On Point - Insurance Journal

As insurance organizations consider a refresh of their agent or policyholder online experience, they often first seek operational efficiency. Wrong approach, notes Josh Levine. He’s the founder of Cake & Arrow, an online experience consultancy. “Better and faster sounds great, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of the end user experience. You can do both. Don’t start with technology. Don’t start with the what; start with the why.” Is insurance on board with this approach? Josh says the “it doesn’t come naturally to insurance organizations. They want to focus on the process, like claims. It’s in their DNA. It’s what the industry thinks people need versus what actually drives people to make a transaction.” Josh believes in intense field research before revising digital experiences—sitting down with agents, for example, and seeing them navigate tech tools. “We want to really understand the behaviors and attitudes as it relates to the problem.” In this engaging conversation, Josh also offers some personal advice: “You be you.”

Here’s a group therapy session for all you claims adjusters out there! Or, if you want to understand what the adjusting world is really like, take a listen to 20-year veteran Chantal Roberts. (A commercial auto claim featuring an alien encounter is truly cocktail party discussion-worthy.) Today, Chantal is teaching and writing books about that world. Her latest work is literally a fairy tale series to simplify understanding of how a policy would respond, or not, to a claim. She has advice for carriers as both demographics and influence shift to younger consumers. Leaders need “to start paying for designations again and sending their teams to seminars again. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of what insurance is, and that is the insurance industry’s fault. We are looking at it backwards; we need to start with claims. Carriers need to take a look at themselves. Ask what you can do to protect policyholders, not stakeholders. That’s what Gen Z wants.”

#ClaimsAdjuster #GenZ #PolicyholdersFirst

Most agents and brokers do a great job for customers. But guess what? They’re licensed professionals—and like all professionals, they can get sued. That’s not fun. On this recording, we hear from Amanda Juratovic, who oversees the Big “I” E&O program for association members. Listen as she outlines large and growing E&O issues around agency aggregators, M&A, consumer “promises” in marketing, AI, the hard market, and carrier solvency. Each of these industry challenges is a landmine of potential legal actions against agencies. Amanda has seen it all and provides excellent, simple advice for principals and their teams. Listen up, agents: Get smarter and cleaner about your operations and business practices!

Independent agency owner Tiago Prado might challenge your thinking, because he is challenging the industry’s status quo. 🤔💡 Listen as he unpacks a fascinating yet traumatic family story from his upbringing in Brazil, to dealing with gangs near Boston, to a winding journey through school and construction work. 🇧🇷 🏫 The struggle was worth it, Tiago says. He outlines how agency physical stores with longer day, evening and Saturday hours as well as 24/7 online multilingual service are keys for underserved prospects and policyholders. The strong growth of bilingual consumers and businessowners in America present an excellent opportunity. And Tiago’s firm BRZ Insurance is going after it. Tiago and his 152 associates—with an average age of 25 years—are building for the future with multiple retail offices, AI-supported service tools, sophisticated marketing, and multiple languages to meet customers where they are. “Bilingual marketing today is not an option anymore. It’s mandatory.”

#IndependentAgent #InsuranceIndustry #BusinessOwner #Inclusion

Seven years ago, Rodney Johnson approached Pat Gallagher with a new strategy for organic growth: crafting insurance coverage for diverse and underserved business segments. The diversity angle was “never about politics or philanthropy,” says Rodney; it simply meant more revenue for the broker. 🎯💼 Mission accomplished. Today the practice generates $1.3 billion in premium for 7,000 commercial clients, such as women or Black-owned firms. Rodney says “the business case is rooted in diversity of thought,” which is critical for new ideas. “How can you innovate with a group of people with the same background, same life experience, same social identity? If you’re a sales organization, and you’re looking to sell to a broader range of buyers, diversity of thought allows you to increase sales.” The strategy is not “lifting one group over another,” he adds. “When more revenue comes in…people get raises and bonuses. It creates opportunities for everybody in the organization, and those opportunities don’t discriminate. This is not about ‘us versus them.’” Listen as Rodney also shares a piece of advice for younger workers looking to supercharge their careers. 🚀