Is Your “Tech Stack” a Spreadsheet? Three Reasons to Invest in Insurtech Now

This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.

The insurance industry has been around for thousands of years. But that’s no reason your agency should still be operating like it’s 1916! One of the greatest parts of the modern insurance industry is its ability to provide generational opportunities for thousands of families. The downside is that the previous generation’s technology often comes with the package.

It’s hard to imagine any business running on paper files and spreadsheets in 2021, but the insurance industry is notorious for lagging when it comes to tech adoption. Chances are, at least a few people reading this right now are feeling very called out!

We previously wrote about the types of technology that insurance agencies need to prioritize if they want to be attractive to investors or buyers during future M&A activity. Even if selling your agency is the last thing on your mind, there are still great benefits to going digital. Here are three of the best reasons your agency should invest in insurtech now.

Your competitors are investing in technology

OK, so peer pressure isn’t always the best reason to do something. But in this case, the fact that some insurance agencies are quickly outpacing the industry in adoption of technology has two major implications:

• One: Those who don’t embrace technology and use it to their advantage will soon be left behind for those who do.
• Two: There’s still time to be an early(er) adopter and stand out from the crowd by using technology to improve your business processes and client experience.

Now that millennials are the largest age group in the United States, your current and future client-base are not going to have patience for slow, manual processes. Your agency’s future clients are digital natives who expect a level of accuracy, transparency, and control when it comes to their insurance purchases that an old-fashioned agency simply can’t provide.

Millennials aside, the second largest subset of the population (baby boomers) is also becoming more tech-savvy by the year. Research from 2019 shows that 68 percent of boomers own a smartphone and 11 percent use their smartphone as their primary means of online access. These numbers are undoubtedly higher now, particularly as COVID-19 forced nearly everyone to step up their technology game.

The point is, almost no one still loves doing things “the old way” if that means slower, less personalized, and unable to be done from anywhere. If your agency doesn’t adopt insurtech solutions that provide clients with the level of service they want, a competitor definitely will.

Your workforce craves better ways of doing things

Just like your potential clients will choose an agency that provides them with a modern experience over one that requires them to retrofit their lives to 1950, your agency staff (including producers and client service representatives) want access to technology that makes their jobs easier.

Think about how much time your producers spend on tasks that are not actually producing revenue. Think about how much time your client services representatives (CSRs) spend on tasks that don’t directly serve customers. And if you aren’t sure how much time that is, we recommend asking them, because we guarantee they’re doing it.

Not only is the agency losing money from producers not selling and CSRs not focusing on client-retaining relationships, but the employees themselves are frustrated by their lack of productivity when they spend time on mundane tasks.

We know it sounds like a broken record, but the point can’t be overemphasized: With the aging insurance workforce and the battle to attract new talent to the industry, technology plays a key role and acts as a differentiator for the agencies that adopt and embrace it.

Technology can grow your revenue and reduce expenses

Growing your revenue and reducing your operating expenses are somewhat side-effects of the first two reasons, but we thought it deserved a mention of its own. On top of helping increase revenue and reduce expenses simply because agency staff are working more efficiently and clients are renewing year after year, investing in technology can directly bring in new insurance business.

For example:

• Automating email outreach and followup takes no additional time on the part of the people you pay, and can result in closing deals that might have otherwise fallen out of your sales pipeline.
• Having the ability to quickly onboard licensed agents from different states and know that their credentials are valid means your agency can start bringing in more money when those producers start producing more quickly.
• Word-of-mouth referrals play a large role in how most independent agencies find new clients. Tools now exist to reach your current clients, ask for referrals, and even post them across the internet without any manual effort on the part of your agency. These positive online reviews can lead directly to new business when people are deciding which agency they’d like to approach for a quote.

Undoubtedly, there are many more reasons why your agency should invest in modern technology. From attracting more, and better, producers to avoiding fines and penalties, adopting technology for your insurance business is sure to be a solid investment.

Producer licensing and compliance management is one area where investing in technology can have a major impact. Check out a demo to learn how implementing a producer compliance management system can lead to agency growth.

Topics InsurTech Tech