Tech Talk: 2017 Marks the Digital Tipping Point

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2017 will mark the tipping point in agents’ efforts to adapt to the digital marketplace. Agents are no longer talking about why they should become “digitally- savvy” but how best to do it. Agents are also concentrating most on two areas of concern and the high stakes for ignoring them: customer experience and cyber coverages and security.

“Agents are recognizing that customer experience needs to be an integral part of their strategy,” said Ron Berg, executive director of the Agents Council for Technology (ACT). “‘Relationship’ is still the name of the game, but now it’s taking different forms such as mobile, chat, guided conversation and real-time response.”

Bruce Cochrane, president of the Renaissance Insurance Group is more blunt.

“Consumers have clearly indicated their strong preference for human interaction at the point of sale,” he said. “They want to do business with those with whom they share values. However, the catch is they will do so only with those who can provide the customer experience all us consumers now expect, meaning 24/7 access, ease of doing business and technologically pleasing. The purchasing public is ours to lose.”

Cyber issues take two tracks: agencies keeping up with latest threats for clients and the coverages to meet them and strengthening their own security systems.

“In 2017, agents will have more opportunities in the area of cyber security as additional carrier products and services enter the market”, said William Pieroni, president/CEO of ACORD. “Agents will also need to engage in a lifelong learning process around how cyber security protocols continually evolve with changes in technology and impact their value proposition.”

ACT’s Berg adds that agents will also see a continued focus by carriers, vendors, agents and brokers on all things cyber, “not just coverages, but also tightening down agencies to prevent malware, phishing ransomware and other attacks.”

Now that agents are actively looking for digital solutions, there are many applications that will take hold this year.

“Agencies will begin to see real life practical applications of machine learning,” said Steve Anderson, longtime technology authority for agents. “There’s been a lot of press around “chat bots” and how customers are obtaining information through an online digital conversation. Platforms are being developed that will allow the industry to add this to their repertoire of communication options.”

Voice interface will also play an increasing role according to Berg. “I’m not talking just voice recognition,” he said. “More companies are partnering to provide insurance-related resources for voice – Think Amazon’s Echo and Liberty Mutual Aviva, and now Grange creating ‘skills’ to search for an independent agent (and) compare carriers’ products/services.”

Of all the coming technology developments, artificial intelligence (AI) is the most intriguing and arguably the most challenging according to agency marketing legend George Nordhaus.

“AI will open the door to marketing systems that will pinpoint the insurance-buying of consumers,” said Nordhaus, chairman of Agenciesonline LLC and Monday Morning Markets LLC. “Think IBM’s ‘Watson’… How soon will it be before someone in our industry programs a Watson-type system that will automatically analyze consumers’ present and future insurance needs. It’s just a matter of time.”

Perhaps the most important contribution to the insurance sale has been and still is the analysis of the prospects’ (personal or business) insurance needs, he said. That task can be simple or highly complex. “But either way, when an analysis can be created so rapidly and correctly, and when that fact is communicated via a GEICO-type advertising system, today’s major sales ‘asset’ of the independent agent will have to change. But change to what? This is the $64 trillion dollar question.”

Topics Cyber Agencies InsurTech Tech Artificial Intelligence