How digital services measurably increase sales quotas and customer loyalty

In today’s insurance market, it is no longer enough to simply sell policies. If you want to grow, you have to offer real added value: digital, scalable and relevant to customers’ everyday lives.

Digital value-added services such as health platforms or digital legal advice create precisely this tangible customer benefit and strengthen sales at the same time. When used correctly, they demonstrably increase the closing rate and promote customer loyalty.

In this article, we show how insurers can take advantage of the opportunities offered by value-added services. Strategically well thought out, economically sensible and operationally scalable.

Interchangeable products, increasing competition

The insurance market is undergoing radical change. Standardized products are encountering a new generation of informed, digitally influenced customers who expect more than price comparisons and advertising promises. Price alone is no longer convincing, and familiar differentiating features such as product scope or brand image are also losing traction. At the same time, traditional sales channels are coming under pressure, while digital competitors with platform models and direct customer access are continuously gaining market share.

This is precisely where digital value-added services open up new scope for action. They complement the product portfolio along the entire customer journey, create additional touchpoints and deliver individual added value that really resonates with customers in their everyday lives. This creates proximity, relevance and trust, which strengthens the emotional bond with the brand and turns an insurer from a pure provider into a valued companion. If they are consistently thought through and integrated, digital services can quickly go from being a “nice add-on” to a key element of a modern business model.

Good ideas, but no effect

Although the relevance of digital services is largely undisputed, many insurers fail to turn the existing potential into commercial success. Time and again, the challenge lies not in the idea, but in the implementation. What begins promisingly often fails because of the basics. There is no clear strategic framework that integrates the service into the existing business model and systematically develops its impact. Without this basis, digital added value remains an isolated add-on that is neither anchored internally nor effective externally.

In practice, we repeatedly observe typical patterns that slow down or even prevent the success of digital initiatives:

The outcome is always the same: the initiative costs time and money, ties up internal resources, and delivers no demonstrable ROI.

Value-added services as a strategic component of the business model

We do not see digital value-added services as a gimmick or a mere tool for customer loyalty, but as a strategic lever for growth. They have the potential to simultaneously create customer benefits and achieve key business objectives, be it in the form of higher acquisition rates, lower churn rates or new sources of revenue. It is crucial that digital services are not considered in isolation from the business model, but as a structural component of a modern value creation logic.

Our approach follows a clear, systematic procedure with the aim of not only promising impact, but also realizing it in a measurable way:

1. Recognize relevance – from the customer’s perspective
It all starts with the central question: Which services address real needs along the customer journey? This is not about features, but about functions that noticeably improve the customer experience. Examples include digital prevention services in the healthcare sector, legal advice on demand in the event of a claim or automated processes that shorten waiting times. For a service to be used, it must be understandable, useful and relevant from the customer’s perspective.

2. Ensure profitability – from the business perspective
A digital offering can only be successful in the long term if it is economically viable. This is why we identify and analyze the key economic levers right from the start: How big is the usage potential? How high is the willingness to pay? What influence does the service have on central KPIs such as conversion, customer loyalty or upselling? This economic perspective enables us to ensure that a good service results in a sustainable growth logic.

3. Enable integration – technically, organizationally, strategically
Many digital offerings fail not because of the idea, but because of the implementation. That’s why we think about integration right from the start: Technically through a smooth system connection. Organizationally through clear responsibilities and processes. And strategically, by embedding it in the areas of product development, sales and marketing. Because a service can only develop its full potential if it fits seamlessly into the existing business model.

From added value to measurable business impact

Digital value-added services do far more than just contribute to customer satisfaction. If they are designed correctly and integrated consistently, they have a direct impact on a company’s key performance indicators. They improve sales, promote stable customer relationships and open up new growth opportunities based on sound data. As a result, they develop from an additional offering into a central component of the business model.

What this means in practice can be illustrated particularly clearly using nine areas of impact:

Insurers as platform providers with added value logic

Those who consistently anchor digital value-added services strategically will continue to develop. From a classic product provider to a holistic solution provider. Instead of just managing contracts, this creates ongoing relationships with real added value.

Insurers thus become an active partner in their customers’ everyday lives and not just a point of contact in the event of a claim.

This change opens up far more than just new communication opportunities: it creates the basis for new business models, data-based services and intelligent sales logic. At the same time, it enables a differentiated customer approach that is defined not by price, but by relevance and proximity.

Together with our partners, we are building digital ecosystems that are consistently geared towards the real needs of customers. Modular, scalable and economically viable. Our goal is always to generate real impact: for customers, for the business model and for the future viability of the organization.

Act now before the market does

Digital value-added services are not a gimmick. They are a strategic growth lever.

Anyone investing in relevant services today is not building an accessory, but a sustainable business model. A business model that thinks with the customer, asserts itself on the market and activates sustainable growth.

Our recommendations for getting started:

1. Identify services with real benefits
2. Consider monetization and integration right from the start
3. Think in terms of MVPs to generate quick learning effects
4. Optimize services iteratively and anchor them strategically

Let’s talk about digital added value.
Which services create real customer benefits and how can they be integrated economically? In a non-binding discussion, we will be happy to show you the potential of your business model and how you can turn digital ideas into measurable impact.