How focus and the right KPIs drive success in Univé’s CRO program
Univé, one of the largest insurers in the Netherlands, offers a wide range of insurance products. From car insurance to home insurance and everything in between – each product involves a unique digital customer journey. This complexity requires a structured approach to ensure each journey is optimized for the best user experience and maximum conversion.
We spoke with Amanda van der Linden, CRO Specialist at Univé, about her inspiring journey in building and growing a successful CRO program.
Amanda, who has been optimizing digital customer journeys since 2011, joined Univé at the end of 2020 as their first CRO specialist. Since then, she has seen the CRO program grow from nothing to a team of five CRO colleagues in just three years. Her focus lies on the online sales of non-life insurance, and she shares how a CRO mindset has become a success factor for the entire organization.
The power of focus
“We lacked focus,” says Amanda, reflecting on the early days of Univé’s CRO program. “Everyone worked on different products, but we couldn’t really go in-depth on any of them. My proposal was to focus on one product at a time so that we could optimize more effectively.” The product they chose was car insurance.
By focusing on this single product, Amanda’s team was able to conduct in-depth research, formulate sharp hypotheses, and execute extensive tests. This enabled them to improve both the user experience and achieve concrete business results. It acted as a catalyst for a more structured approach across the entire CRO program.
“This focus allowed us not only to set up better tests but also to align our strategy more closely with customer needs and expectations,” Amanda emphasizes. The team could translate these insights into broader optimizations applicable to other products.
KPIs that drive results
In addition to focus, the team established clear KPIs to measure their progress. Two key KPIs were central:
- Form completion rate: The percentage of visitors who start and fully complete a form. Amanda explains: “This gave us insights into where visitors dropped off and where we needed to optimize.”
- Sales contribution of product pages: The percentage of visitors who view a product page and subsequently make a purchase. This KPI helped measure the effectiveness of landing pages.
Univé added a third dimension: benchmarking. “We wanted to know how we scored compared to our competitors,” Amanda shares. By leveraging WUA’s CX research, Univé gained valuable insights into areas for improvement and their market position.
Practical lessons from Univé
Amanda’s approach offers valuable lessons for other organizations looking to improve their CRO efforts:
- Work with hypotheses and tests: “Treat solutions as experiments. Formulate a hypothesis, create a test plan, and learn from the results,” Amanda advises.
- Monitor KPIs over longer periods: “We didn’t just look at monthly results but took averages over multiple months. This gave us a better view of trends.”
- Use multiple data sources: By combining insights from analytics, customer research, and benchmarking studies, Univé created sharper hypotheses with a higher chance of success.
- Involve stakeholders early: “Engaging stakeholders during the research phase helped build support and resulted in better solutions,” Amanda notes.
- Remove unnecessary elements: Amanda highlights the importance of elimination: “Don’t just focus on adding elements; test what happens when you remove them. This can lead to surprising results.”
Amanda provides an example: “On our product pages, we tested social proof elements like reviews. By removing elements that didn’t work well, we drew more attention to the call-to-action.” This strategic approach led to a significant increase in conversions.
Benchmarking as a success factor
A crucial part of Univé’s approach was Customer Journey Benchmarking. Using research from WUA, they analyzed consumer experiences with Univé and its competitors, gathering valuable customer feedback. This gave Univé an objective view of their performance and areas for improvement.
WUA’s CX research allowed Univé to understand how they ranked compared to competitors and identify their unique strengths. “We discovered, for instance, that our competitors used simpler designs on their product pages. These insights helped us optimize our design and better meet customer expectations,” Amanda explains.
The result? Univé’s car insurance climbed from fourth to first place in the market within a year. “Thanks to our focus and the insights from benchmarking, we were able to implement targeted optimizations that made a measurable difference,” Amanda adds.
The importance of long-term thinking
Another key takeaway Amanda shares is the importance of long-term thinking in CRO. “Many organizations expect quick results from CRO, but it’s really a long-term process. The learning curve takes time, and you need to be willing to experiment and learn from your mistakes,” Amanda says.
Univé’s success story is a testament to this principle. By staying disciplined and continuously improving, they not only strengthened their market position but also laid a solid foundation for future growth.
Conclusion
Univé’s story demonstrates that focus, KPIs, and benchmarking are the building blocks of a successful CRO program. By prioritizing clearly, combining data sources, and optimizing strategically, you can achieve impressive results. As Amanda concludes: “Start small, work systematically, and keep learning from your results. That’s the key to sustainable growth.”
Want to learn more about how benchmarking can strengthen your CRO program? Get in touch to discover the possibilities.