Higher customer expectations lead to lower customer satisfaction levels, which is an indicator to concentrate more on bridging the gap between the expectations of the customer from the insurer and the ability of the insurance company to fulfill them. `Expectations Management' becomes critical and crucial for the survival and success of the insurance company and leads to sustained competitive advantage.

Customer satisfaction is the kingpin for the success of a business. In the course of taking a policy from an insurance company, the customer has different expectations from the company importantly at the time of claim settlement. Though customer expectations are always there with every kind of product or service, it is more relevant to insurance customers as they have more expectations than they are eligible for or qualified to get the benefits from the firm through the policy.

Customer satisfaction is drawing the attention of the general insurance companies and is found to be gradually increasing as the perceived value of insurance function has gone up with increasing levels of awareness among the customers. Even the base to promote the insurance business is to satisfy the existing customers who will remain with the same insurer after the expiry of the policy and spread the loyalty through Word of Mouth (WOM), which is a costless and effortless marketing strategy for the insurance companies.

With the growing competition and increasing customer expectations, there is an immediate need for the general insurance companies to sort out the gap between the expected and experienced performance. At this juncture, `expectations management' of the retail clients will be a useful tool for the general insurance companies to grow consistently in a world of cut throat competition.

Insurance Chronicle Magazine, Customer Satisfaction, Expectations Management System, Indian Insurance Companies, Customer Relationship Management, CRM, E-insurance, Eelectronic Insurence, Foreign Direct Investment , FDI, Business Strategies.