Last week, I had the pleasure of co-hosting Novarica’s virtual Special Interest Group on the topic of independent agent distribution with my colleagues Martina Conlon and Paul Legutko. Novarica previously conducted these sessions once or twice a year before the pandemic, but it now delivers them much more frequently in a video conference format. In a time of significant change and disruption, the ability to deliver these sessions on an accelerated basis has allowed for more engagement and participation than we have seen in the past.
We had great participation before the event, receiving many questions that shaped the day’s agenda. Topics like agent expectations, the evolution of distribution connectivity, lead generation, and MarTech were popular points of dialogue, among other topics.
The conversation began with discussions on agent expectations and the impact the pandemic is having on agency operations, new business growth, and retention. Novarica recently conducted an agent snap poll with our 400 Under 40 community, a research group of high-performing, young agents. The members who responded to the snap poll expressed the need for greater adopton of e-signature and other digital capabilities by insurers. Overwhelmingly, the agent group is optimistic about new business potential for the remainder of the year.
The conversation then shifted to discussions about integration opportunities with InsureTechs. Many of the solution providers offer agents capabilities to personalize the experience for collecting an insurance application and inform agents on the best-fit insurance products. Many of these solutions integrate or bridge to carrier portals and highlight the importance for carriers to have a comprehensive integration strategy. Martina underscored the benefits of leveraging the integration capabilities offered by policy administration solution providers and the value of communicating risk appetite to distribution partners as part of the quoting experience. This helps agents place business faster as well as avoiding unnecessary confusion.
Paul Legutko provided the group with insights on MarTech capabilities and how insurers could leverage these solutions to improve the agent experience and assist with lead development. He outlined some of the common challenges of maintaining consistency in consumer experience while handing off leads to agents, and he stressed the need for communication and a two-way data stream. Both agents and carriers have a common interest in providing a good experience to policyholders; digital orchestration tools can help achieve this.
Agency metrics were also a point of conversation, as insurers were seeking insights on how the digital capabilities of agents were being assessed within carrier gradation levels. Young agents expect to be measured on their digital capabilities and continue to seek partnerships with insurers to enhance the customer experience with white labeling quoting capabilities. This is not widely offered, but some agencies are more equipped to offer these digital capabilities than others. Paul also highlighted how an agency’s value may expand outside of strictly policy accounts to include an agency’s digital footprint, measured by metrics such as social media presence, followers, or connections.
The next virtual Special Interest Group with a focus on property/casualty distribution will take place on Thursday, September 17, 2020 at 1 PM ET. Registration for that event can be found here.
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