Many carriers and advisors are looking to fuel their growth by focusing on commercial insurance, in particular the businessowners policy (BOP) product. In turn, BOP portal capabilities are becoming more critical as carriers look to create differentiating agent experiences that will win their business. Insurers recognize that each quote is an opportunity to help positively shape an agent’s overall impression of a carrier.
In the portal, producers are looking for insurers to provide a broad set of capabilities while focusing on three main areas that can differentiate the agent experience:
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A guided sales flow. Creating an intuitive quoting and issuing process has a significant influence on agent behavior. Insurers are improving their pre-fill capabilities and examining real-time commission packages. Guided sales flows that can be leveraged by new agents are beginning to gain traction. These sales flows allow agents to assess the prospective risk early in the quoting process.
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Communicating value. Agents look to be the strategic risk advisor for their clients. This relationship requires agents to leverage modeling tools and marketing collateral that can speak to the value of the insurance product. Providing easy-to-understand proposal documents and assets can help agents speak to how products and services differ between insurers. In addition, some insurers are utilizing collaboration tools that facilitate the exchange of information between the producer and underwriter—ensuring a closer relationship.
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Servicing and retaining business. Agents are looking for more ways to provide small commercial clients with effective and efficient self-servicing functionality. Some features, like access to policy documents, claims information, and billing details, are now basic table stakes. Capabilities that differentiate are now focused on providing experiences and insights that help the agent improve the claims experience and retain business with insights at renewal.
The agent portal is the solution that agents utilize most. It is a platform of engagement and collaboration, and it serves as a conduit for advice between producers and underwriters. Insurers that demonstrate the ability to empathize with producers about their work and reflect that feeling into their digital portal experience will have the greatest opportunity for success.
For a more in-depth look at these topics, read Novarica’s report Agent Portals: Key Capabilities for Small Commercial. This report was based part on survey data from Novarica’s 400 under 40 community of young agents.
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