We’re Careful of Our Own Expectations

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Some years ago, at an insurance industry conference the name of which escapes us, we attended a session put on by one of the insurance trade publications that proliferated at the time. At the end of the session, the moderator asked this:

“Given the choice between a feature article written by the publication, an advertorial, and an ad, which one would you be likely to take most seriously?”

To the moderator’s surprise, the attendees were unanimous in saying, “An ad.”

When the moderator asked why, the consensual response was, “Feature articles and advertorials have agendas we have to try to figure out. The purpose of an ad is apparent on its face: sell something.”

Lesson learned.

Surprise is Constructive

According to a survey conducted by SVNMT (software vendors named MapleTech) — and recognizing our own agenda — we were curious to know what features of a core processing system were considered most important by Property & Casualty insurers. We expected the responses to include rating, quoting, underwriting and, perhaps, renewals. We expected wrong.

 

The features most important features to Property & Casualty insurers were:

 

  1. Configurability: The ability for users to easily customize products, pricing, and underwriting rules to adapt to changing market conditions, regulatory requirements, or customer demands without heavy reliance on vendor support, IT support, or extensive coding.
  2. Integration Capabilities: Integrating with other systems and data sources to streamline operations and enhance decision-making.
  3. Automation and Efficiency: Automated policy administration, underwriting, and claims processing to reduce manual work, minimize errors, and speed up workflows. [We were surprised this was as low as #3.]
  4. Data Management and Analytics: Strong data handling for real-time insights, risk assessment, and personalized offerings, with support for compliance and reporting. [We expected this one to be higher, too.]
  5. Scalability: The ability to handle growth in policy volume, new lines of business, or geographic expansion without performance degradation. [Since we expected most insurers to prioritize growth, this one surprised us, too.]
  6. User Experience: An intuitive interface for internal users (underwriters, agents, et al.) and external stakeholders (policyholders, brokers, et al.) to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. [We were happy this one made the list at all.]

Are we trying to sell something? Of course, we are. Do we think we know everything? No, we don’t. That’s why we ask questions and pay attention. That’s how we know a system that balances the functional capabilities above while ensuring reliability, security, and compliance is critical, since those things translate into operational efficiency, customer retention, and competitive agility.

 

That’s also why we developed Aspire.