If there is one point every insurance carrier is trying toaccomplish these days it is to find ways to differentiatethemselves from the competition. Second on the list is to find waysto be more efficient.

“Margins are slimmer in all businesses these days and everyoneis looking for ways to bring more efficiency to the operation yetalso have a differentiator for their brokerage partners,” says JonSiglar, vice president, chief sales & field services officerfor Pacific Compensation Insurance Company.

(For more on carrier/agency technology, check out the interview with Nort Salz of Deep CustomerConnections and this interview with Dan Driskell of Brower Insurance.)

PacificComp has worked with solution provider FirstBest toimprove its ease of business issues.

“The ease of doing business is sometimes an overused term, butwe’re serious about it,” says Siglar. “What it comes down to iswith the touches we have with our broker we need to be efficient,responsive, and deliver expertise when needed. We neededdifferentiators and the one that has been positive for us has beenour partnership with FirstBest and rolling out the AppReader to ourbrokers.”

Real-time Download

PacificComp implemented FirstBest AppReader early in 2011,according to Siglar. Most of the account executives in thebrokerages PacificComp deals with are seasoned and are hesitant totake on anything new because their workload already is high andthey don’t want to go through several different passwords.

“When we implemented the AppReader portion of the underwritingmanagement system they were excited,” says Siglar. “[Brokers] cantake a PDF out of their agency management system and download itinto our UMS within our portal. With one password they are alreadyin the system. There’s no double entry. It’s automaticallypopulated with an ACORD app and that cuts down on inputting errorsand time. As we move forward with the brokers, it greases theskids—the path of least resistance. Brokers want to go to a companythat is efficient and can get them a quote right away.”

Siglar believes brokers and their CSRs often are set in theirways so PacificComp needed to do a lot of face-to-face training.Siglar believes it helped that the AppReader solution is anintuitive system, which meant users could be trained quickly.

At this point, more than 60 percent of PacificComp’s submissionsare coming straight through the UMS via the AppReader, which bringsmore efficiency into the back office side of underwriting, concedesSiglar.

Technology or People

With many commercial lines carriers, Siglar believes thetechnology is holding up real-time download. He points out manycarriers are working with legacy systems that were in play throughM&A activity.

“We were strapped with an underwriting system that wasinefficient,” he says. “Carriers recognize they need to embracetechnology.

But brokers do as well.

“If you dump a manual in front of them they won’t use it, but ifwe can quickly show how the system works they are all over it andusing it the same day,” says Siglar. “Change in workers’compensation and the commercial side are difficult because they canbe costly and involve training issues. But at the same time you aretrying to deliver a value added service to your brokers.”

Siglar reports he is seeing a new generation of brokers cominginto play who are savvier with tablet devices and smartphones. Hebelieves they are looking for ways to be more efficient to counterthe soft market and the lower revenues that have accompaniedit.

“They are struggling to find ways to be more efficient andworking with fewer people,” says Siglar.” If a carrier can bring ina system that is easy to use and can save brokers time, that isgoing to raise some eyebrows. To be able to do that is adifferentiator.”