Sound Strategy
Ten Tips for Separating Insurance Technology Reality from Fantasy
Conventional wisdom, public relations propaganda, and egos with axes to grind
generate any number of claims purporting to be descriptions of reality on
the one hand or ideal insurance technology states on the other. Here are ten
claims you probably already know to discount. If not...
- Single-entry, multi-company interface (SEMCI) is just around the corner.
Not likely. Technology problems and carrier self-interest mitigate against
SEMCI ever being what some agents have imagined.
- Successful agencies are sophisticated, extensive users of technology.
In fact, studies like IIAA's Best Practices suggest a low correlation. Successful
agencies are successful businesses first, technology users second.
- Personal lines insurance will never be sold in volume over the Internet.
Though perhaps ten years away, it's likely that better technology and younger
consumers with different expectations will make this a reality.
- Agencies want carriers to use ACORD standards. Agents don't care about
interface standards. They want something else - the standardization of workflow,
forms, etc. That may or may not imply the use of ACORD interface standards.
- Businesses and consumers don't care about insurance on-line self-service.
Many agents believe this though consumer surveys indicate significant interest
in on-line self-service cap-abilities.
- Agency Web sites needn't be much more than brochures. A big mistake. Agency
Web sites can and should be integral extensions of agency marketing, sales,
and service strategies and efforts.
- Carriers can't/shouldn't/won't compete through technology. Technological
advantage will likely be transitory and it certainly isn't the only or most
important dimension of competitive advantage, but it makes sense for carriers
to seek it.
- Agencies can and should be paperless. Agencies can't be completely paperless
and survive. It's a fantasy. Reducing paper, especially for storage can
make sense, but paper as a viewing method may not disappear for a century.
- Technology is the best solution to agency problems. No it's not. Leadership
and good management are the real source of agency success.
- Agency management must be tough for technology to succeed. If that means
demanding employees do things they know won't work, as well as failing to
get their input when making technology purchase and implementation decisions,
toughness is a bad idea.
© Copyright 2002 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights
reserved
