercial Product at our partner nCino. We talked about a variety of issues and best practices, including how banks are looking to remove friction to meet changing customer expectations for speed of delivery.

Seay noted that the biggest area of focus for Fifth Third is leveraging third-party services and data in smarter ways to support faster turn times. We also discussed the importance of taking a hybrid approach, empowering clients to interact digitally while still supporting the human element provided by relationship managers.

In addition to the panel discussion I was a part of, I also enjoyed several of the other sessions led by banking executives. Here are a few highlights and takeaways from the sessions:

Using Automation to Make Banking Seem Effortless

John Elton, CIO for TIAA Bank, said he views the goal of process automation as making banking transactions easier so that they feel almost effortless to clients. “We need to take a look at the industry to change our focus from looking at single departments to looking at all of the interactions in the process and the customer journey,” Elton said. That’s one reason the company has an enterprise Center of Excellence focusing on automation projects.

The team breaks down customer expectations into five key areas of focus:

Safety and security
Availability
Performance
Speed to market
Cost

Customers know when something is inefficient, Elton stressed. Even if they can’t see inefficiency in the back office, they can feel it. Echoing the comments from Seay of Fifth Third Bank, Elton said turnaround time is a key part of improving that customer experience, especially for areas like commercial lending that require a lot of documentation and data collection. Improving business processes around new customer acquisition is a priority for the bank this year.

Eliminating Human Error and Reducing Banking Compliance Risks

Changing the culture of a bank that’s been around for 200+ years isn’t easy. But that’s just what Dominic Cugini, CIO of Service Digitization for KeyBank, has been doing to help the bank look and operate like one that was born digital. Like TIAA Bank, the team has focused on removing human error from repetitive tasks through Robotic Process Automation (RPA). “We had people rekeying data from system to system. To maintain data quality, we need to keep digital data digital,” Cugini said.

In automating processes around the Paycheck Protection Program, the KeyBank team was able to squeeze what he estimated was nine years of work into just two weeks, putting approximately 160 automated bots in production in that time. “RPA saved our bacon,” he declared. Current focus areas for RPA include looking at automating fraud reduction and reducing overall security risks to the business.

Improving Employee Experience Equally Important

In addition to external customers, internal employee experience is also a key focus area for banking automation, as noted by Ami Iceman Haueter, VP of Research and Digital Customer Experience from MSU Federal Credit Union. “Identifying pain points from the people perspective is important,” she said. “Simplifying their day-to-day so they can do less monotonous work.” The company has invested in an internal chatbot named “Gene” that has created significant efficiency in employee-to-employee communications, she added.

Some of the biggest applause came for Cugini as he inspired attendees with a line from basketball great Michael Jordan: “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” It takes mental strength to create and manage change in organizations, he noted. But for people who push back and say they don’t have time to innovate, or they think a process is too complex and difficult to change, he says: “Great – you know what happened to the dinosaurs.”

If you’re comfortable with a mask or otherwise feel safe, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to head out to meet with your peers at a conference this year. We have a full events calendar in the next few months that includes DocuSign Momentum in San Francisco, Digital Banking Summit in Austin, Texas, and Financial Services Customer Experience in London. And of course, we’re excited to meet you at our annual INNOVATE conference in Nashville May 18-20. Stay tuned for INNOVATE dates for London and Sydney later in 2022.

An Exciting New Chapter in Next-Generation CCM

Posted on March 27, 2023 by SmartComm

By James Brown, CEO of Smart Communications

On July 18, we announced our acquisition of global digital transformation software company, Intelledox. We are thrilled about this exciting new chapter as the combination of our companies is a game-changer, resulting in the industry’s only cloud-based, next-generation customer communications management platform. We truly are SMARTer together, and enterprises that want to intelligently transform the conversations they have with customers in today’s increasingly digital world will reap the benefits.

To be successful today, companies must deliver personalized, relevant and interactive communications – all at tremendous scale. Ensuring the best possible customer experience means these communications must be consistent and meaningful throughout the entire customer lifecycle—from acquisition to servicing, and every interaction in between. By joining forces with Intelledox, we will redefine customer engagement, allowing enterprises to deliver best-in-class, two-way customer conversations throughout the entire customer journey while improving internal efficiency and creating ROI that is unmatched in our industry.

If you are not already familiar with Intelledox, its cloud platform connects to any system of record and provides next-generation forms, built-in workflow, and on-demand customer communications. It is designed to digitally transform traditional forms-based processes into intelligent, conversational user experiences that streamline internal systems, manage risk and reduce demand for support services and, as a result, deliver more customers ready to transact. The company has enabled hundreds of enterprise and government organizations and more than 22 million users globally to rapidly transform paper or PDF-based processes into intelligent, data-driven customer experiences.

We couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to the Smart Communications family and look forward to sharing more details in the coming weeks and months about what this means for our current customers and what it could mean for any enterprise who wants to take its customer communications programs to the highest level possible.

In the meantime, we invite you to watch this video to learn even more!

7 Signs It’s Time to Upgrade Your Current Document Generation Solution

Posted on March 27, 2023 by SmartComm

By Sienna Quirk, Senior Director, Product Marketing at Smart Communications

Legacy document generation solutions are fine for basic communication, but what happens when you need to create or change templates or want to build in more complex logic? Often these watershed moments of change occur when your current solution lets you down. Changing regulations, expansion into new markets and channels, mergers and brand updates can be a nightmare for those in your organization responsible for managing template updates and creation.

Is it time to rethink your current document generation solution? Here are seven signs you’ve outgrown your current solution and what to look for when evaluating a new one.

If your current solution requires coding, IT resources, or professional service dollars to make necessary updates, it’s time to upgrade. If you want a solution that makes faster updates, look for one that is built to be user-friendly and includes a modern user interface (UI) for admins and users with features like a drag and drop editor, if/then logic, and shared content. These features ensure updates are done in real time, without the headache of waiting on IT or spending your day coding templates one by one.
If your solution requires a template for EACH AND EVERY variation, it’s time to upgrade. No one wants to manage a template library in the thousands. Instead, look for a solution that can address multiple channels, languages, and brands all within a single template. Cutting down on the number of templates in rotation means less time spent managing and updating and more time dedicated to on meaningful projects.
If your solution was built for a single channel or limited channels, it’s time to upgrade. Customer engagement should start where your customers are, which today could be through various channels including text, email, and voice assistants, and less and less in the mailbox. Look for a solution that can address multiple communication channels and is built with changing technology in mind. Solutions that contain features like open APIs can more easily adjust their channels as new technologies emerge.
If your solution struggles to handle complexities like charts, graphs, images, and videos, it’s time to upgrade. Look for a solution with a proven track record of incorporating the type of content into your document that allows you to better communicate and connect with your customers.
If your solution lacks the ability for users to personalize their message, it’s time to upgrade. Document templates are great for locking down content and ensuring the right messaging and branding leaves your company the right way, every time. But a locked template can still offer personalization without risk. A templated approach to communication doesn’t have to mean your company is void of personality. Look for a solution that allows a business user to connect with their customer in approved areas of a template that show that they’ve listened, and they care.
If you struggle to quickly address changing compliance regulation in your templates, you’re putting your company at risk and it’s time to upgrade. Look for a solution where updates can be made once and flow through to all the templates that are affected, in real-time. This removes the risk of outdated templates making their way into the market during times of change.
If your solution requires business users to work outside of your system of record or requires your users to email Word documents back and forth, it’s time to upgrade. Look for a solution that provides a seamless experience inside Salesforce, or your systems of record, to increase adoption and ensure compliance.

How quickly you can adjust templates when regulations or company priorities shift could make the difference between a smooth go-to-market strategy and a clunky time-consuming project that takes high-value employees away from important activities. To avoid these risks for your company, make sure you have a solution that can scale with your changing business and that is set up to change with you as technology and customer expectations grow. When done right, having the right document generation solution in place can increase efficiency, reduce risk, and allow your business to scale.

Curious to learn more about the needs of today’s sales teams and how a modern document generation can increase your ability to scale with a rapidly changing market? Tune in to our webinar, Improving Sales Efficiencies with Modern Document Generation, to start your journey toward SMARTer document transformation.

5 Major Trends Impacting the Financial Services Industry

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Ayla

The COVID-19 health crisis has forced organizations to pivot to new ways of working. Companies and government agencies are fighting to maintain business continuity while helping their customers, employees and other stakeholders cope with the stress of a health crisis. For banks and financial services institutions, the pandemic has had a major impact on both consumer and commercial banking.

In the past 12 months, banks have had to shift customer-facing processes to digital – years ahead of schedule – while also moving staff to remote work environments and dealing with increased support call volumes. According to Deloitte, “the future showed up early” in the banking and investment management sectors and there is an “inextricable link between recovering from COVID-19’s impact and transforming operations to power success in the years ahead.”

Let’s dive into five major trends that will continue to impact the financial services industry in the months to come and discuss how organizations can set themselves up for success.

1. Customers will increasingly prefer to self serve on digital channels with higher expectations for 24/7 speed and simplicity.

Prior to the pandemic, customers were already becoming increasingly interested in a digital-first approach. According to IDC, 40% of in-branch appointments will be initiated on digital platforms and then fulfilled by specialists by 2022 and by 2023, 75% of all consumer and small business loans will be originated through AI-enabled and automated processes.

The pandemic only accelerated this, driving businesses to shift budgets toward investing in technology that improves or enables customer self-service through digital and mobile channels. Customer movement toward mobile-first experiences will likely become more commonplace, and it will be crucial to bring more engaging experiences, such as video chat, within the confines of mobile. Contactless financial transactions are here to stay.

At the same time, all of this digital activity has put a spotlight on fraud and data management. Financial services firms will continue to accelerate investment in technology to automate fraud protection around areas like identity verification and biometrics, as well as other digital solutions to improve internal efficiencies and reduce the need for employees to handle paper or continue manual work.

2. Fintech competitors will continue to disrupt.

Banks have been facing disruption from new fintech competitors for several years and this will continue. Several challenger financial institutions are entering the market as mobile-only banking providers. Apple, for example, has partnered with Goldman Sachs on a credit card offering, while Google has partnered with Citigroup to offer checking accounts. These trends will drive banks to explore and launch “born-digital” products that are increasingly autonomous and embedded in digital ecosystems. Many fintechs and challenger banks are attracting consumers with new account features, such as paycheck management.

3. Conversational banking and real-time engagement will be competitive differentiators.

Banking leaders will continue to focus on driving positive emotions and showing empathy through digital communications, however this this will be driven by robots, not humans. In 2021, banks will continue investing in the idea of “conversational banking,” using chatbots, SMS messaging and mobile apps to enable real-time engagement. According to Celent, 89% of firms are increasing budget investment in mobile and online banking.

We can anticipate that banks will need to prioritize mobile, focusing on alerts and notifications, secure messaging, card and data management and conversation services to assist customers. Furthermore, banks are looking to use incoming information, coupled with known data, to dynamically generate “next best offers” or other recommendations to engage and deepen client relationships.

4. Customers facing financial hardships will be top-of-mind.

In 2021, banks will still be dealing with defaults and lower deposits because of economic hardships created by the COVID-19 crisis. Businesses and individuals facing financial difficulties need to know how to work with their banks and lenders to negotiate loans and loan forgiveness, and banks that focus on loss mitigation without communicating empathy risk losing those customers.

At the same time, financial institutions are looking to minimize losses. In 2021, many banks will be working to identify customers that are at a higher risk of financial vulnerability, even before they have reached out to the bank, to help these individuals stay solvent and manage their expenses during an uncertain time.

In the UK, federal regulators are asking banks and insurers to use data and analytics, along with automated processes, to identify and respond appropriately to “vulnerable” customers, which includes those undergoing financial hardship. The Financial Conduct Authority wants firms to understand the needs of vulnerable customers in its target market and design products, services and communications to meet those needs.

5. Data will be the linchpin to providing a seamless, consistent customer experience.

All of these efforts rely on centralizing data, a challenge many institutions face as they cobble together “best-of-breed” systems to support various lines of business and channels. These various systems often have their own mechanism for producing client communications, which leads to inconsistent messaging, compliance challenges, and internal inefficiencies.

Although several customer channels will remain collection points for customer interactions, banks looking to improve customer engagement will need to invest in ways to aggregate and manage that data in common resource points. This will enable customer experience leaders across the business to analyze behavior and then build orchestrated journeys with relevant content– whenever and wherever they want to manage their money.

Interested in learning more? Smart Communications recently collected insights from industry thought leaders to uncover major trends that will impact how businesses communicate with their customers in 2021. Check out the full eBook today!

4 Ways Forms Automation Can Enhance the Healthcare Member Experience

Posted on March 27, 2023 by SmartComm

By: John Zimmerer, VP of Healthcare Marketing at Smart Communications

It’s said that repetition is the key to mastery. With this in mind, anyone who has visited a doctor’s office or filed a claim with their health insurer should be an expert at filling out paperwork. Given all the advances elsewhere in healthcare, it sounds silly, right? Perhaps, though, not as silly as the fact that people are still expected to complete the same paperwork online and in-person. This certainly isn’t a great way to meet the expectation of helping consumers be seen and known as individuals. There is, however, an opportunity for insurers to become experts at creating an exceptional healthcare member experience.

In the case of manual processes and paper forms, the repetitive nature is more of a headache than anything else—for both payers and members alike. This approach has proven to be unsustainable and unsuccessful for meeting members’ needs and enhancing their trust in health insurers. Simply put, member expectations have exceeded the capabilities provided by static forms and one-way communications. Health insurers must rethink how they engage with members and adopt solutions that enable interactive, two-way conversations.

When it comes to optimizing the healthcare member experience and building loyalty, unfortunately it’s time for health insurers to play catch up. To dive into the topic a bit more, we commissioned Forrester to conduct research into the current state of member experience. The resulting report, Disjointed Experiences Cost Insurers Members and Money: The Bleak Reality of Member Experience with US Health Insurers, highlights the opportunities available for health insurers to make improvements to each stage in a member’s journey, such as collecting member information. Something to keep in mind: when we refer to the member journey, this is the typical pathway members take with an insurer—engaging with touchpoints along the way—to achieve a particular goal.

Fortunately, there are technology resources available today that can take the member experience to a new level nearly immediately. SmartIQ, for example, gives health insurers a competitive advantage and the ability to quickly implement or extend a digital-first strategy. Using a forms automation solution helps to digitize, optimize and modernize the forms process across the healthcare member experience.

This article dives into the tangible benefits of digital forms and specifically highlights how health insurers can:

Enhance the healthcare member experience by making meaningful, incremental improvements
Drive down call volume and improve the member experience with claim-related forms
Transform the manual, paper-based processes to digital, intuitive experiences
Optimize the processes for member-submitted claims and adjudication

1. Use Low-Code Solutions to Eliminate Manual Forms

In healthcare, forms are everywhere and at every stage of the member lifecycle. While forms are just one stage of a member’s journey, they’re often the most important. They can provide a starting point for two-way, interactive conversations—giving insurers the ability to gain deeper insight into their members’ needs and expectations and respond in a manner that’s personalized and meaningful.

The process for gathering the necessary member data isn’t always easy or efficient—especially since paper forms lack the interactivity that drives rich, in-depth engagement and the ability for payers to meet members wherever they are. Research even showed that nearly 60% of consumers abandon a form if the process is too difficult. Even worse, manual processes create a transactional relationship between member and payer which isn’t ideal for an industry as intimate as health insurance.

A low-code forms automation solution helps health insurers enhance member engagement by paving the way for a better end-to-end experience. It removes the additional hoops that consumers must jump through when filing or appealing claims. Eliminating manual forms in favor of digital solutions creates a less burdensome member experience and improves operational efficiency for the payer. With digital processes in place, payers can focus on building member loyalty and trust through empathetic conversations at every interaction.

A person’s health and financial security are both intensely subjective and personal topics. And, depending on an individual’s situation, there’s no shortage of emotions when members interact with payers. That’s why it’s key to create easier ways for members to submit information in critical journeys like submitting claims and filing appeals. This will reduce the level of stress and anxiety during these engagements.

RELATED READING | ‘Eliminate Healthcare Forms and Boost Member Satisfaction with Cloud Technology’

2. Improve the Healthcare Member Experience with SMARTER Conversations

The key to improving member engagement is creating more seamless, efficient interactions. Static or fillable PDFs and web forms don’t allow payers to nurture interactive conversations that provide the deeper insights they need to meet members’ needs.

As previously mentioned, the health insurance industry is lagging in digital transformation—a fact that’s creating friction in attracting new members and keeping them loyal. Improvement starts with identifying and measuring key member journeys, with the goal of prioritizing changes. Through this audit, organizations can identify processes and functions that may benefit from automation, specifically looking for opportunities to make incremental improvements. These are often manual tasks, such as responding and following up on claims-related interactions. Automating these processes can enhance both the member and employee experiences.

The opportunity to improve the healthcare member experience is perhaps most visible within the claims process. Members submit claims for a variety of reasons. One common type of claim is a request for reimbursement for covered items purchased over the counter. Requests for reimbursement for COVID-19 test kits are a great example of how insurers should modify existing processes to comply with new and changing mandates. Using cloud technology to tackle these types of reimbursement requests will result in faster settlement times and ultimately, happier members and employees.

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3. Enable Intelligent Conversations for Claims Appeals

Despite a health insurer’s best efforts, there are occasionally issues with how claims are adjudicated. Sometimes, the issue is related to the timing of when claims are received versus the chronological order of dates of service. When something is amiss, a member will want to appeal the initial determination.

Unfortunately, there are several problems with the current state of claims appeals. When questions arise, members are often asked to contact the call center and are then instructed to submit a generic appeal form to request a redetermination. This form is an important step along the claims redetermination pathway.

But what happens when agents are bogged down or lack the training necessary to help members solve even this basic problem? Furthermore, often completing the necessary forms are highly manual efforts for both payer and member and unfortunately do not include any pre-populated, known information based on the member’s information or specific claim.

This immediately leads to member dissatisfaction, lack of trust and inability for members to self-service a claims appeal. Even though Forrester has found speaking on the phone was the most reliable channel for members, that same research shows that 51% were dissatisfied with their experience with the call center.

After contacting the call center, members may have a difficult time simply finding an appeal form. Once they do find the correct form, there’s an additional headache of filling out and submitting the form. This method forces a member to print and mail or fax the form (along with supporting documents) to the insurance company and wait for a response. It’s inconvenient for both the payer and member as it adds additional time to get to a resolution.

There are many other pitfalls to this approach, such as:

Members skipping a required field or forgetting an attachment
Issues with imaging and processing the form, which leads to incomplete or inaccurate information being entered and processed on the business side
Members accidentally sending the form to the wrong address or the form being lost in transit
Incomplete forms, which leads to delays and increases frustration for member and operational expenses for the payer

Alternatively, and ideally, the appeal form should be an intelligent interview providing a guided member experience. A link to the interview can be embedded directly into the explanation of benefits. That way, all the data related to a specific claim can be pre-populated, allowing the member to focus on the reason for requesting a redetermination. The member can easily download a copy of the form and a copy can be attached to a case for review by an Appeals and Grievances member. With this approach, insurers can effectively communicate via the member’s channel of choice and maintain all communications seamlessly.

4. Automate the Healthcare Forms Process with Cloud Technology

The need and desire to automate processes continues to spread across most enterprises. This evolution has been integral to the success of workforces. In industries like healthcare, however, disjointed systems continue to create siloed approaches to even the simplest processes.

Cloud technology has made easier work of implementing automated solutions, as well as refining digitized business processes. Considering the healthcare forms process, some benefits of automating with cloud technology are:

Improved healthcare member experience

When automated, the healthcare member experience is transformed from a ‘hunt and hope’ approach to a personalized, ‘how may we help you?’ conversation. The payer already has access to the data in their systems of record without the need for the member to re-enter previously provided information. Interactions are member-led throughout the entire process and broken down into bite-sized chunks that are easily consumable. Since files, images or receipts can easily be attached, there’s no need to print, fax or mail anything. An e-signature process delivers digital data to all stakeholders. This results in improved CAHPS/HEDIS (STAR ratings), CX Index and NPS scores. And, most importantly, a reduction in burden on the member.

Increased efficiency throughout the claims process

Insurers can use the same technology to reimagine member-submitted claims. By moving business logic up front and limiting the amount of data entry required through integration with systems of record, fewer claim forms are rejected and reprocessed. Starting and staying digital means payers can eliminate scanning and using OCR software on physical forms. Ultimately, this reduces processing times and improves financial performance across the organization.

Lower regulatory risk

Using a truly digital forms solution, more member-submitted claims can be auto-adjudicated. Member-submitted claims can easily be paid within regulated timeframes, typically 30 days from receipt, reducing the risk of escalated appeals or grievances. This also eliminates fees, fines or penalties, as well as a negative reputation or public relations issues.

Conclusion

As health insurers identify ways to enhance the member experience, it all must start by understanding members as individuals – meeting them where they are and providing interactions that are tailored and relevant. Digitizing form-based processes, for example, can meaningfully move the needle on the end-to-end member experience. Give members a chance to rebuild trust in the healthcare industry by deploying sophisticated cloud technology to meet them at any time or place.

Forms automation solutions like SmartIQ provide near-term benefits in a long-term digital transformation journey—something that is desperately needed to remove all barriers to better member conversations. This will optimize the member experience and help employees on the insurers’ claims teams foster exceptional interactions at every touchpoint across the entire member experience.

It’s safe to say that automated solutions powered by cloud technology are critical to creating memorable experiences that boost member engagement and foster a level of care that insurers can be proud to offer their consumers.

Now that’s a process worth repeating.

To discover how low-code solutions can help health insurers boost member engagement, access our on-demand webinar to see SmartIQ in action. Or, request a demo for more information about how payers can benefit from the SmartIQ solution.

3 Ways a Better Digital Forms Experience Helps Health Payers Increase Star Ratings

Posted on March 27, 2023 by SmartComm

By: John Zimmerer, Vice President of Healthcare Marketing at Smart Communications

Star Ratings are a critical aspect for customers when evaluating health insurance plans as they help consumers make informed decisions about their health coverage. To increase enrollments, insurers should strive to keep their Star Rating above a 4.0, but they also need to think about the existing customers they serve. That means enhancing the overall customer experience and increasing customer loyalty, sometimes a tough ask with constantly shifting regulations and the need to accelerate digital transformation weighing on organizations.

In this article, we talk about how insurers can increase their Star Ratings by focusing on one of the top contributors to the overall customer experience: communications. To provide excellent communications across all channels where members interact with the business, health insurers need to help members feel seen and known as individuals. This starts with developing a strong customer communications strategy, made possible by leveraging pure cloud CCM solutions. As part of that communications strategy, insurers also need the proper forms solutions to gather member data and put it into action while ensuring they’re compliant and secure. Keep reading to learn the three ways a better digital forms experience helps to increase Star Ratings and customer loyalty, but first, we’ll touch on why Star Ratings matter.

Why are Star Ratings Important for Health Insurers?

Measures quality of care: Based on various factors—such as preventive care, patient experience and medical outcomes—Star Ratings give consumers a comprehensive picture of the plan’s performance. This information can help consumers choose the best plan for their needs and ensure they receive quality care.

Promotes competition: Star Ratings create competition among health insurance providers, encouraging them to improve their services and invest in the systems and processes that help them support their members. As a result, members benefit from a wider range of high-quality options and can choose the plan that best fits their needs.

Improves transparency: The ratings provide a clear, unbiased assessment of the quality of benefits and services offered by health insurance plans, which can help consumers compare plans and make better-informed decisions about their health coverage.

Supports evidence-based decision making: Star Ratings are based on data, including patient surveys and medical records, which helps to ensure that the ratings are accurate and factual. This data-driven approach supports evidence-based decision making and helps consumers choose the best plan for their needs, an especially important factor considering the growing digital native cohort who’ve become accustomed to making decisions quickly.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE | ‘4 Ways Forms Automation Can Enhance the Healthcare Member Experience‘

1. Digital Forms Can Help Address This Customer Driver Behind CX and Loyalty

As of 2023, Star Ratings have become more impacted by customer experience (CX) with member experience metrics making up 57% of Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage plans. Considering 1 in 3 customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience, it’s critical to avoid situations that can lead to this. With that said, effective customer communications management is key to providing a positive customer experience. Health insurers should aim to provide clear and concise information about their plans, including claim-related communications. The requirement to provide personalized communications, tailored to the individual member’s needs, also extends to forms processes.

For example, claims appeals can become tricky when using traditional methods of communicating between a member and the payer. When questions arise, members are typically instructed to contact a call center and find, fill out and submit a generic appeal form to request redetermination. This multi-step approach increases the customer effort (another factor that impacts Star Ratings) and ultimately leads to frustration. However, this form is an important piece of information during the redetermination process and can’t be overlooked.

Using a digital forms solution, on the other hand, allows members to engage in an intelligent interview that provides a guided experience. A link to the interview can be embedded directly into the Explanation of Benefits (EOB). After submitting their responses to the interview, members can download a copy of the appeal form for their records. By integrating the interview with core systems, an Appeals and Grievances staff member can be notified of the submission and start the review process. This allows insurers to provide members with a self-service option and save time and money by removing steps related to receiving, scanning and routing paper forms.

2. Build Loyalty by Helping Customers Understand Their Plans

Health insurance can be a confusing and complicated topic for many consumers. With many different plans and options available, it can be difficult to understand exactly what is covered under a particular policy and what out-of-pocket costs might be incurred. However, health insurers can build loyalty by helping their customers understand their health plans and making the process of navigating the healthcare system easier.

One way to do so is by providing clear and concise information about the different aspects of a health plan. This might include easy-to-understand descriptions of coverage options, deductibles, copays and other terms that are commonly used in the healthcare industry. By providing this information in a format that is easy to understand, payers can help customers feel more confident in their decision-making and more comfortable with the choices they have made. This enhances the overall member experience, thus, increasing loyalty and customer retention.

In addition to providing clear information about the details of a health plan, health insurers can also help their customers understand the broader healthcare system. For example, they can offer resources and tools that explain how to find a doctor, how to schedule appointments and how to access other benefits. By offering this type of support, customers will feel more empowered and in control of their healthcare experience, including having more options to easily self-serve when necessary.

Offering personalized support and guidance will require the right systems and processes in place, like SmartIQ, a sophisticated digital forms solution. Providing this type of personalization, health insurers ensure customers feel heard and valued, and can establish a deeper connection with their members. Straightforward information about the costs of healthcare services, and clear explanations about any restrictions or limits on coverage, will help build trust and establish a strong relationship with their customers.

3. Create a User-Friendly, Digital Forms Experience

The member’s experience with forms is measured by the CAHPS surveys and translates to the customer service metric in the Stars Rating. When providing interacting with a health-related form, everything from which colors are used to font sizes and the information architecture influence a member’s perception of the brand. All are also key factors in creating user-friendly forms experience. But, how do health insurers know what to look for when creating responsive and user-friendly digital forms that elicit a positive response from members? The good news is, a pure cloud forms solution enables organizations to create a truly responsive forms experience, meaning it will look and operate the same across all platforms and channels. A few things to keep in mind:

Use what you know. Leverage integrations with core systems and single sign-on to pull data into forms so that members can review and revise rather than rekey this information. This will reduce the member’s effort as well as the opportunity for data entry errors.
Make the form visually appealing. Use a clean and organized layout, including clear headings/subheadings, helping customers quickly find the information they need. Consider using colors and images to make the form more appealing and easier to navigate.
Keep it simple and straightforward. Avoid using technical terms/jargon that may be confusing or misleading to customers. If specific terminology must be used, be sure to provide clear explanations of any terms that may be unfamiliar to customers. This includes using help text in the form.
Make the form accessible. Ensure all digital forms are accessible to customers with disabilities; this isn’t simply a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have, given 508 compliance mandates. Use appropriate formatting, like larger text/high-contrast colors, and include alternative text descriptions for images. We offer a guide to help make SmartIQ interviews WCAG-compliant.
Validate information in real-time. Use real-time validation to alert customers of any errors or missing information as they complete the form. This helps reduce the risk of errors and ensure that the form is completed correctly the first time, diminishing the chance for customer frustration and/or eliminate delays.

The above list is not exhaustive by any means but it’s important not to overlook this key point to enhancing star ratings and customer loyalty. In fact, 60% of customers will abandon a form if the process is too difficult—something that could be mitigated by deploying modern forms that are easy to engage with. The right vendor partnership will help insurers optimize the systems and processes they use to interact with customers, including the user-friendliness of their forms experiences.

**If you’d like more information on Star Ratings, customer experience and how to enhance member loyalty, watch the webinar recording of ‘Latest Benchmarks & Top Priorities for Health Payers’ featuring Judy Weader from Forrester Research. If you’re ready to take your health insurance organization to the next level.**

3 Reasons to Rethink How You Collect Customer Information

Posted on March 27, 2023 by SmartComm

By: Neal Keene, Field CTO at Smart Communications

According to a recent Forbes article , in 2021 we can expect the customer experience to become increasingly conversational. But what does this really mean for your business, and how can you ensure you’re set up to succeed?

From acquisition to onboarding and servicing, businesses must ensure the end-to-end customer experience is better than ever – and that begins with how information is collected. Customers need to provide information throughout their lifecycle with a business, which often means asking them to fill out a form. Unfortunately, this touchpoint is oftentimes neglected, creating impersonal, friction-filled and frustrating customer experiences.

Let’s discuss three ways enterprises can optimize their forms processes, ultimately reducing abandonment rates while simultaneously building brand loyalty and creating a more conversational experience.

1. Legacy tools like paper-based or PDF forms are off-putting.
All too often, businesses ask customers to either download, print and scan paperwork, or enter already known information into an online form. And if forms aren’t web or mobile friendly, customers may avoid engaging altogether – 50% of consumers prefer online forms versus a paper-based process and 35% want forms to be easy to access on mobile.

2. Nearly 60% of customers will abandon a form if the process is too difficult.
The majority of consumers – nearly 60% — recently indicated they would be likely to abandon an interaction if a company has an inefficient process for collecting information. However, in the same report, we uncovered that adaptive forms – where companies gradually collect data at strategically timed intervals – are the least common means of collecting customer information. Most organizations are still using a combination of paper (about 50%) or static, online forms (nearly 60%).

3. The future of customer conversations is digital-first.
Companies need to understand customers on an individual level to uncover new ways to meet their needs and provide additional value. If interactions are still paper-based and static, enterprises risk creating a significant gap between what customers expect and what is being delivered. Cloud-based solutions that provide intelligent, conversational user experiences allow businesses to gradually collect data at strategically timed intervals, and only ask customers relevant questions that consider previous answers with the ability to start and stop the form without losing information.

As businesses rethink customer engagement, it’s time to shift away from one-way, transactional communications to meaningful, two-way customer conversations. And, investing in forms transformation is a key step in optimizing the end-to-end customer experience.

Beyond collecting information and checking boxes, redefining how information is gathered means businesses can respond quickly and via preferred channels – a critical component of every stage within the customer lifecycle. Smart forms modernize the collection and use of customer information, empower customers to initiate conversations with businesses and remove friction from critical interactions.

Enterprises must engage their customers in dynamic, two-way conversations, which means they must more effectively collect customer information and then use that information to respond appropriately, quickly and via preferred channels – something that remains critical throughout every stage of the customer lifecycle.

To learn how Smart Communications can power your business’ forms transformation, check out SmartIQ^TM.

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Low-Code Forms Solutions for Business Users

Maintaining Brand Standards in a Digital Environment

Global, Cloud Offering Enhances Security and Compliance

Additional Benefits of Forms Modernization

Learn more about how our low-code forms solution can help your company better serve its customers and enhance the end-to-end customer experience.

Pandemic-Prompted Transformation

New Healthcare Regulations Around the Globe

Regulatory Trends in Financial Services

What to Look For

Tackle customer service volumes with digital channels

Start engaging proactively with your policy holders

Think big, start small, scale fast

About the Author

1. Use Low-Code Solutions to Eliminate Manual Forms

2. Improve the Healthcare Member Experience with SMARTER Conversations

3. Enable Intelligent Conversations for Claims Appeals

4. Automate the Healthcare Forms Process with Cloud Technology

Improved healthcare member experience

Increased efficiency throughout the claims process

Lower regulatory risk

Conclusion

To discover how low-code solutions can help health insurers boost member engagement, access our on-demand webinar to see SmartIQ in action. Or, request a demo for more information about how payers can benefit from the SmartIQ solution.

Why are Star Ratings Important for Health Insurers?

1. Digital Forms Can Help Address This Customer Driver Behind CX and Loyalty

2. Build Loyalty by Helping Customers Understand Their Plans

3. Create a User-Friendly, Digital Forms Experience