This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, I’m joined by Keith Farley, SVP of Individual Voluntary Benefits and Head of Customer Care Centers at Aflac. We explore why today’s leaders must treat customer experience as a growth strategy, directly linked to acquisition, retention, and long-term ROI.
Insurance is one of the oldest industries, yet it faces modern pressures of speed, digital expectations, and customer trust. Rather than choosing between technology and humanity, Aflac integrates both—using automation for efficiency and empathy to deepen trust, directly linking customer experience to growth.
3 CX Takeaways from Aflac
- Empathy at scale: A hotline for newly diagnosed cancer patients shows how focusing on one critical segment can create impact, deliver compassion, and uphold core values.
- Use AI with Guardrails: Let automation handle routine claims, but keep people in charge of complex cases to ensure fairness and protect trust.
- CX as ROI: Simplify processes to drive acquisition, and use empathy to build trust that strengthens persistency and long-term value.
At Aflac, balancing AI efficiency with human empathy fuels acquisition, strengthens persistency, and connects CX directly to business performance.
Tune in to the full episode to hear how Keith Farley makes customer experience a measurable growth strategy. Stream now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Blake Morgan was called “The Queen of CX” by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Don’t miss her new book, “The Eight Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership.” To learn more visit www.8CXLaws.com.
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