Making insurance easier with customer intelligence and AI

When you think of dealing with one’s personal or business insurance needs, the word “easy” likely doesn’t come to mind. ERGO, one of the largest insurance groups in Germany and Europe, wants to change that with a comprehensive digitization strategy.

With presence in more than 20 countries, ERGO serves customers worldwide, offering a comprehensive range of insurance policies, pensions, investments and services. To make the customer experience as personalized as possible, ERGO relies on SAS Customer Intelligence 360, which helps transform information into valuable insights. The solution allows ERGO to meet customers at their individual point of contact by deploying relevant messages at the right time via the right channel – instantly.

“Our collaboration with SAS spans over 35 years, and throughout this time, we’ve always recognized the importance of relevant information and insights,” says Tim Stettner, Head of Advanced Analytics at ERGO. “SAS helps us stay ahead of the curve and cater to the rapidly changing expectations of the hybrid customer.”

Responding to customer needs in a rapidly changing market

Stettner leads a team of data scientists and analytics consultants who help ERGO’s business units make better, faster decisions with insights from data and AI.

As an early adopter of machine learning and deep learning, ERGO is set to predict the next best action or offer for each customer. For instance, a family with a new driver in the household could benefit from additional auto accident insurance, while a travel insurance offer might appeal to a recently retired couple.

“By using machine learning and deep learning, we are significantly improving the experience for the hybrid customer,” Stettner says. “SAS helps us efficiently approach our target group with relevant information and offers in real time. While AI is a relatively new addition to our analysis toolkit, we’ve already seen the real value it can bring – and we know that AI will play a crucial role in helping us become a digital leader in the insurance sector.”

In addition to providing tailored customer engagements, ERGO can forecast workloads and bring the right number of people and resources to the company’s service lines by leveraging both data and AI. ERGO also uses SAS technology to speed up the processing time and payment of legitimate claims.

Win-win situation for customers and employees alike

Automating processes with AI and analytics brings benefits to both sides of the business relationship. Customers get relevant offers and fast answers to their service requests. At the same time, it simplifies employees' work, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks.

“Our business model recognizes that our customers interact with us through both online and offline channels throughout their journeys,” Stettner says. “We aim to provide consistent product recommendations and answers to service requests across these channels. Although AI is a great help with that, we will always keep the personal touch and maintain the human in the loop.”

Blueprint for customer success: strong competence from Nuremberg

The company’s evolving use of technology aligns with its goal to make insurance as simple, fast and convenient as possible for customers, wherever they are. This approach is paying off – with the support of SAS Customer Intelligence 360, ERGO has achieved its strongest level of new customer business in a decade, for the second consecutive year. A key driver of this success is the Omnichannel Sales division in Nuremberg, which is responsible for customer intelligence at ERGO.

“Innovative spirit, genuine customer focus and outstanding teamwork are crucial to ERGO’s success,” says Alexander Hombach, Head of CRM (VP) at ERGO. “By using new technologies, we improve the efficiency of our processes and enhance customer satisfaction. Our Omnichannel Sales division demonstrates how important intelligent customer management is to meet our customers’ constantly evolving needs in a tailored way.”

Relying on a modern hybrid architecture to get ready for the future of insurance

To improve speed and efficiency, ERGO relies on a hybrid IT landscape that combines on-premises and AWS cloud infrastructure. With the cloud-native, agnostic AI and data platform SAS Viya, the insurer gets the scalability and flexibility companies need today to respond fast and individually to their hybrid customers’ needs.

Moreover, with advanced analytics and machine learning provided by SAS Viya, ERGO is best equipped to gain relevant insights, optimize processes and drive innovation. And last but not least, the platform enhances collaboration by enabling real-time data sharing through its cloud-based approach, allowing teams to work together seamlessly regardless of their geographic locations.

“A successful omnichannel strategy requires an integrated and scalable technical infrastructure to reduce complexity, tap synergies and efficiently employ resources,” Stettner says. “The Viya approach to deliver all the different capabilities and tools on one platform is a huge upside for us. The cloud deployment ensures that we always have access to the latest features and enhancements – allowing us to easily expand usage and integrate new use cases whenever needed.”

Integrated strategy for AI

Customers and their constantly evolving expectations are the primary drivers of digital transformation. This requires the consistent application of new technologies and an extensive omnichannel strategy. With SAS Customer Intelligence 360 and the SAS Viya, ERGO lays the foundation for applying new technologies at scale, such as Generative AI – an area the insurer plans to invest significantly in the coming years.

Personalization with a human touch

Thanks to digitalization, consumers have gotten used to seamless sales and service experiences. In short, ERGO’s hybrid approach is about giving customers choice, control and personalization, combining the efficiency of technology with human expertise. It’s not just about offering multiple channels – it’s about making them work together cohesively.

“Ultimately, all the work we do is to make insurance easier and even more personalized for our customers,” Stettner concludes. “SAS helps us do exactly that – we make sure ERGO stays in the hybrid customer’s ‘relevant set.’”