What specific value are insurers aiming for through their mobile strategy?

PropertyCasualty360.com asked several leading insurance technology analysts what insurance carriers could—and should—do to develop a mobile strategy that reaches out to both their business partners—the independent agency workforce—and their policyholders who are demanding more of their insurance providers.

Taking part in the discussion are: Chad Hersh of Novarica, Kimberly Harris-Ferrante of Gartner, Leah Hollstegge of Ward Group, Gerald Shields of The Nolan Company, Ellen Carney of Forrester, and Chuck Johnson of Celent.

Click below to start the slide show.

Chad Hersh, managing director, Insurance Practice, Novarica:

In addition to the “display my insurance ID card on my phone” features that are cropping up daily, carriers are slowly starting to leverage mobile apps to streamline or improve processes and reduce costs.

For example, one carrier is allowing documents and receipts to be submitted via a smartphone's camera. Another is providing claims adjusters with adjusting apps that work on tablets and smartphones, allowing mobile submission plus real time photo, video, and audio recordings. A life/annuity writer has provided iPads to producers with marketing brochures, videos, calculators, and more. Another life insurer provides its regional VPs with all of their key producer data for use offline on iOS.

All of these are examples of carriers leveraging mobile for real value, not just games, flashlights, or even policy inquiries.

Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, VP and distinguished analyst, Gartner

Focus on mobility has been rising among insurers and is projected to continue to grow during the next few years. According to a 2012 Gartner study, 80 percent of life and 78 percent of P&C insurers in North America were planning on increasing their mobility spend through 2015. Focus among many of these companies included customer-, agent- and employee-facing applications, with greater interest in customer-facing overall.

The value to be derived from mobility, however, differs across companies, and many expect significant returns from mobility spend across the company. Gartner research found that an improved customer relation is the top objective for both life and P&C insurers.

Using mobile as a tool to improve interactivity is top of mind among insurers as they assess the value of mobile on both sales and customer service. Increasing productivity and cost savings are also projected benefit for many companies. Fewer companies report revenue increases, business process improvements, or straight-through-processing as the anticipated return on investment.

Leah Hollstegge, manger, Ward Group

Mobile strategies change depending on the target user. For policyholders, insurers are replicating their website capabilities via mobile technology and providing the same self-service items (i.e. pay bill, change address, access ID cards, report a claim, check claim status). Many companies are also exploring the ability to purchase insurance via mobile technology and integrating telematics into mobile devices.

With regards to mobile strategy for employees and agents, carriers are dedicating efforts to extending their existing applications on phones and tablet devices. This can apply to sales delivery, loss control, property inspections, claims adjusting, and really almost any process in the field.

Gerald Shields, IT practice director, The Nolan Co.

Having served as CIO for a large insurer supporting a large field force, we identified three core reasons for embracing mobile applications:

Reach – to increase reach and ease-of-access to a broader audience—people who depend on information in real time. This includes agents, policyholders, employees and others, whether in the quarry pit, on the road or in the coffee shop.
Effectiveness – enabling agents to quickly provide fact-based answers rather than saying “let me get back to you.”
Attractiveness – we are moving from an internet world to a real time world where users see their mobile device as their computer. New generation users expect to have full capabilities at their fingertips. If we are to compete for the generation entering the market, insurers must be attractive to them as a service provider and as an employer.

Ellen Carney, senior analyst, e-business and channel strategy, Forrester

When it comes to the business value of mobile insurance strategies, 54 percent of digital insurance teams have told Forrester that, first and foremost, mobile is about creating tighter bonds with customers—both agents and consumers. A close second and closely linked with the first is mobile's ability to improve customer satisfaction, voiced by 52 percent.

In both cases, it's about providing the customer with convenient access to the information they need, such as getting a list of local agents that Gen Y's are most likely to use (talk about a surprising marriage of channels!) and the mobilized agent portal that puts need-to-know information in the hands of the agent just when he or she needs it.

Mobile is also playing heavily into the branding of insurers, with more than 40 percent of carriers telling us that a priority of their mobile strategy is to promote their companies as innovators.

What's at the bottom of the list for mobile value? To play catch up to their competitors held the lowest priority with just 2 percent of e-business executives mentioning this as a priority while the next lowest priority was reducing operating or marketing costs, with 10 percent telling us that this was a priority.

Chuck Johnston, research director, Celent

Insurers recognize leveraging mobile capabilities effectively initially requires strong alignment to existing business models and then the foresight to move beyond those models as the mobile customer and producer experience evolves.

With the exception of auto claims—where first notice of loss and roadside service are obvious consumer use cases—most insurers across lines are focusing on enabling the agent, whether it be through eApps, rate quotes, CRM data or status updates.

Ultimately, as the consumer mobile lifestyle redefines insurance opportunity (on demand insurance, location-based offers, real time risk alerts), the agent/carriers relationship must dramatically evolve or it will quickly erode.

Special Reports /

Slideshow: Finding Value Through Mobility

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