Agency Technology

Providing quality technology solutions—and advice—for independent agents helps carriers differentiate themselves from the competition.

Have we reached a turning point in carrier/agent technology? Deb Smallwood, founder of Strategy Meets Action (SMA) believes so.

Independent insurance agents want what every consumer wants these days—one stop shopping. When agents have issues, they don’t want to call 10 different people in the carrier’s organization to get the issue resolved, explains Mike Fitzgerald, senior analyst in the insurance practice for Celent.

Some agents have introduced mobile apps, but so far we haven’t seen a great amount of usage. The fact [the mobile apps] don’t have a lot of functionality yet may be a part of that.

Proactive carriers can facilitate growth by broadening their strategic outlook and capitalizing on fundamental changes emerging in distribution, technology, and regulation.

Independent agents continue to lose personal lines market share to direct writers, and combating that means conveying to customers the unique abilities producers bring to the table, says the chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.