INK – Placing customers at the heart of digital innovation

It’s not uncommon for any company to say they put their customers at the heart of what they do, but with colleagues like Annie Westcott, marketing and insight executive, firmly embedded in the development of INK, that’s exactly the mindset we’ve created here at Minster Law.

Designed to streamline the journey our customers take through the clever application of innovative digital technology with the expertise of our people INK is already improving outcomes and simplifying the claims process for 16 thousand customers.

Thinking like the customer

As our team worked through the design process for INK, an integral part of keeping customers at the heart of every decision were colleagues like Annie Wescott.

Her  job is to think like the customer, informed by the data she has collated through surveys, reviews and integrated reporting throughout the claims journey.

“My role is to sense check all elements of the design which could affect the customer. For example, if we’re including content, is it written in a way they’ll understand? If something new is being added, what support functions are we providing?”

“Minster understands, not all of our customers are tech savvy, so we wanted to make a portal which is accessible to all which means looking at the smallest of details, like the icon we use on a loading screen.”

Mobile first

Annie’s life at Minster began in our operational teams, helping clients on the phone through the initial stages of their claims journey – so she has first-hand experience seeing the vulnerability of clients and the level of support they need.

During the interface redesign for INK she was particularly involved, every thought had to come from the perspective of the customer, “such as making the website mobile first, because we know more than 70% of customers will access it that way,” she said.

“We looked at the technology customers would be using in their day to day lives, sourcing examples from other companies and apps to see how they engage and communicate with their customers”.

“The ability to move seamlessly from their mobile, to their computer, to speaking directly with an advisor is just a modern-day expectation from customers, and so the research really provided a basis for our thinking.”

A broad range of customers and needs
During the build of the portal if anything seemed self-explanatory, Annie was there to represent each of the many different types of customers we have, and spot any potential flaws in the design before it went live.

“We have such a broad range of customers; it could be from a female 18-year-old all the way through to a man in his 90s and I have to think like all of those people,” she said.

For Annie, one of the most important elements in the new portal was the integrated FAQ function, designed to provide customers with the answers they need, when they need it.

Technology that teaches itself

She worked with subject matter experts across the business, from the advisors who speak directly with customers on-a-daily-basis, to their managers and team leaders, as well as looking back through customer surveys and feedback, all to understand the questions customers would be asking, how they would be asking them and how to provide the best possible answers.

“A customer can now type in only a few words and be presented with questions we think they may want an answer to and the answers to those questions,” she said.

“The way the technology works is that our FAQ function will continue to teach itself, we can include new ways we think the customer may ask the question or new questions they may ask based on the responsive feedback and it will continue to get better at delivering the best answers.”

She said on the surface an FAQ section is just seen as a list of questions and answers, but with INK it was built on a solid foundation of customer feedback, surveys and the understanding of our frontline operational teams.

Improvement through feedback

As INK continues to move and evolve Annie will remain closely in touch with the process to ensure it remains a seamless process for our customers.

“Customers have the ability to leave feedback directly in the portal and we have analytics sitting behind the portal which will enable us to ensure it continues to improve the customer journey.”

“We’re building a massive capability to see how our customers integrate with the portal which gives us the ability to improve it even further.”