The problem insurance carriers face when they wish to do business with independent agents is that the agents are exactly that: independent.

“The agency marketplace is not uniform,” says Nort Salz, president of the consulting firm Deep Customer Connections.

In his position, Salz works with many agencies and reports the most frequent comments agents make about their business involve technology, but at the same time when these agents rate different factors that affect their business, technology comes midway down the list of issues they deal with.

“I think that’s a manifestation that it’s different for different agents,” he says. “All of them are thinking about what carriers can do to help them sell, but they have different processes for how they sell—some are early adopters and want to go real time, but others don’t.”

Salz maintains there is confusion around the whole process of real-time download. Agents have gotten used to the idea that different carriers have different approaches, different systems, and support different workflows.

“So it’s all a little bit chaotic in the minds of agents,” he says.

Salz shared a quote from one of the agents he deals with: “It’s really difficult to remember how to operate seven or eight different carrier Websites. Not only are we keeping up our own data systems but possibly four or more others when we have to keep putting information in. I’ll do whatever I can to place a piece of business with you if you are willing to help me.”

Salz explains that while technology is ubiquitous in the insurance market, what agents are looking for is hand-holding.

“They are looking for relationships,” he says. “They want more technology, but they also want the carrier to help them figure out how to use it.”

Some carriers are willing to accomodate, explains Salz. Beyond the industry standard help desk, carriers are thinking about things like what they can do to train and support agents in using their system.

This is done in different ways, such as Webinars or online training, but some carriers are getting out to the agencies personally to focus on that individual agency—and how everyone in the agency can use the system more effectively.

“This is a tough nut to crack,” says Salz. “One of the things some carriers are considering is getting the underwriters to directly support the technology to expand usage and make it more comprehensive.”

Too complex?

The environment agents are living and working in changes expectations, points out Salz. Agents are experiencing consumer technology from companies such as Amazon.com and find it to be relatively simple.

“To some extent that shapes their expectations when it comes to carrier technology,” says Salz.

At the same time, when you are writing a commercial lines policy agents can’t afford to make mistakes, so there are E&O issues as well as the conservative nature of the industry.

“One of the things I sometimes tell people is the whole notion of making it easier for agents to do business with you is not rocket science—it’s a pretty straightforward idea,” says Salz. “In fact, it’s more complicated than rocket science. I have a degree in aeronautical engineering and I know that’s the case. You can calculate a trajectory to the moon. But carriers have to think of multiple industry segments: early adopters, middle of the road, and people who need hand-holding. It also varies with product. Some coverage is more complicated than others. There are more hoops to be jumped through. Agents need support.”

Policyholders

Just as policyholders have pushed personal lines carriers to improve their technology, Salz believes eventually customers will push both commercial lines carriers and agencies as well.

Business owners are more aware of the fact that sometimes it’s not good to have things done instantly, according to Salz, which means going through some steps to be sure you reach the right decision.

“[Business owners] want to talk about it two or three times,” he says. “Technology is considered less important. There’s not the same kind of pressure to do it immediately in commercial lines. They are bigger deals. They aren’t spending $800 on a personal lines policy they are spending $80,000, so they want to be more deliberate.

Still, Salz maintains there clearly is the adjacent effect of personal lines becoming more real time and technology based so there is pressure for more things to be automated, particularly when you look at commercial lines.

“Some aspects are more inviting to technology changes,” he says. “In personal lines it is emphatically around quoting—getting the sale done. You don’t experience that in commercial lines. There is more emphasis there on getting renewals out on time and having an underwriter available to help with something.”

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Carrier/Agency Technology: Different Strokes for Different Agents

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