As a regular contributor to the Broker World Tech-Tock… column, my aim is to keep you informed about the latest technologies, introduce unfamiliar platforms, and shed light on the evolving landscape of Insurtech. In this article, I want to emphasize the importance of diversification and avoiding over-reliance on a single solution. Let’s begin by examining the case of Commission Accounting and Agency Management Systems (AMS). While some solution providers offer a modular approach to back-office software for carriers or BGAs, it’s crucial to consider tailored options when selling Medicare Supplemental insurance for example. The one-size-fits-all model for AMS may not yield optimal results. Instead, opting for a platform specifically designed for a particular line of business, such as life vs. health, is likely to prove more effective.
In the realm of life insurance, the ability to measure and track the production of insurance producers is of paramount importance for both carriers and life brokerage agencies. By analyzing various metrics such as premium, territory, and product-specific performance, stakeholders can gain valuable insights that drive informed decision-making, optimize resource allocation, and ultimately enhance overall business outcomes. One key aspect to measure is the premium generated by life insurance producers. This metric provides a clear picture of the revenue generated by individual producers or teams. By tracking premium production, carriers and brokerage agencies can identify top-performing producers and reward their efforts accordingly. Simultaneously, it allows them to identify underperforming areas or producers that may require additional support or training.
Another vital measurement lies in analyzing territory-specific metrics. Understanding the geographical distribution of production helps identify regions with high growth potential and those that may need more attention. It enables carriers and agencies to allocate resources strategically, directing sales efforts towards untapped markets or specific territories that show promising results. Additionally, territory-specific metrics allow for effective performance benchmarking among producers operating within the same region, fostering healthy competition and driving growth.
In addition to premium and territory, measuring production by product and line of business provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of different offerings. Life insurance consists of various products tailored to different demographics and needs, such as term life, whole life, or universal life insurance. By examining production metrics for each product, carriers and agencies can identify the most successful offerings and adjust their sales strategies accordingly. This helps streamline marketing efforts, optimize product portfolios, and ensure that producers are equipped with the right tools and knowledge to effectively sell specific lines of business.
Moreover, tracking metrics in general, such as conversion rates, persistency, and customer satisfaction, provides a comprehensive view of producer performance and overall business health. These metrics shed light on key areas of improvement, enabling carriers and agencies to implement targeted training programs, refine sales processes, and enhance customer experiences. It also facilitates the identification of emerging trends and market shifts, allowing for proactive adjustments to stay ahead of the competition.
Measuring the production of life insurance producers by premium, territory, and product-specific metrics is crucial for carriers and life brokerage agencies. These measurements enable informed decision-making, strategic resource allocation, and optimized sales strategies. By leveraging such insights, stakeholders can maximize productivity, identify growth opportunities, and deliver exceptional customer experiences, ultimately fostering long-term success in the dynamic landscape of the life insurance industry.
Where are my customers and what do I need to know about them?
At a LIMRA conference this year, I met Xi Zhao, CFA from Spinnaker Analytics. The following week I saw a demo of their products via Zoom. There were many product solutions crossing several industries. Of course, I was interested in those products that focused on insurance. Spinnaker Analytics has been driving insurance sales growth for carriers and brokers for more than two decades. Headquartered in Boston, Spinnaker has deployed its solutions globally.
Spinnaker perfectly blends the science of data-driven insights and powerful AI algorithms with the art of brokers’ sales prowess. Its data scientists have extensive insurance experience, and Spinnaker has built up best practices and a proven toolkit of algorithms and methods honed over long-term successful deployments. But they don’t just deploy solutions, they bring clients along on the growth path through their consultative support and insights. Spinnaker has been in the Insurtech market before there was an Insurtech industry.
Spinnaker uses a proprietary rapid prototyping method to develop insights within days of receiving your data. They have a unique iterative approach which combines producer data with external data collected and curated by Spinnaker over the last 20 years. Spinnaker then applies cutting-edge and powerful algorithms to generate insights. Best of all, they do so while collaborating actively with business and IT leaders, and have successfully executed hybrid resourcing to optimally leverage both in-house and external capabilities. Spinnaker capabilities continue to grow by embracing emerging technologies. For example, Spinnaker is responsibly integrating generative AI into their client-based solutions as appropriate.
Spinnaker has a growing portfolio of insurance solutions which are easy to customize and deploy:
- Sales Prophet™: Combine market sales and inforce data with client data to identify sales opportunities, and expand distribution footprint with intelligent producer recruiting and redesign territories.
- Lead Prioritizer™: Predict app outcome and placement propensity by carrier.
- Cartalyzer™: Dynamically recommend products and carriers tailored to individual clients, including cross-sell or upsell opportunities.
- 4Qast™: Accurately forecast sales and revenue and identify areas of shortfall for remedy.
Spinnaker also has solutions addressing staffing, unit costs, underwriting, lapse prediction, and others. Spinnaker also creates customized solutions tailored to specific client priorities. A leading carrier deployed the Lead Prioritizer™ to identify attractive customer attributes to grow prospecting, marketing, and sales. Sales grew 40 percent over two years without adding to distribution or underwriting staff. A leading distributor deployed the Sales Prophet™ to increase sales in current territories while expanding in underserved markets through targeted agent recruiting. This enabled leadership to redesign territories and reassign sales goals to improve sales efficiency and effectiveness. The company grew sales by 20 percent while trimming down its fixed expenses. A life and health carrier significantly streamlined its budgeting and planning using 4Qast™, which improved sales and revenue forecasting accuracy to over 98 percent.
Spinnaker Analytics are results driven. You can see by the testimonials like, “The Sales Prophet™ is awesome—they knocked it out of the park!”—Head of Distribution, life insurer,“When I want correct answers quickly, I call Spinnaker.”—CEO, HNW brokerage, “Their algorithms are worth their weight in gold.”—CEO, life insurer, “We grew sales 30 percent without adding any headcount because Spinnaker’s solution allowed us to work smarter.”—Head of Employee Benefits insurer. With Spinnaker Analytics, brokers can harness the art and science of data analytics to unlock untapped opportunities and drive profitable growth. Visit Spinnaker at https://www.spinnakeranalytics.com or contact them at [email protected].
Connecting Each Touchpoint on the Sales and Customer Success Journey
Built for the health insurance ecosystem of insurers, distributors, and members, Trusty.care is the end-to-end sales enablement platform that uses technology, data collection, and analysis to improve acquisition, lifetime value, member satisfaction, and payment integrity to get everyone into the right-fit plan. The modular approach seamlessly connects data, teams, and members to optimize your sales processes. Each module is powerful alone, even better together.
Trusty Select Pro is a power broker and customer sales platform from first touch to tailored plan-matching to direct enrollment. It’s an all in one platform that includes quoting and direct enrollment, bulk plan reviews, email notification, and call recording. It also has Blue Button 2.0 technology that connects members’ CMS health data automatically. There is flowing data between sales processes which reduces cost and increases efficiency.
Trusty Back Office Pro tracks and manages complicated commissions and business analytics to support sales, go-to-market strategies, and improve payment integrity. It also increases efficiency and accuracy. The platform is designed to improve broker relationships, alliances, and recruitment. It also focused on retention and damage disenrollment. Metrics are at the core of the system by measuring profitability, assessing top producers, identifying sales opportunities, and estimating future sales projections. It’s standalone or seamlessly integrates with legacy systems.
Coming next year in the Fall of 2024 they are releasing Trusty CRM Pro which manages and nurtures leads. It will run industry specific campaigns, integrate with existing enrollment and commission platforms. Visit https://www.trusty.care/.
