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Esurance embraces mobile-based transactional messages to enhance customer service

Esurance is using transactional mobile messaging to provide a better customer experience as smartphone-savvy consumers increasingly expect service-based alerts. 

The online insurance company developed more than 20 unique transactional messages, including updates for when a vehicle is ready at a repair shop and an alert that additional information is needed to resolve a claim. The company is one of several to test Vibes? new transactional messaging technology. 

?A large part of our business is centered around customer service and innovating ways that we can make their lives easier with a fast, low-effort experience,? said Eric Brandt, chief claims officer at Esurance. ?Using mobile-based transactional messages has allowed us to stay on the cutting edge of new service-based messaging technology and offer customers an industry leading solution to select how they want to communicate with us.?

Supplementing email
With Esurance?s customers increasingly preferring to communicate and connect with the brand via mobile, it was looking for a seamless, modern way to meet this demand that could supplement or replace email messages for customers. 

Vibes? transactional messaging tool enables Esurance to give its self-directed customers more options to stay updated on their claims status via text messages. Additionally, Esurance can manage communication preferences and have visibility into how customers are interacting with messages. 


By using transactional mobile messages, Esurance expects to improve its messaging strategy, increase efficiency and, ultimately, drive revenue by delivering a better customer experience. 

Vibes? new technology enables brands to offer customers a way to take the kind of messages that typically are sent via email and instead, give customers a way to receive them via text messages, push notifications and/or mobile wallet notifications. 

The messages are triggered by events, such as shipping updates, service prompts, processing alerts, product updates and more. 

Customer preferences
Vibes also surveyed more than 1,000 consumers about their perceptions and preferences in service-based messaging. Key findings include that 70 percent of consumers prefer to receive service-based messages on their mobile phones while two-thirds said shipping alerts for online orders, delivery alerts and payment confirmations would increase their likelihood of making a purchase.


Additionally, 78 percent of consumers said a text message is the fastest way to be reached for important service updates on purchases.

The mobile messaging space is heating up in 2016 as marketing opportunities expand on messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger at the same time that brands take their push notification and text messaging strategies to the next level. 

?Vibes? transactional messaging tool gives us an ability to manage communication preferences and gain visibility in how our customers are actually interacting with the messages,? Mr. Brandt said. ?As a result, we can improve the actual messages we?re sending, increase efficiency and ultimately drive revenue by delivering a better customer experience.?