Editor’s Note

When I began listening to Steve Anderson speak at last week’s TSLA meeting in Austin, I honestly didn’t think I would come away enlightened. No offense to Steve—a home-grown agent turned consultant/writer/speaker—but I’ve heard a lot about technology with regards to the insurance industry. I attend a dozen conferences per year, read more than my share of trade publications and get the daily shake-down from PR folks from emerging technology companies.

But moments of clarity happen when you least expect them. Steve was asking the audience about how they do their banking. Online, many said. The bank, he continued, has produced technology that allows its members the ability to access their account information remotely at any hour of the day without the aid of a customer service representative. From your desktop, you can check balances, pay bills, move money around and change your address, among
other things.

How do you feel about these new abilities? Great, the audience responded. In fact, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe a bank’s customers were more devout and loyal because of online access. So, Steve said, “The banks let you do all the work and you feel like it’s value added!”

It’s such a simple and succinct point: technology should allow you to do less work, not more. It’s not a profound or new thought, just a clear one. It hit me hard because keeping up with technology is a foot race that many don’t see the need for.

Of course, for many in the insurance industry, technology has brought about more work, not less. Agencies must now have IT-literate staff. Many maintain hard copies in addition to computer files. Data is still typed into forms, which is retyped into other forms, which is retyped into policies, certificates of insurance, ID cards, etc. Some of the companies then re-key the information into policies, which they send to the agent, which then sends them to the insured.

In the IIAA’s latest Agency Universe Study, 26 percent of personal lines agents said they believe the Internet is an opportunity, not a threat. Forty-eight percent of commercial lines agents felt the same, leaving 74 percent and 52 percent, respectively, believing the Internet was not an opportunity. I’m guessing they feel this way because the insurance industry doesn’t have a good track record. SEMCI has been pie in the sky for years. Steve Anderson had me seeing, for a brief moment, light at the end of the tunnel. Beyond all of this infrastructure building and investment, there will be a return. For all of the grab for market share, agents, at some point down the line, will be allowed to shine and prosper, becoming the adviser that no computer can replace.

So here we are with this perfect vision of what technology should be. In this vision, there is a website. Traffic comes to this website just like phone calls currently come to agents—through referrals, satisfied customers, marketing and community involvement. On this site, consumers can request quotes for various types of insurance. They type in their information. The agent receives this data and routes it to their carriers. In many cases, this data produces instantaneous quotes. From this site, customers can change their address, update their vehicles, request information and do all of the little things that can eat up a tremendous amount of time. Of course, they can also call or come by your office—at no additional fee.

Agents will use their data warehousing abilities to become better salespeople. A note is generated every time a child in the household hits 16. Another note comes up when they turn 18 and are potentially going off to school or out into the world. Flags are built in so that when new products become available, an agent can easily cull his or her list for potential prospects. If a flood zone changes, you’ll be able to immediately identify your clients in the zone.

Agents will have time to counsel their insureds rather than constantly push paper in circles. They’ll have time to explain insurance rather than explain why it takes two months to get an insurance policy in the mail. Let’s just hope this perfect world is not too far away.

Topics Agencies Tech Market