Rate, Review, Repeat
USAA uses social networking tools to spur sales, quotes and product and service strategies.
Insurance Networking News, 06/01/2010
We all know the power of ratings and reviews. Many cinephiles base their weekend viewing on what critics favor at a given moment, as do music aficionados when browsing through the latest releases. But nowadays, you don't need to be a well-respected reviewer or influential blogger to influence people's decisions. The advent of social media is enabling everyone to wax poetic, or raise or lower their thumb in judgment of anything they choose. Facebook last month even made it possible for members to "like" items on a wide variety of partner sites, furthering both the rating phenomenon as well as its own reach. So, how does this new trend help an insurer looking to improve interactions with its customers or boost sales?
Long-regarded as a customer service champion by users and the industry alike, San Antonio-based United Services Automobile Association (USAA) developed a social media strategy in October of 2008 to address exactly these types of questions. Established in 1922 as a financial services provider to military families, USAA built its reputation and grew its member base largely through word-of-mouth. But in this digital age, USAA recognized the growing shift in how customers research and purchase products, and adapted its view to see social media and online user-generated content, including ratings and reviews, as the digital evolution of that word-of-mouth concept.
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"The leaders of this company have fully understood the value of authentic word-of-mouth for decades," says Thomas Vaughn, USAA's director of social media. "It's not a new concept for us. We wanted to take advantage of our legacy as a relationship company, and drive it forward with a strategy that allows members to research the products and services we offer in the same way they research products on other websites-be it Amazon or somewhere else-that provide an authentic customer voice. It lets users hear from someone they trust."
USAA's strategy consists of four pillars (see "USAA's Four Pillars" below), all of which help to define a user experience on their website that is unlike any other in the marketplace.
"Our strategy has evolved over the last year and a half," Vaughn says. "We started with an in-depth strategy overview trying to address many different needs around the company, as well as member needs, and we've developed that into a much more concise, repeatable strategy that we can get our evangelists around the company to share and understand."
MEMBER RATING 4.8 OUT OF 5
The backbone of USAA's social media strategy comprises ratings and review mechanisms visible throughout the website. Harnessing services from Austin, Texas-based Bazaarvoice, the firm is able to leverage these tools to engage its members on the site, capture their "authentic voice," and provide them real-time product and service feedback. Bazaarvoice also provides an infrastructure to include a moderation service component that includes tools embedded in the Web site that enable members to submit reviews for our acceptance, so USAA can ensure it's following all compliance and regulatory rules, in addition to seeing and acting on any posts that require immediate customer service attention.
Once the tools were in place, USAA conducted usability testing with members, according to Forrester Research Analyst Brad Strothkamp, who profiled the implementation. The firm also ran it in beta for a period in order to get a sense of what they were going to hear from their customers. Despite already knowing that it is well-regarded by its members (as evidenced by USAA topping the Cambridge, Mass.-based research firm's customer advocacy ratings report this year, and having tracked fan pages and user comments on other social media sides such as Facebook), USAA waited to accumulate a larger sampling of star ratings before going live. Once it had gathered a great-enough number of ratings and reviews, USAA put the features into production.
The ratings and reviews, Strothkamp says, are similar to an ongoing survey, with the best type still being of the testimonial and demo variety, as people explain not only how they used a product or service, but how it was a benefit to them. USAA's system, he says, gets to both.
"People talk not only about their customer service, but also about services that they have and the impact of those services on their lives," he explains. "USAA essentially is branchless-and one of the humps it needs to overcome is being comfortable without any physical customer touch points. The ratings and reviews play right into this. A positive review saying, 'I wasn't sure at first about them being branchless, but after using their website, I don't miss the branches' strikes right at the heart of the obstacle others need to overcome to choose USAA as a provider."
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