New AI-driven technology helps brokers overcome inefficiencies

Here's what insurance organizations need to consider when adopting new tech to improve business processes.

The right technology offers one system that can automate manual processes, provide greater efficiency and productivity and enable team collaboration so brokers can overcome barriers to success and focus on building stronger relationships with carriers and customers. (Lagunov/Adobe Stock)

Insurance brokers catching wind of the newest technology trends around automation and artificial intelligence (AI) may see new digitalized insurance platforms as a threat. But they should recognize the opportunity of this new technology to power a new generation of tools that will not replace brokers but instead will support them in taking their business to the next level.

See also: How one insurance exec learned to stop worrying and love AI

As the intermediary between businesses seeking insurance coverage and insurance carriers— insurance brokers are the keepers of the relationships. Being a trusted advisor, helping businesses navigate the complexities of the insurance market, and making informed decisions is what makes them invaluable. So connecting with clients and carriers is where they should be spending their time — not mired in mundane administrative tasks. But that’s where many of them get stuck, navigating between multiple systems, manually entering data over and over, or tracking information in spreadsheets.

Understandably, change can be nerve-wracking and scary. But change is important, and it holds the opportunity to focus time and attention to what matters most: delivering exceptional client service and coverage.

Insurance brokers face success roadblocks

Insurance brokers who rely on manual processes and paper-based systems are hindering their productivity and limiting their ability to grow their business. They get mired in small details of the business instead of doing what they do best, building relationships with clients and keeping up with new solutions, carrier risk appetites, and underwriting contracts that can move their business forward. Many small, but important, details and years’ worth of information which could greatly benefit the entire team’s success, are never passed on in a productive way.

Some of the challenges holding brokers back (and the challenges they can easily overcome with the help of new technology) includes:

How technology can help insurance brokers

New AI-based productivity tools can help insurance brokers overcome their most prevalent pain points by automating manual processes, providing data insights, and enhancing communication. For example, AI now helps fuel a dynamic market directory that maintains and updates this history of appetite and contact points. This can be an essential tool that gives brokers greater access to the right solutions and markets. Having a system that captures carrier appetite, broker input on carriers’ strengths and weaknesses, and AI-informed carrier recommendations makes the difference in helping brokers find the right solutions the first time they look for them, ensures the time they spent at work is productive and allows them to get more done.

The automation of certain repetitive tasks can also enable instant and personalized communication with customers and carriers, improving the overall customer experience and supporting the broker in building stronger relationships. There are new systems that efficiently build program layers, including client proposals and binding documents that are critical to a successful placement process. AI-powered analytics tools can provide data insights that brokers can use to personalize their services and improve their decision-making processes.

In addition, while remote working environments have brought more flexibility, they also make collaboration and tapping into the strength of the greater team more difficult. Having a system that enables brokers to leverage the collective knowledge of the team is critical to identifying the right solutions and markets for the client. That collective shared market intelligence can be created by having the right technology in place that enables efficient file sharing, market appetite guidance, market contacts and real time artificial intelligence enabled feedback on carrier appetite and quote / bind experience.

Must have features to seek in a technology platform

Technology changes the growth game

To manage and build their business, insurance brokers must stay up to date with emerging trends and technologies, focus on customer experience, and maintain strong relationships with carriers. They must embrace digitalization and leverage technology to automate processes, enhance communication, and provide personalized service to their customers. This helps them optimize their customers’ experience and provide excellent service, personalized solutions, and quick response times.

The right technology offers one system that can automate manual processes, provide greater efficiency and productivity, enable team collaboration, help brokers manage the placement process, and provide key insights, so brokers can overcome some of the greatest barriers to success that they face today and focus on building stronger relationships with carriers and customers and simply broker better.

Sivan Iram

Sivan Iram is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Capitola, productivity and market intelligence platform transforms how broker teams work.

These opinions are the author’s own.

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