One of the things that has fascinated me in covering the insurance industry in these changing times is the evolving relationship carriers have with their agent/partners. Whether they are going the independent agent route or using captive agents, the relationship has steadily changed over the last decade and continues to change as we add a third, digital channel.
No one seems to be contemplating a future without agents anymore, but agents have had to accept the fact that the pie has to be shared with a carrier's direct channel these days.
I'm in the midst of researching an article for Tech Decisions on the sharing of technology ideas and part of the article is being driven by the technology advisory council set up by Progressive with some of their independent agents.
Progressive has always been clear about selling to both channels—direct and agency—and I guess that's why their reputation as a technology leader is so well earned.
But an interview I had this week with Anand Rao, of Lincoln Financial Group, got me to thinking even more about the direction insurers and their agents are taking.
For years, carriers have tried to drive business to one of those two distribution channels. That was the strategy everyone followed. But we've come across a generation of insurance customers today that don't follow the rules. They want to do business the way they want it conducted, not the way corporate America feels these people want it conducted.
Rao, who has a new title (for me, anyway)—vice president of digital strategy and user experience—pointed out surveys show some cultural groups in this country invest their personal technology dollars in a smartphone rather than buy a laptop or a PC and be connected at their home. They don't have the money for both and it makes sense to go with a connectivity that is with them 24 hours a day on their phone.
That means insurers—and agents—have to find better ways of doing business in that environment. Having a Web site where insurers can buy a policy or make a claim is important, but it also needs to have mobile capabilities for someone to do business on a screen one-tenth the size of most monitors.
What kind of examples have you seen of insurance carriers who are catching up with technology to promote this third digital channel? Comment here or send me a note as I look deeper into the ever-evolving world of distribution channels.
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