Agents are the face of life & annuity brands. Who policyholders trust and turn to for support. A poor agent experience equally reflects poorly on the carrier. So why are we keeping agents in the dark? Communication gaps between carrier and agent, whether or not justified, can inhibit the delivery of best-in-class customer experiences. The reality is that our growing web of systems is making it more difficult to address. Getting to the root of the problem is bigger than expanding data access. In order to truly elevate digital experiences, data needs to be coupled with the ability to dynamically flow and drive digital transactions throughout your entire ecosystem.

The cost of limited data

Agents are responsible for protecting their customers. How do they effectively address protection gaps if they have a restricted view of their customers? There are numerous occasions throughout the customer lifecycle that agents and ultimately, your broader business would benefit from greater agent access to data.

Acquisition

Agents invest significant time and resources into growing their book of business. However, the return on this investment is often impacted by the amount of information carriers provide. To effectively close protection gaps agents need to know what products are available, as well as the applicable training and underwriting requirements. Without this information sales are vulnerable to incorrect product selection, surprises in the underwriting/suitability process, and increased NIGOs.

Growth

Growing policyholder relationships is highly dependent on customer insights. Key life milestones are a prime opportunity to offer solutions to support policyholders’ evolving protection needs. Many major milestones coincide with a customer service request (i.e., beneficiary change) and the chance to trigger agent outreach. Frequently these windows of opportunity are missed due to outdated and incomplete policyholder data, coupled with infrequent customer appointment routines.

Retention

Lack of transparency into recent customer service requests not only can inhibit policyholder growth potential, but can also hide policyholder dissatisfaction and potential lapse risks. With greater insight into service related activity, agents can personally address issues and if necessary, salvage at-risk relationships.

Customer Service

Whether it’s a change to their policy or difficulties navigating service portals, agents are often the first person that policyholders go to for support. Beyond blindspots in policyholder data, limited visibility into servicing portals inhibits agents from providing proper support. In response, they are forced to rely more heavily on carrier customer service centers. Increasing call volumes from both agents and policyholders seeking support.

Our reasons are justified, but it’s time to do better.

The progress we’ve made in our technological journey has coincided with increasing complexity. With each new system or platform, we add another layer of data and a new potential blindspot. Although the data exists, it is frequently inconsistent across the multiple systems you must log into to access it. Changes applied in one system may not display in others. To combat it, carriers often utilize repetitive manual actions across systems to maintain data consistency. Effectively addressing these challenges is greater than simply increasing data access. It must also be coupled with the ability to operationalize data and workflows across all systems. When this is enabled, then we can truly expand to support the broad spectrum of digital transactions and equip agents with the data they need.

Sureify’s agent portal, LifetimeAGENT, is backed by CoreCONNECT. A platform specifically designed to address the data and workflow challenges described in this piece. CoreCONNECT ensures agents have what they need to effectively maintain and grow their policyholder relationships. Learn more.