A majority of my conversations with appraisal supervisors from auto insurance carriers include a discussion on appraiser effectiveness, which makes sense since these are the individuals that can have a significant impact on claim cost, cycle time and customer satisfaction. Most frequently, I hear that the obstacle to understanding the true effectiveness of appraisers is that the data can become too cumbersome — some insurers can review 20 measures or more to gain the insight needed to track and measure individual performance. Scaling this activity across their appraisers to get a peer comparison can be an extremely time-consuming exercise, which means it doesn't always get done, resulting in organizational blind spots and missed opportunities.

Working for CCC, which contains a vast warehouse of claims data and provides software and services to more than 350 auto physical damage (APD) insurance carriers, my colleagues and I started to research how we could help appraisal supervisors increase their visibility into staff performance. Our goal was to help enable an actionable snapshot through the smart and simple application of key claims-related data based on important metrics identified by the insurance carrier. The result of this work is a data model that helps identify individual and peer-to-peer appraiser performance within an organization using a set of carrier-specific metrics.

What can a simple data model really tell you?

When we started thinking about this, we didn't have a set number of measures in mind; our guiding principles were to offer something simple and actionable. We researched other similar models to see what lessons had already been learned in taking this type of approach. The NFL passer rating, which compares quarterbacks week-to-week, over the course of the season, and over their careers — caught our attention.

In place for more than 30 years, the NFL passer rating uses four variables: completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdowns per attempt and interceptions per attempt. Each is weighted differently and an average is established and a rating is assigned. The QBs, coaches and general managers all know this system and can therefore communicate using a standard language and make informed decisions based upon individual objectives and strategies.