Founded in 2018, the global travel insurance company battleface works with travel partners and consumers to provide single-trip insurance and multi-trip annual insurance. The company covers medical expenses and emergency assistance. Cancel for any reason insurance is available as an optional add-on.
battleface needed a way to capture honest feedback directly from customers so that they could improve their product. They partnered with Trustpilot, using automated email review invitations and region-specific reviews on each homepage to collect and display customer reviews. As a direct result of intel from Trustpilot reviews, battleface pivoted from outsourcing their claims process to launching a brand-new, in-house claims platform, leading to speedier claim processing, happier customers, and more five-star reviews.
Valuing feedback
The battleface team wanted a way to get feedback directly from customers so they could evolve to better meet customer needs and preferences. “At battleface, the customer is king,” says Katie Crowe, Global Head of PR and Communications. “They’re at the forefront of everything we do.”
They researched the review platform marketplace. “Trustpilot really stood out because of its presence among our competitors,” Crowe says. “But also, it has a very user-friendly interface and a wide audience reach. It was kind of a no-brainer.”
Since then, battleface has added Trustpilot review widgets to their regional landing pages. When a US-based customer visits the website, they’ll see reviews specific to that region. “This allows us to showcase these authentic reviews on our platforms while actually collecting insights,” Crowe adds. Trustpilot automated email review invitations also help battleface collect customer reviews.
Improving through feedback
Many companies like to brag about their positive reviews. But by paying attention to trends in negative reviews, battleface improved their claims process. They noticed that customers were frustrated with processing times for their travel insurance claims.
At the time, battleface had outsourced claims management. This meant less control over processing times, leading to frustrating customer experiences and reviews. To improve the customer experience, they brought this process in-house. “Earlier this year [2023], we launched Robin Assist, which is our emergency medical assistance and claims platform,” Crowe says. “This is a direct result of customer feedback through our Trustpilot reviews.”
Since battleface implemented Robin Assist, they’ve seen more positive reviews around the claims process, and knowing that claims are a frequent sticking point for travel insurance customers, they highlight these reviews in their marketing to differentiate their business.
Responding to reviews
When a customer needs to file a claim for medical assistance on a trip, it can be one of the most stressful events of their lives. Not only is their vacation ruined, but their health may be in jeopardy, and they want their claim paid quickly and with as little hassle as possible. These heightened emotions mean that the battleface team needs to react to reviews as fast as possible so that their reviews show quick issue resolution and slow resolution times don’t drag down their online reputation.
“We monitor the Trustpilot reviews page very closely, and we are very quick to respond to that customer,” Crowe says. “We never leave anyone in the dark, and we make sure that we’re properly communicating.” Generally, they respond to negative reviews on Trustpilot but also move the conversation offline so they can communicate with that customer one-on-one and get their issue resolved.
When responding to reviews, the battleface team adapts their word choice, spelling, and tone of voice for each region. For instance, American consumers tend to communicate in a direct manner, while British consumers might be more reserved. American English and British English also use different spellings. That way, customers feel that they’re getting a response from a real human who understands them. This is especially important in an era when customers have come to expect frustratingly impersonal responses.
“Reputations can be affected overnight, so you have to really be there and communicate with your customers to make sure that you’re managing your reputation,” Crowe says. Monitoring and responding to Trustpilot reviews is a big part of their reputation management and customer retention strategy.
"Online reviews are now a key part of a brand’s business model. You can’t ignore them; you have to attend to them. Other customers can then see and learn that we’re dealing with their situation."
Customers are understandably choosy about who they do business with, so trust matters now more than ever. Simply building a solid reputation with customers isn’t enough. Companies must make their brand’s positive reputation visible so that current and future customers know who to trust.
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