"I think all the carriers recognize there are different levels of where agents are at. Some are fairly advanced so they have direct XML connections for us. Some are just starting to move in that direction. There are diverse ways that technology can connect into different carriers. It's not really homogenous.
Some carriers have made investments in their XML platforms. That connectivity is faster and has more value and advantages in the information, or metadata, you are getting around the transaction versus other carriers that are connected, but have taken a fast way of doing it through either a reverse proxy or a screen-scrape approach. There are different levels.
If you look at Bolt Insurance, we're built around the small business owner, which is typically a lower premium, but in commercial lines it means gathering almost the same amount of information as a large account.
We've made large investments in technology platforms to be able to integrate into the carriers' systems and present a premium quote online to the small business owner for three or four different carriers at once with just one single input of data. No one wants to rekey data. That's an action of the past.
I hear a lot of talk about a high tech, high touch approach and we really are because we've spent a lot of time reducing the input so we can spend time on the phone with people."
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