Agents To Carriers: Cooperate

By Ara C. Trembly, Technology Editor

NU Online News Service, March 25, 11:24 a.m.EST, Dallas?Newly installed AMS Users'Group President Pam Parry told National Underwriter that carriers"have no excuses any more" for not cooperating to pave the way forsingle entry transactions between agents and multiple insurers.

In an interview with National Underwriter during the group's26^th national conference held here from March 21 through24, Ms. Parry said the industry's major user groups are united intheir desire for single-entry. "Just look at the market share thatrepresents," she pointed out.

Single-entry technology would allow independent agents to enterinformation on potential insureds just once into their systems,then send that information to multiple insurers for quotes, ratherthan having to re-key for each insurer in order to accommodate thecarriers' proprietary information systems.

"We're seeing something we have not seen for a long time," shecontinued. "User groups, vendors and agents are coming together onthe SEMCI, once-and-done issue. We're at the dawn of seeing thetechnology being there and ready to go."

In a development Ms. Parry termed "unprecedented,"representatives of rival agency management systems vendor AppliedSystems' users group (ASCnet) were present at an AMSUG boardmeeting held here during the conference. "We're working together onissues that are common to our customers," she noted.

Ms. Parry also pointed to the fact that AMS Services recentlylicensed the Transformation Station platform from IVANS fortransactions done through AMS applications, despite the fact thatTransformation Station is an Applied Systems technology and thatthe licensing benefits AMS' biggest competitor.

"This is huge," said Ms. Parry. "It's a revolution."

Ms. Parry asserted that the agent groups "need to go to theinsurance companies en masse customer relationshipmanagement is the key," she said. "We are the customers and werepresent their customers. The key is for all of us to speak withone voice and [deliver] one message."

She concedes that "there are obviously hurdles" that stand inthe way of completing the agents' mission. "I don't think thecompanies have been talking to the right people about wants andneeds," Ms. Parry stated, noting that discussions often take placewith agency management personnel who are "not in touch withday-to-day issues in a lot of cases."

Ms. Parry also conceded that agents have been telling companiesabout the need for single-entry transactions for more than 20years. She believes, however, that the cooperation of a fewinsurers will lead to the cooperation of many more.

"If I have six companies, and three of them buy into [singleentry], my business is likely to be shifted to the companies thatbuy in," said Ms. Parry. "Money talks."

Why have insurers been less than speedy in jumping on thesingle-entry bandwagon? According to Ms. Parry, the fault liespartly with agents.

"I've felt in the past that companies have come to the agent astheir distribution point and maybe told us what we need and notasked what we need," Ms. Parry explained. "We have accepted thatand it's been a nightmare for us. We need to make changes in orderto survive."

Ms. Parry also noted that customers are a driving force behindthe need for the more efficient transactions that single entry canbring. In the Internet age, she said, "customers want what theywant now. We can't deliver that to our customer base. Our customersaren't going to wait three or four months to get a piece ofpaper."

And while Ms. Parry admitted that some agents do get somebenefits from insurers' proprietary systems, she insists that suchsystems cannot meet today's customer demands. "I don't care howpretty it is," said Ms. Parry of proprietary systems, "that's notwhat I want. We are at the start of the ?no excuses' era."

Ms. Parry believes the battle to achieve single entry will bedifficult, however, because in the insurance industry "the culturedoes not promote change. If an insurance company wants to make itsmark there is a real opportunity to gain market share by by doingthings differently," she asserted. "They need to listten to theircustomers- agents and insureds. Once the momentum starts, thebusiness will be driven to those companies [that do listen].Technology will enable this."