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The Impact of Covid-19 on the Global Economy and Insurance

3 minutes, 35 seconds read

The pandemic COVID-19 or the well known “Coronavirus” is gradually stretching its limbs throughout the world. COVID-19 has now spread to more than 180 countries with its epicentre in China. Coronavirus confirmed cases reported globally, adds up to 8,60,181 (1st April 2020) and is still on the rise. With the death toll of 42,345(1st April 2020) the insurance companies have to take it on the chin. 

Public gatherings have been banned in several places. For instance, Mipim — the world’s largest property fair is postponed to the later part of the year. Similarly, the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona is cancelled altogether. From the IPL to the world’s premier basketball league to a 250-year-old parade and sprawling festivals, all national and international events are either cancelled or kept at hold indefinitely. Almost every business (likewise insurance) is impacted with corona outbreak and any business cannot rebound in a day.

Referring to the 2008 financial crisis when credit markets seized up, Mr Muri- Wood said, “The only thing we’ve ever had which was bigger than this was the banking crisis.” 

Businesses, Corona and Insurance

Many businesses have insurance policies that are meant to kick in when disaster strikes. But few of those policies are likely to cover pandemic outbreaks. Business interruption insurance, the coverage typically availed by the companies, as part of their property policies, pays cash to make up for lost revenue when a business has to halt operations unexpectedly.

Despite the fact that most policies won’t pay out if people cancel their travel due to coronavirus; in February, Post Office Insurance saw a year on year rise in sales of policies of 168% and CoverForYou saw a 150% increase.

Queries on new policies have sharply spiked up to 60% since fresh cases of Covid19 reports.

“Globally, we have seen such cases that impact large populations there is an increased push from consumers to get themselves covered. We have seen the same happen here as well in the wave of fresh cases being detected” 

Pankaj Verma, head marketing & underwriting operations, SBI General Insurance.

After the epidemics of SARS in 2003, Ebola in 2014 and Zika in 2015 — insurance companies realized that business-interruption claims could become unwise if they covered closures related to outbreaks of disease. Since then, insurers have taken steps to exclude epidemics from their policy.

Though epidemics are excluded from many business insurance policies, as recession threatens the global economy along with rising insolvencies, all sorts of companies, from airlines to retailers are coming under strain.

The insurers refused to comment, but Atradius said it is expected that corporate insolvencies will grow 2.4% globally in 2020, majorly resulting from the coronavirus outbreak.

The harsh reality

Perhaps, it’s too late to buy coverage for the current outbreak. Insurance companies do agree to take the brunt of the situation and pay the decontamination cost after the outbreak, but would tightly limit the amounts.

With unprecedented turmoil the industry created by the outbreak caused global airlines to cancel thousands of flights. Companies could choose a policy that would cover the deaths from an epidemic, when it passed a pre-estimated threshold, or when a government body — anywhere in the world — ordered a lockdown or travel ban. The policies are intended as custom contracts, so the company would choose according to their own risks.

Coface chief executive Xavier Durand mentioned that hotels and airlines will have to take the maximum brunt of the epidemic outbreak, while Euler Hermes saw coronavirus costing $320 billion of trade losses every quarter this year.

This indicates that companies will have to bear the losses themselves. It can be either directly or in the form of self-insurance funds (large companies often set aside some funds for emergencies).

LV, the insurance giant in the UK, have stopped selling travel insurance with immediate effect as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

“We can’t insure a burning building,” Mr Ryan Christian Ryan of the risk advisory firm Marsh says.

The bottom line

The Coronavirus have adversely impacted the economy worldwide. From time to time, violent demonstrations slowed down the flood of travellers to a trickle and transactions grind to a halt. 

McKinsey anticipates recession until the end of Q2 because of large-scale quarantines, travel restrictions, and social-distancing leading to a sharp fall in consumer and business spending. However, because of banks’ strong capitalization and macroprudential supervision, a full-scale banking crisis is averted.

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Empowering Frontline Healthcare Sales Teams with Mobile-First Tools

In healthcare, field sales is more than just hitting quotas—it’s about navigating a complex stakeholder ecosystem that spans hospitals, clinics, diagnostics labs, and pharmacies. Reps are expected to juggle compliance, education, and relationship-building—all on the move.

But, traditional systems can’t keep up. 

Only 28% of a rep’s time is spent selling; the rest is lost to administrative tasks, CRM updates, and fragmented workflows.

Salesforce, State of Sales 2024

This is where mobile-first sales apps in healthcare are changing the game—empowering sales teams to work smarter, faster, and more compliantly.

The Real Challenges in Traditional Field Sales

Despite their scale, many healthcare sales teams still rely on outdated tools that drag down performance:

  • Paper-based reporting: Slows down data consolidation and misses real-time insights
  • Siloed CRMs: Fragmented systems lead to broken workflows

According to a study by HubSpot, 32% of reps spend at least an hour per day just entering data into CRMs.

  • Managing Visits: Visits require planning, which may involve a lot of stress since doctors have a busy schedule, making it difficult for sales reps to meet them.
  • Inconsistent feedback loops: Managers struggle to coach and support reps effectively
  • Compliance gaps: Manual processes are audit-heavy and unreliable

These issues don’t just affect productivity—they erode trust, delay decisions, and increase revenue leakage.

What a Mobile-First Sales App in Healthcare Should Deliver

According to Deloitte’s 2025 Global Healthcare Executive Outlook, organizations are prioritizing digital tools to reduce burnout, drive efficiency, and enable real-time collaboration. A mobile-first sales app in healthcare is a critical part of this shift—especially for hybrid field teams dealing with fragmented systems and growing compliance demands.

Core Features of a Mobile-First Sales App in Healthcare

1. Smart Visit Planning & Route Optimization

Field reps can plan high-impact visits, reduce travel time, and log interactions efficiently. Geo-tagged entries ensure field activity transparency.

2. In-App KYC & E-Detailing

According to Viseven, over 60% of HCPs prefer on-demand digital content over live rep interactions, and self-detailing can increase engagement up to 3x compared to traditional methods.
By enabling self-detailing within the mobile app, reps can deliver compliance-approved content, enable interactive, personalized detailing during or after HCP visits, and give HCPs control over when and how they engage.

3. Real-Time Escalation & Commission Tracking

Track escalation tickets and incentive eligibility on the go, reducing back-and-forth and improving rep satisfaction.

4. Centralized Knowledge Hub

Push product updates, training videos, and compliance checklists—directly to reps’ devices. Maintain alignment across distributed teams. 

5. Live Dashboards for Performance Tracking

Sales leaders can view territory-wise performance, rep productivity, and engagement trends instantly, enabling proactive decision-making.

Case in Point: Digitizing Sales for a Leading Pharma Firm

Mantra Labs partnered with a top Indian pharma firm to streamline pharmacy workflows inside their ecosystem. 

The Challenge:

  • Pharmacists were struggling with operational inefficiencies that directly impacted patient care and satisfaction. 
  • Delays in prescription fulfillment were becoming increasingly common due to a lack of real-time inventory visibility and manual processing bottlenecks. 
  • Critical stock-out alerts were either missed or delayed, leading to unavailability of essential medicines when needed. 
  • Additionally, communication gaps between pharmacists and prescribing doctors led to frequent clarifications, rework, and slow turnaround times—affecting both speed and accuracy in dispensing medication. 

These challenges not only disrupted the pharmacy workflow but also created a ripple effect across the wider care delivery ecosystem.

Our Solution:

We designed a custom digital pharmacy module with:

  • Inventory Management: Centralized tracking of sales, purchases, returns, and expiry alerts
  • Revenue Snapshot: Real-time tracking of dues, payments, and cash flow
  • ShortBook Dashboard: Stock views by medicine, distributor, and manufacturer
  • Smart Reporting: Instant downloadable reports for accounts, stock, and sales

Business Impact:

  • 2x faster prescription fulfillment, reducing wait times and improving patient experience
  • 27% reduction in stock-out incidents through real-time alerts and inventory visibility
  • 81% reduction in manual errors, thanks to automation and real-time dashboards
  • Streamlined doctor-pharmacy coordination, leading to fewer clarifications and faster dispensing

Integration Is Key

A mobile-first sales app in healthcare is as strong as the ecosystem it fits into. Mantra Labs ensures seamless integration with:

  • CRM systems for lead and pipeline tracking
  • HRMS for leave, attendance, and performance sync
  • LMS to deliver ongoing training
  • Product Catalogs to support detailing and onboarding

Ready to Empower Your Sales Teams?

From lead capture to conversion, Mantra Labs helps you automate, streamline, and accelerate every step of the sales journey. 

Whether you’re managing field agents, handling complex product configurations, or tracking customer interactions — we bring the tech & domain expertise to cut manual effort and boost productivity.

Let’s simplify your sales workflows. Book a quick call.

Further Reading: How Smarter Sales Apps Are Reinventing the Frontlines of Insurance Distribution

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