Kasey Ketcham, Senior Associate Vice President of Digital Enablement at Nationwide

In an industry like insurance that competes on quality of service and price, embracing digital is a requirement for survival in 2023 and beyond. Even longtime agents with loyal customers understand that leading-edge technologies will help them improve workflows and achieve better customer engagement.

Automation technology, for one, has earned a spot in many agencies’ tech stacks, affording significant efficiencies that translate to big cost savings, productivity gains and an improved customer experience. This is why 68% of agents are planning to or have added automation tools to their business, according to Nationwide’s Agency Forward survey.

“Efficiency is certainly a key element to agency success in today’s environment,” said Kasey Ketcham, senior associate vice president of Digital Enablement at Nationwide. “Technologies like automation help streamline processes so that agents can refocus their efforts on taking a more consultative and advisory role. In this way, they’re able to really personalize the customer experience while elevating their own.”

But, again, the digital evolution journey is a significant undertaking. Difficult decisions must be made about which technologies from which vendors will best serve the business, and how to ensure they’ll be integrated into the workflow and adopted by employees. All this, concurrent to running a business, can be overwhelming for the independent agent. But it doesn’t have to be.

EVALUATE YOUR AGENCY’S UNIQUE NEEDS

Before investing in anything, agents should evaluate existing sales and service processes to identify where impediments exist, and which area must be addressed first. It could be customer acquisition and marketing campaigns, quote/bind and remarketing, servicing, product expansion or some other area — each agency is unique. But dollars and resources are finite, so agents should resist the temptation to attack every problem at once.

A lack of technology experience or guidance in implementation may present a significant roadblock, so collaborating with a trusted partner can help. “Carriers like Nationwide can help narrow down the solution capabilities needed that can solve agents’ unique needs,” said Ketcham. “In some cases, the carrier may already partner with a technology company that they can triage in to help identify the appropriate technology solution.”

Ketcham notes that solution evaluation must be an ongoing process, as a current solution rarely keeps pace with an agent’s dynamic, ever-changing needs as time goes on. This is where a feedback loop that involves the agent, carrier and technology partner is critical.

“In a feedback loop, the agent, carrier and technology provider collaborate to measure a chosen solution against a problem statement, feed in additional changes, iterations and updates and redeploy,” said Ketcham. “Constantly iterating ensures the solution will continue to solve the stated problem and create the best possible experience, now and into the future.”

MEET THE ‘THREE Cs’ FOR ONGOING SUCCESS

As the independent agent continues on their journey with a chosen solution, it will be important to keep an eye on each of the “three Cs” — customer centricity, connectivity and change management — to find ongoing success. First, agents should always ensure that the customer is at the center of any decision made about a solution, especially since cus- tomer experience is one of the main drivers of the agent’s digital evolution in the first place.

Second, a solution in isolation will only take an agent so far: its connectivity into other workflows is critical for adoption. For example, data must flow from a CRM to an analytics tool for maximum benefit. If it stops in one spot, it loses its power to deliver insights the agent needs. And third, change management is critical to support adoption and incentivize use of the solution. Done systematically and with support for users with different learning curves, change management can help minimize train- ing time and facilitate a smooth transition.

“For independent agents, evolving digitally can be a daunting prospect, but they must keep in mind that an investment in digital is an investment in their future success,” said Ketcham. “As they move toward their goals, independent agents can count on Nationwide for the guidance and support they may need as they navigate their digital evolution journey.”

For more information, please visit us at nationwide.com/agencyforward.