The last decade has brought major technology changes for the insurance industry, and behaviors have changed in an industry that was previously labeled “old-fashioned.”
Insurance companies are investing in tools to stay efficient, competitive, and modern. In this blog, we’re outlining four categories that have seen an increase in investment, with examples of popular insurtech tools in each category.
Data Analytics
Good data is an essential part of any business, as it helps improve operations, give customer insight and build reports. Accurate data analysis is key to uncovering both growth and savings opportunities, which is why many insurtechs have made investments to gain visibility of customer and operational data.
EOX Vantage offers insurance-specific products that help improve operational efficiencies through analytics. Mike Fieseler, VP of Business Development, explains that by looking at data, insurance organizations can find out:
- “Where are they successful? Where are they not?”
- “What type of potential customers are out there?”
- “Why has the organization not been successful in certain areas?”
Analytics help bring smart visualizations to make the data easier to understand and act on. And tools like EOX Vantage often have these visuals pre-formatted, meaning you don’t need an extensive expert background in data science to organize the information.
Sales
Modern sales solutions make it easier to manage prospects, qualify leads, and pursue new clients. And very often, they integrate with a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, or act as one on their own. Many independent agencies attempt using a generic sales automation/CRM and try to make it work for writing and renewing policies. This often ends up being both tedious and costly.
AgencyZoom is a insurance-specific sales software that provides tools for producers and agents focused on automating the creation of new leads and opportunities and following that through to the servicing of the account once the policyholder becomes a customer.
“What AgencyZoom brings to the independent agent is a purpose-built sales automation tool that was designed just for their needs”, said Doug Mohr, Vice President Industry Relations & Partnerships for Vertafore. “For the agency that does not have a large IT staff to build customization into a generic CRM tool, AgencyZoom provides an out of the box solution for the producer to manage their book and track new leads.”
Effective sales tools create efficiency in following the prospecting process from lead all the way to a renewing policyholder.
Marketing Automation
While there are many large, well-known tools for marketing available, few are specific to the needs of an insurance business. They’re also typically too expensive and complex for smaller agencies, where there’s often no full-time dedicated marketing manager.
Your website is an integral part of your marketing strategy. It’s your digital storefront and a key part of your local marketing presence. According to Agency Revolution evangelist Joel Zwicker, “when someone visits your website, they should know what you do, how you’re different, and how to contact you, all within 5 seconds.”
To do so, you need to invest time in a good website, and make updates consistently. Agency Revolution’s FUSE automation tool is made for insurance agencies, and helps make those actions easier. It includes pre-written content and templates, and is affordable for agencies of all sizes.
Once your website is ready, you can turn your attention to other marketing tools for social media, digital advertising, and email automation.
Customer-Facing Tools
Once you acquire a customer, it should be easy for them to do business with you, and easy for them to pay – especially if we’re talking about insurance. At ePay, we believe getting paid should be the easiest thing you do.
Many people don’t even have checkbooks. Your customers should have payment options based on what’s convenient for them. We offer an array of features that go the extra mile in terms of customer experience, like automatic payments, invoice notifications, and the ability to save payment information.
One of our integration partners, Pathway, created an insurance-centric portal that consolidates the documents, payments, quotes and other things your customers might need to access on a daily basis. Investing in your client’s experience allows you to build stronger relationships and retain loyal customers.
Make the Change
For many years, it seemed like the industry was change-resistant. The pandemic forced many companies to adopt more tech-forward solutions, and now more and more companies are asking “why didn’t we do this sooner?”
Change can be scary, but getting left behind the curve while your competitors and customers seek out easier ways to do business should scare you more. The reality is that insurance organizations are investing in technology and employes and customers will move with the current. Do your research, shop around, and start investing in the tools that will make your organization thrive.
