Posted by
Joseph Westlake
on
5/28/2010 at 12:09 PM
During this year’s sessions, the discussions centered on the technology imperatives for carriers and agencies to help lead them through these ultra-competitive and fast-changing times. Three points from a trio of industry analysts nicely summed up the direction that carriers need to focus:
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“Insurers should invest in IT for capability more so than cost efficiency.” – Matthew Josefowicz, Director, insurance, at New York-based Novarica
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“Being fast doesn’t help if you have the wrong product mix.” – Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, VP & distinguished analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner
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“Insurers need to think more about the big picture, and use that to make tactical adjustments.” – Craig Weber, SVP at Boston-based Celent
There is additional emphasis on technology being customer centric and improving distribution channel productivity. We’re already witnessing a strong pace of core system replacement amongst carriers with more stable and agile systems able to accommodate future growth. Today, this flexibility is a norm in the functionality of the systems.We also observed a renewed focus on straight through processing with the intention of reducing transaction friction to ensure agents’ focus remains on selling.
Additionally, technology should provide a platform for agents to take on diverse roles and be more flexible with their sales efforts. Utilizing the services of Customer Relationship Management as a part of their internal systems seems like an old idea, but it’s still not deployed uniformly through the industry and is one of the most reliable returning technology investments. Equipped with the right insight, both product specific and customer specific, agents can establish their value as insurance advisors, resulting in greater customer loyalty.
In a nutshell, the major takeaways are:
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Agile and capable systems
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Growing and diversifying distribution channel
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Utilizing CRM
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Carriers focusing on loss prevention rather than solely on loss reimbursement
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Posted by
Stephanie Castro
on
12/2/2009 at 1:57 PM
With the slowly recovering economy and impending healthcare reform, many insurers are taking a closer look at the way they do business. More insurers are embracing technology as a means to differentiate themselves at a leader in a crowded and competitive marketplace.
Insurers need nimble systems that can help them provide better service, motivate and retain top producers, and provide administrative simplicity. While many insurers still rely on simplistic commissions systems, these goals and more can be met with a sophisticated, insurance-specific Incentive Compensation system.
These systems are flexible enough to accommodate adjustments in the marketplace while delivering crucial capabilities like managing distribution channels, designing commission plans and calculating incentives, commission payouts and bonuses. The primary differentiating factor for insurers with such technology in place is the maximizing of performance of the distribution channel.
The country’s foremost insurers have already begun to adopt Incentive Compensation solutions, and noted analyst firms such as Gartner and Celent have also begun to investigate these solutions and their impact on the insurance industry.
Join Steven Leigh, Gartner Principal Research Analyst and author of a new MarketScope report on Incentive Compensation for Insurance, as he presents the compelling benefits of these solutions in an exclusive webcast, “Maximize Your Distribution Channel with Incentive Compensation for Insurance”.
He will be joined by Joseph Westlake, Vice President of VUE Software to share how insurers, equipped with insurance-specific incentive compensation management, can experience increased bottom line.
The webcast is on Dec 10th, 2009 1:00pm-2:00pm (EST). Click here to register. Hope you’ll join us!
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