Meredith Barnes-Cook is an award-winning insurance strategist with four decades of industry experience. With a strategic focus on optimizing policy servicing operations, she understands the intricate interplay between people, process, and technology within complex insurance ecosystems. In a recent Q&A session on her new research report, Meredith shares her insights on effective policy servicing today.
Q: What is driving carriers to invest in policy servicing?
“First and foremost, people are any company’s most valuable asset.
There are a few different dimensions. We always think about things across a people, process, and technology spectrum. The driving force behind carriers investing in policy servicing lies in the need to optimize human capital, enhance customer experience, and improve efficiency in a competitive market. Policy servicing serves as the gateway to new business, customer retention, broker, and agent satisfaction. Moreover, the increasing complexity of insurance operations necessitates the integration of technology to streamline processes and reduce costs. Carriers must adapt to these challenges to stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of the industry.”
Q: To ensure that policy servicing processes stay effective and resilient, how are carriers balancing process optimization with the need for adaptability and futureproofing?
“Change or transformation needs to be like a slide rule, not a tape measure. It has to be incremental. To move forward, you’ve got to leave some stuff behind.
To ensure the longevity and effectiveness of policy servicing processes, it is crucial to avoid immediately jumping to the option of replacing a policy administration system. This is a massive undertaking that requires a compelling business case and a thorough understanding of the root cause of the issues and the measurable value of addressing them. Before launching into a core system replacement, we must determine if the better path is incrementally enhancing capabilities that surround the system. This could involve adding “satellite” capabilities like submissions automation, or augmenting data via external sources, based on the specific needs. Adopting a best-of-breed approach to integrating specialized solutions lets carriers tailor systems when root cause problem solving reveals that embarking on a lengthy replacement journey will not have the desired impact. It is essential to focus on defining success upfront, measuring the value of changes, and engaging in a comprehensive change management process. Carriers need to be willing, albeit uncomfortably, to leave behind outdated practices and processes, even if they were once innovative, to ensure continued efficiency and competitiveness.”
Q: What indicators should carriers monitor to gauge project success and measure return on investment?
“Determining what success will look like upfront is key – and includes deciding how to incrementally measure the progress toward realizing those goals.
It is important to start with a crawl, walk, run approach, mapping out the future state business process and defining measures of success. Carriers should focus on baseline measures such as the volume of submissions, time taken for policy servicing tasks, and effort involved. Understanding what drives delays and inefficiencies is crucial for identifying areas for improvement and automation. Additionally, measuring submission-to-quote ratios and analyzing reasons for lost business can provide valuable insights. It is essential to set achievable measures of success that align with the organization’s goals and involve stakeholders in the change management process to ensure buy-in and transparency. By continuously monitoring and adjusting these indicators, carriers can track progress and optimize their policy servicing operations effectively.”
Interested in diving into the full data behind Meredith’s insights? Explore our recent research report, “Policy Servicing Optimization in Commercial Lines” – current advisory clients can access the report via the client portal here.
