Technology in insurance agencies is no longer a luxury but a business necessity. When you look at the speed at which AI transforms several industries, your agency cannot afford to stay behind.
Are your agents tracking quotes and storing customer information using an agency management system? Do you have online tools that provide analytics for marketing purposes?
These are crucial questions that need definitive answers and actionable solutions. Using relevant technology is the best way to ensure you can provide an insurance service that meets modern needs.
Technology Collects and Stores Data Reliably
Collecting reliable data means moving away from manual data collection. There is too much room for error when you use paper-based documents to collect data from clients and appoint staff to enter customer information into a database.
To avoid spending hours following up on missing addresses and surnames, you should streamline the process using an agency management system. You can centralize your customer files and make them accessible from your agents’ laptops and other mobile devices.
Your data collection efforts should include surveys, polls, and personal interactions. When your agents are familiar with online technology, it helps them collect valuable information about how your customers view your products.
An agency management system also allows you to download policy information and automate invoicing. These systems provide claim tracking capabilities and financial reports on payroll and cash flow. You can integrate a management system with essential third-party applications like Office 365.
Accurate data collection and storage will help you save money by minimizing missed opportunities for upselling and cross-selling. It also lowers the risk of bad customer experiences, like recommending the wrong products or not following up on leads.
Technology Helps Analyze Data
You can count on insurance management systems to reliably track metrics such as agent performance and customer behavior over time. With reliable data, you can easily spot gaps in customer insurance coverage and customer service efforts. The data can also help direct your next big marketing push.
Remember, while your sales agents are compiling the relevant data, you must have open communication channels for customers to raise issues and vent frustrations.
Technology Embraces the Omnichannel Approach
The omnichannel sales revolution is most prevalent in the retail sector. However, your sales agents can benefit from it, especially if you have the right technology to keep it going.
The omnichannel approach means using all channels available to promote and sell insurance products and present your customers with seamless buying experiences.
The right technology ensures that your customers can always pick up where they left off, no matter the channels they use. Your customers should be able to ask questions, buy, and claim on several different platforms and using various technologies, including:
- Social media apps
- Live chat
- Instant quotes
- Pricing tools (for product comparison)
- Insurance agency management system
- Physical locations
Establishing an omnichannel model in your agency will allow your agents to retain customers and grow active accounts. They can do this while keeping up their competitive edge.
Technology Helps Agents Save Time
Your insurance agents have a lot on their plate. Between signing up new customers, paying attention to existing customers, and dealing with claims, their time doesn’t belong to them. They may miss selling opportunities because they focus only on one aspect of selling.
Technology like insurance management systems will ensure that your agents have the time to focus on increasing customer acquisition and retention while cross-selling and up-selling. Features like customer and agent portals also help agents focus their efforts on boosting sales instead of answering simple questions about insurance products.
Technology Protects Your Agency Against Fraud
Intuitive technology also minimizes the risk of financial loss due to fraud. Fraud plays a massive role in profit loss, but with the help of AI and machine-learning-based tools, your agents will pick up suspicious patterns in existing data.
AI tools can also determine whether incoming claims are unusually high, as fraudulent claims always are. Identifying potential fraud with the help of technology takes some of the stress off your sales agents and frees them up to focus on selling.
Conclusion
Technology is already reshaping the insurance industry. Where daily operations and IT used to function independently, they are now intertwined to perform tasks faster.
At the same time, you should remember that technology is unlikely to replace insurance agents. Even with the introduction of facial and emotional recognition technology in the insurance industry, the personal touch cannot be understated or replaced.
For instance, chatbots can simplify a claim process but cannot provide information about an insurance policy. Chatbots also cannot underwrite policies.
Insurance agents will always be in demand, even more so if they take technological advances by the horns and run with them.