Switching. That word isn't relevant to large consumer groups all year round, but it CERTAINLY will be in the coming months. Research by Vektis shows that more than 1 million Dutch people switched health insurance last year, so the annual switching fever is already slowly becoming noticeable in the health insurance market.
Research by WUA! in recent years shows that respondents who consider switching to another health insurer do so primarily because they expect to pay less with another provider. Nothing Dutch is foreign to us, you might say. Dissatisfaction with the current health insurer naturally also plays a role. Respondents who don't consider switching are satisfied with their current situation in 41% of cases, as our 2014 report showed, when Zilveren Kruis was the winner in a real neck-and-neck race. Why Zilveren Kruis became the winner last year, we'll come back to that later. Let's first take a look at what's going so well at DSW.
What you can learn from DSW
DSW traditionally announced the price for the basic health insurance premium first last month. The premium at DSW is €98.75 in 2016, which is €3.75 higher than in 2014 and 2015 when the premium was €95 per month. Anyone visiting DSW's website immediately sees that premium, clear as day, prominently displayed on the homepage.
DSW's homepage with the price that matters to many Dutch people prominently displayed.
1 Use clear pricing
No nonsense, that's how you could describe DSW's pricing strategy and approach. Perhaps you could now speak of a first-mover advantage. Traditionally communicating the price first hasn't been a bad strategy for the family business from Schiedam last year. DSW managed to expand its customer base with tens of thousands of new customers, which is quite an achievement.
2 Less is More
If price is indeed the most important factor for people to switch, why do many companies make premium calculations and price overviews unnecessarily complicated and unclear? In last year's research, DSW came out best when it came to the final offering. Naturally, DSW's attractive rates were praised on the website, but the clarity of the offering stood out to various respondents: the limited choice that DSW offers consumers actually makes choosing easier. Less is more. Nice advantages at DSW for health insurers to consider (if this hasn't already been incorporated into the ordering process on the website) are, according to consumers, spreading payments for the deductible and free choice of care.
3 Brand can provide trust
Think about your own brand: how much trust does it radiate, and what do you do to genuinely give customers or consumers confidence that what you do is good? At WUA! we dive deep into brand during online orientation research: everything related to the organization or brand behind the product and website. Where in the first phase (first impression) a general feeling emerges of a trustworthy party, in the exploration phase that feeling must be confirmed, or even strengthened. During last year's research, the list of providers ranked by brand preference looked like this:
Source table: WUA! Web Performance Scan Health Insurance 2014.
DSW is seen by consumers as a transparent company with a very clear and customer-focused vision. The company is described as sympathetic, homely and idealistic by respondents in last year's research. The contact options are also regularly rated positively. The expected service seems good in many people's eyes because DSW is easily accessible. This creates the feeling that nothing is being hidden, which naturally generates trust and brand preference.
4 Make ordering simple and progress clear
In the 2014 research, DSW scored exceptionally high with a score of 89 on the ordering process component. Respondents were very satisfied with DSW.nl's ordering process due to the speed with which health insurance can be requested. People are also very positive about the clarity of the process: the steps at the top provide a good overview of where you are in the process at any given moment. That's something many companies can easily improve: an ordering process shouldn't be a hassle, you should be guided through it smoothly, simply and pleasantly!
