Editor’s note: this is the sixth in our Solving For Tomorrow series, in which we offer our thoughts on the state of the insurance industry, the challenges carriers face now, and the opportunities they must take advantage of to remain competitive in an ever-changing future. Stay tuned in the coming months, as this will be a regularly published series. We hope you enjoy and learn, and we’re always happy to receive your questions and feedback. In case you missed it, you can read our last installment here.
In our last installment, we discussed implications for how carriers need to respond to forcing shaping the P&C insurance industry, with a focus on product development. In this installment, we delve into how carriers need to rethink their approaches to sales.
Sales
A real-time window
Today’s reality:
Outdated platforms that do not talk to each other have made access to information inconsistent across teams and channels. Without connectivity internally, carriers can’t provide transparency externally. This has caused disruptions in agents’ ability to provide timely information to prospects. This has also blocked policyholders’ access to information related to their policies and claims.
Tomorrow’s imperative:
In order to free up agents and service teams, and also ensure a high quality of delivery, policyholders and agents alike must be allowed to connect to the same set of data across touchpoints – whether it’s mobile, online, or in person. By empowering these groups to find information and resolve issues on their own, carriers and agents can focus on delivering more valuable advice and services.
Ease of doing business
Today’s reality:
A simple, one-way relationship – carriers make the product and agents/brokers sell that product for a commission. Information lags between carrier and agent are common. Input from brokers can take months to be reflected in carriers’ products or service delivery.
Tomorrow’s imperative:
Carriers are expected to act like true partners. This means providing distribution partners with the tools to help them deliver a high level of service. This also requires greater transparency – giving agents/brokers immediate access to the information they need. More and more, this level of responsiveness is also expected at a deeper level—in the form of dynamic product and service updates that reflect policyholders’ evolving risk profiles, needs and behaviors.
In our next installment, we will delve into new imperatives in services. If you can't wait to read more, download The Future Playbook today.
