By Alex Bratton, CEO,Lextech

With adoption of mobile devices growing at a torrid pace, it wasonly a matter of time until mobile apps started to work their wayinto insurance agencies. Instead of just being “nice to have,”mobile apps today are important tools to help agencies meet theirmost pressing challenges, including the need to drive sales,solidify customer loyalty and address their agingworkforce.

Mobility is here to stay. For the first time this year, sales ofsmartphones are expected to surpass sales of traditional cellphones. More than 800 million smartphones are expected to be soldworldwide in 2013, according to Canalys. In addition, research firm IDC predicts that more than170 million tablets will be sold this year, surpassing laptopsales. It's no wonder that experts predict that nearly 70 billionapps will be downloaded to these devices this year.

Insurance agencies considering a mobile app strategy should lookat their most pressing challenges first:

1. Agents need to win against savvycompetitors.

Competition in the insurance industry is fierce and a recentindustry study shows that direct response carriers are growing themost in volume and market share. To compete, agencies needtechnology tools that are better than traditional web-basedtools.

Mobile apps can help by assisting an agent who sits down with acustomer. An app can simplify complicated financial concepts andallow customers to interact with different financial scenarios.Based on information the sales rep collects from the prospect, amobile app can suggest the right products and solutions. Picturesand graphs running alongside the scenarios can make this part ofthe process more visually appealing and understandable for thecustomer. Once the customer is ready to commit, the informationalready used can then automatically flow into an order entryapp.

Apps that tap into the agency's workflow also can help boostsales. For example, an asset inventory app or an app thatintelligently captures details about how a house is constructed canstreamline property and casualty quotes. These apps can promptagents to ask certain questions, reducing the need for additionalphone calls and expediting the sales process.

Finally, mobile apps can give sales managers a dashboard attheir fingertips detailing monthly sales goals and quotas, andproviding insight into individual agent performance. This willallow managers to pinpoint how they can best assist agents withadditional training, information or help.

2. Customer loyalty isparamount.

Although the need to boost sales often is the primary driver fora mobile app strategy, insurance is a people-centric business, andmobile apps can help an agent connect better withcustomers.

Putting a mobile app into the hands of customers allows them totake control of their insurance needs and creates loyalty byproviding useful tools. This may include an app that allowscustomers to take a home inventory, report a claim, access adigital proof of insurance, change coverage or pay their bill. Thetime that customers spend interfacing with these apps is time theyspend interfacing with your agency.

The idea is to allow customers to interact with you how theywant. Increasingly, that means using an app.

3. Reverse the signs of aging.

We've all seen commercials for miracle products that claim tohelp reverse the signs of aging. Insurance is an industry thatcould use this help. According to a study by St. John'sUniversity School of Risk Management, half of the insuranceindustry talent pool will turn over within the next 15years.

This creates several challenges for agencies, including therecruiting and training of a younger workforce. Mobile apps canhelp by tapping into the way millennials work. This generation ofemployees expects to have technology tools to help them performtheir jobs. If the insurance industry is serious about recruitingyounger workers, mobile apps must be a part of thismessage.

At the same time, the exodus of retiring agents leaves the veryreal possibility of a mass brain drain in the industry. It's nearlyimpossible to impart decades of experience in a short time frameand expect younger workers to be up to speed. However, mobile appscan help by capturing and sharing processes and experiences, and byfacilitating information sharing by connecting agents via textchat, video chat or phone calls.

Finally, training a field sales force always is a challenge.Mobile apps can be used to quickly ramp up agents, educate them onnew products and services, and standardize processes. For example,mobile apps designed with short training videos or games can beused to help agents quickly digest information.

This also standardizes the way an agency does business, whichcreates a consistent customer experience, and ensures that customerrelationships remain with the agency even if a producer leaves.