20% Fewer Inquiries Despite Growth: How a 200,000-Policy Insurer Scaled Support Without Adding Seats

Pet & Family Non-Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

Insurance·1-500 employees·Customer Support

20% Fewer Inquiries Despite Growth: How a 200,000-Policy Insurer Scaled Support Without Adding Seats

At a glance

• Inquiry volume reduced 20% despite growing policyholder base
• Inquiry rate improved from 4.5% to approaching 3% range
• Call center costs reduced ~10% (2 seats)
• FAQ utilization ratio trending upward, accelerating adoption

The Challenge

Pet & Family Non-Life Insurance Co., Ltd., a specialist pet insurer in the T&D Insurance Group, had surpassed 200,000 policies in force with premium income exceeding 10 billion yen. As their policyholder base grew, so did inquiry volume. Managing phone and email demand, and the appropriate number of communicator seats at their outsourced call center, was an ongoing challenge.

The company had launched a customer portal ("My Page") in 2020 as part of a broader digital transformation strategy, migrating paper-based procedures like address changes to the web. Approximately 60% of policyholders had registered, with more than half using web-based insurance claims submission. One in three policyholders had registered for the official LINE account. But their traditional list-based FAQ was difficult to navigate, and customers frequently reported being unable to find answers during evenings or weekends when the call center was closed. The company wanted not only to reduce phone inquiry volumes for operational efficiency, but also to improve satisfaction from the user's perspective.

A conversational chatbot had been considered first, but the burden of analyzing past inquiries and building response scenarios was heavy, and questions outside those scenarios still ultimately required a phone call or live chat. The plan was put on hold.

Why Helpfeel

Helpfeel was introduced by the parent company, T&D Holdings, as a tool with proven adoption across the group. The fact that it was created by the developer of the Japanese flick input system for iPhone (now a Technical Fellow at Helpfeel) suggested strong usability credentials and contributed to the decision.

What struck the team as Helpfeel's real strength was the ability for a single article to cover a wide variety of questions through keyword associations. For example, regardless of whether a customer types "insurance premium," "premium payment," "contribution," "bank account," or "credit card" into the search box, the top result displayed is the frequently asked question "I want to change my insurance payment bank account or credit card," leading to one shared explanation article. Additionally, Helpfeel's intent-prediction search had been upgraded to handle full sentences (not just keywords) through a generative AI-powered enhancement, making the FAQ more accessible to senior users in particular, who tend to type full sentences into search boxes.

What They Did

• Migrated content from the old FAQ system and launched Helpfeel in March 2023, adding two to three articles per month while consolidating duplicate content to reach approximately 120 published articles.
• Assigned FAQ operations to a cross-departmental team of four (one representative from each department within the Customer Service Division), gathering ideas and inputs, then reviewing and updating content following monthly meetings with the Helpfeel team.
• Used tactics such as linking to related topics within articles, tagging content for discoverability, and promoting seasonally relevant topics like "flea/tick prevention" to the top of results to steadily increase the rate at which customers find what they're looking for and self-resolve.
• Promoted FAQ usage actively via the official LINE account, with a FAQ link permanently displayed in the rich menu at the bottom of the LINE screen and FAQ usage promoted visually through content pieces mixed in with pet-related lifestyle articles.
• Implemented creative engagement initiatives, including a limited-time "hidden feature" where typing "summer vacation" into the search box triggered a full-screen fireworks animation, combined with seasonal messaging including a summer greeting and awareness reminders about pet risks such as heatstroke and accidental ingestion.

Results

Despite steady growth in the number of policyholders, inquiry volume has been reduced by approximately 20% compared to before Helpfeel was introduced. The inquiry rate improved from the mid-4% range at implementation to the high 3% range, and the low 3% range is now in sight. The FAQ utilization ratio is also trending upward, with FAQ usage accelerating.

With Helpfeel usage firmly established, call center phone lines, despite having fewer seats, have actually become more accessible to callers. The maximum seat reduction achieved was approximately 10%, or 2 seats.

The way the call center handles inquiries has also evolved. For example, in the case of My Page-related questions, communicators previously tended to walk customers through every step of the procedure. Now they can first direct customers to search the FAQ and guide them with "please follow the steps shown there." Customers are also increasingly calling in after already having searched Helpfeel, arriving at the call with more focused and specific questions. This combined effect has shortened average resolution time per case and enabled a higher volume of calls to be handled overall.

During the year-end period when the call center is closed, a targeted FAQ usage appeal was sent via LINE, generating more traffic through that channel than through the website banner, confirming the LINE channel's effectiveness as a promotional vehicle.

Since introducing Helpfeel two years ago, the company has experienced multiple events that would normally trigger a significant spike in inquiries, including the launch of web-based insurance claims and product revisions. Throughout all of this, by continuously enriching the FAQ, the call center has consistently maintained a high response rate without significantly increasing seat count.

"Helpfeel is, in my view, an 'offensive tool', one that allows us to take on new challenges without worrying about internal resource constraints, and to respond more agilely to a changing environment."

Hiroaki Kawada, Director & Executive Officer, Head of Customer Service Division

Looking Ahead

The news that the voice input feature is now supported by the full-sentence intent-prediction search upgrade was very welcome. Customers who aren't experienced searchers can now find what they need in a way that feels close to natural conversation, a further usability improvement. The company plans to promote this capability through LINE and other channels.

The team also wants to invest further in refining the FAQ through closer collaboration with the call center. For example, for complex escalated inquiries that get transferred from a communicator to headquarters, currently leaving customers on hold, they'd like to explore whether Helpfeel could be incorporated to enable faster resolution. They want to continue growing Helpfeel not just as an information delivery platform, but as one of their most important customer touchpoints.

“Helpfeel is, in my view, an 'offensive tool', one that allows us to take on new challenges without worrying about internal resource constraints, and to respond more agilely to a changing environment.”

— Hiroaki Kawada, Director & Executive Officer, Head of Customer Service Division