In most cases, the connection between insurers and brokers is lacking because brokers often use their own broker management software which is not connected to the insurer. In this case, valued data is going to be lost and tracking the performances of your own brokers and agents will be hard to evaluate. In a nutshell, a broker management system helps brokers to connect with clients as well as taking care of the activities and tasks of the individuals. Having such a tool integrated already in an insurance software solution will be greatly beneficial for all insurers and MGAs wanting to have more control of one of their most important distribution channels.
As mentioned earlier, insurers and MGAs have a tendency of being in the grip when it comes to knowing what exactly they should look for when selecting a software that can be used for their broker management. Here are 5 things to consider when selecting a software solution for their broker management system:
1) Easy and Accessible
Setting up permissions and commissions (among many others) should not be a grueling process. The software should allow insurers to set their brokers up in a system with different permissions that will allow them to know what they can see and do within the software. The same applies when setting up Broker Commissions on a Group level, Individual level or even an insurance product level. Accessibility anywhere and anytime is important so having a cloud-based system that will centralise all of a broker’s data in one place would be highly recommended. Creating and amending policies should be easy and hassle free and the same goes for managing a pipeline and communicating with clients. By making a couple of clicks, the process of giving permissions as well as commissions should be easy for insurers.
2) Customer & Broker Experience
The brokers should be able to access the Back Office (BO) in order for them to create quotations for their customers. The data collected should be saved within the system which will allow brokers to see their customer’s activity in real-time. Once an insurer decides on a system to use, it will allow brokers to access information instantly as well as request for any policy changes immediately. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, the UI should be able to give the brokers a nice overview of outstanding tasks to increase their conversion rate in order for their processes to be much faster.
At the same time, due to the fact that customers are becoming more accustomed to operating online (self-service portals), it would only make sense for AI to be implemented which will allow functions like chatbots and email automation in order for their needs to be met 24 hours a day during the course of the week. The user interface should also be easy to use and aesthetically pleasing to look at as well.
3) CRM
Having a universal CRM is very important for insurers and their brokers in order for them to track and assign activities (manually or automatically), see the full history of each policy and maintain all of the customer’s information. By using i2go’s CRM, brokers will be able to gather all of the customers’ data in full. The insurer and the broker will also be able to access all of the data pertaining to the policies and the customers. CRM in general also gives the ability to send out emails and sms on the spot as well as tracking the payment history, follow ups and the history of a policy (e.g. renewals, MTAs etc.) Insurers benefit from this because they will be able to track and keep control of their broker distribution channels and automatic processes (e.g automatic task assignments for particular brokers in certain areas). This however, depends on the permissions that are given to their brokers. Once the software has been selected, it will help insurers to manage their brokers and also give them the possibility to access the software to sell their policies. In essence: one combined tool for insurers/MGAs and their brokers.
4) Data & Analytics
Insurers should be able to review the data in an analytical way so they can track the brokers’ performance and be able identify new market strategies. The policies should be tracked by either the broker or the insurer in an easy way as well as for easy lead management in order to increase sales. The system should also allow the insurer to access the information held by the broker (e.g how much business they brought in or how many have been completed or remain incomplete etc). Through this, brokers will be able to easily see the total income that a client brings in in comparison to the cost of service. In the event that insurance products are bought by a certain demographic (e.g single men between ages 30 – 40), brokers will be able to see which month had the most sales as well as which products in particular were sold. That very same data will also be able to be exported and downloaded and that is why visualizing and segmenting the data gathered as needed is important.
5) Intuitive
Lastly, the system should be intuitive meaning that the brokers should be able to do more without much of a hassle.The software should be easy to navigate and understand so that more time and energy can be spent on sales and not on learning how to use the software. Implements that can make the software intuitive would be a UI that is user-friendly or having a function that will allow access to data and analytics or changes to be made easily and on the go if necessary. The software will automatically do the work for the broker which will inevitably also make it easier for them to sell their policies ad hoc anytime, anywhere.
Conclusion
Take i2go for instance: as i2go is an insurance software, it is able to help Insurers and MGAs manage their brokers in order for them to keep track of their brokers, automate processes and track performances of their individual brokers. It can help insurers to streamline and manage their brokers and furthermore, our solution can give their brokers access to sell policies, create activities and check on their own
performances as well as doing their lead management and engage with their clients. Having a core insurance software solution that will also cover the broker management is a high value add for any insurer/MGA.
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