Unfortunately, all too often the competitive advantage in today's insurance marketplace goes to the company with the biggest budget or the most recognized brand name.
But ask yourself, "What if insurance companies of all sizes could compete effectively for business and win over the big brand name?"
Or, better yet: "What if limitations presented by marketing budgets, technology dollars, physical size and number of employees could be overcome by the creative application of integrated functionality and new technologies?"
The answer is that it would level the playing field.
You don't have to be one of the "big guys" to be a player in today's insurance market. With the right strategies, tactics and technologies in place it doesn't matter if you are considered a small or niche carrier.
In fact, being able to streamline processes to achieve efficiencies and respond quickly to market demand can actually give you an advantage over bigger carriers who are tied to archaic systems and technology.
Since policy administration is the heart of your operation, it stands to reason the systems and processes taking care of your greatest assets would be the best place to start applying the tactics, strategies and technologies that will help you get ahead.
By building relationships with new and existing technology vendors, operating smart systems that allow flexibility and agility within your infrastructure, and utilizing the comprehensive features offered by policy administration systems, you can level the playing field and compete effectively and successfully against your largest competitors.
Making a project successful can hinge on building true strategic partnerships with your key vendors. Selecting vendors who are willing to invest in a long-term relationship that will continue even after the sale is imperative for critical systems, including policy administration and claims.
You can lay the groundwork for long-term vendor relationships as early on in the process as the request for proposal. Communicate your needs, the requirements, the expectations and your priorities for the future. Vendors that are in it for the long haul will work with you to find creative and cost effective solutions to provide value.
Building long-term relationships is not only important with new vendors; it is equally important to analyze and prioritize the existing portfolio of vendors. By selecting which vendors can help them achieve their goals, insurance carriers--especially smaller carriers--can gain an advantage over their competitors by having fewer, more committed vendors who will work cooperatively with them.
The more invested your vendor partners are in your business and environment, the better able they will be to service you.
While technology is not the end-all, be-all solution to gaining a competitive advantage, when it is used to enhance rating, quoting, underwriting, policy management, claims, accounting and even reinsurance, carriers can empower agents, brokers and policyholders alike, and provide quality customer service and competitive pricing.
It's not only enough to put you at the same table as your larger competitors; it may actually give you an advantage over them!
Most large companies are stuck with out-of-date systems, antiquated technologies and multiple products to manage. This can cause IT and business users a lot of challenges and headaches. With silos of information locked in difficult-to-access places, making changes to business processes in order to respond to market demands can be difficult, and in some instances, impossible.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. One of the most difficult issues in dealing with multiple systems is the integration nightmare. Most existing systems were not built to play well with others.
Many hours are spent trying to make them communicate, and then if there are product upgrades, it becomes more difficult to keep it all in sync. A fully integrated policy administration system is the only real solution to this problem.
With the rapid acceptance of Web services, new doors have opened up for software vendors to enable simpler integration between "best-of-breed" solutions for policy administration, claims and other mission-critical applications.
Taking this one step further, some vendors are beginning to offer fully integrated solutions out of the box, allowing carriers to manage all key business processes with literally zero integration.
The good news for small-to-midsize carriers is that it won't cost them an arm and a leg to find a system with everything they need to operate their businesses and gain an advantage over the competition.
When looking for a system, don't be afraid to ask vendors to prove what they claim. Demonstrating a proof-of-concept (PoC) is not always part of the selection process, but it should be. Any vendor should be willing to prove the proposed system will work within the parameters of your specific organization.
Carriers of all sizes have been burned in the past with unfulfilled promises and robust demo systems with little "under the hood." A PoC lets vendors show they aren't touting vaporware, that their product can be implemented in your time frame, within your budget, and that it won't take a decade to install it.
There are vendors and systems out there with the confidence to prove their capabilities. You just have to be willing to ask the right questions.
If you can implement an infrastructure with out-of-the-box functionality, you really can find a system that has it all. Having all your main applications created to work in harmony through one system could be music to your ears. And, this will solve most, if not all, of your integration problems.
Having a suite of components that were made to work as one system gives you the ability to respond quickly to market demands. It's a smoothly running machine.
Plus, it eliminates worries about product compatibilities and updates that need to be tightly managed. Overall, powerful technologies will save you time, have you running efficiently and give you the upper hand on even your largest competitors.
Right now, many underwriters and adjusters waste precious time searching for the information they need. This simply prolongs the time it takes a company to close new business and service clients' requests.
When underwriters, customer service representatives, claims reps, auditors and agents all work with the same system and have access to the same information, it creates an environment in which it is easier to do business.
This eliminates confusion in the process, because depending on security rights, each constituency is able to see the same facts in one place. By improving your vendor relationships and increasing access to information through technology, you are automating the ability for people to work together.
This improves collaboration and reduces bottlenecks. A company's staff will reap the benefits of using a single system, and so will its agents and insureds.
Providing self-service tools and being able to answer questions promptly because the data is all in one place makes the process run like clockwork. This will promote retention and reduce follow-up calls so underwriters are able to move on to new contracts. It's all about ease of doing business.
The moral of this story is that you really can have it all. With the right technology in place with comprehensive capabilities that are fully integrated, you can compete against the big guys and win.
