After reviewing the responses to the technology-themed survey questions in the 2021 Independent Insurance Agent Survey,
PIA National CEO Mike Becker says the trends are clear: "Adoption of technology has increased across the board, but the change is incremental." Still, Becker noted marginal improvements in a number of areas related to i
nsurance agency technology adoption. Prior to the pandemic, for instance, roughly a third of agencies said they lacked financial or other support from carriers in their digitization efforts. At the end of 2020, however, that response dropped to 23%, indicating an increase in carrier support. When asked what specific elements of the
agent-client experience are best-suited to online service, across the board, acceptance of online service increased 3% to 5% and skepticism of it decreased by a similar amount year-over-year. When asked to identify what "concerns you have when it comes to serving your clients online," only one was cited by a majority of agents responding in both surveys in both years:
data safety and compliance. "The results of this survey indicate that a substantial number [of agencies] were aided by the fact that they invested in technology upgrades in the several years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic," Becker notes. "This gave them a head start on a more seamless transition to remote working. Others responded by investing as needed in technology." The benefit of advanced crisis readiness is apparent in the following respondent comment:
"A couple of years ago, we suffered a harsh winter. I made the financial decision to equip my staff with new hardware and the latest software in order to facilitate telecommuting. When COVID struck, it was like flipping on a switch to have everyone work from home." COVID-19 accelerates digitization
The defining event of 2020 also left an indelible mark on insurance agents and agencies. However, the insurance agents who responded to this year's survey were somewhat divided when asked exactly how much the pandemic impacted digitization at their respective shops. While some reported already having the systems in place to seamlessly direct their business online, many others said they needed to make speedy tech upgrades in both hardware and software in order to support business consistency and client management. Here are a handful of first-person responses to the question of just how much COVID-19 affected insurance agency technology adoption. "We bought a whole new server and system to allow for remote work." "We were already headed in this direction and wanted to pursue online options more, so (the pandemic) accelerated the process." "Probably advanced technology in the office by about five years." "We were ahead of the curve and had been using Zoom meeting technology for at least 12 months before COVID-19." "We were already built for this." Keep reading...
