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InsurTalks Podcast with Andrew Warburton: Delivering value-added experiences in the New Normal

5 minutes, 26 seconds read

The outbreak of pandemic Covid-19 has disturbed the political, social, economic, and financial structures of the whole world. The analysis by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) said the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting global supply chains and international trade.

To understand the impact of this crisis on the Insurance and InsurTech industries, we interviewed Mr. Andrew Warburton, Sales Director, Winsure Financial to get a sense of the current situation and understand “the new normal in Insurance”. 

Mr. Andrew Warburton is a Sales Director for Winsure Financial in London, a company that specializes in providing innovative investment vehicles that can be distributed digitally to clients or through professional advisors. He is also an advisor for Insurtech Hub in Istanbul. With over 30 years of experience in the global Insurance/Banking industry he believes that Insurtech and fintech are the only way forward to be relevant in the new digital age. Andrew has an international Sales and Marketing background working in Senior Executive positions with large multinationals in 6 countries.

Connect with Mr. Warburton – LinkedIn

The excerpt from the interview with Mr. Andrew Warburton:

The Impact of COVID-19 in the Insurance Industry

Almost every business has been affected by COVID-19 severely. What are the direct and indirect implications on Insurance?

Indeed the COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the market. In Turkey as well, there’s a drastic reduction in new businesses. There are 3 major areas of impact due to this crisis in Insurance-

Claims– There’s been a spike in claims especially in Travel, Health, and Life Insurance lines. Death rates in western Europe and the USA might have been up by 50% on a monthly figure. The impact may not be huge as more elderly people are parting away and they don’t have the same needs as that of younger families. However, Travel Insurance has been deeply affected due to lockdowns and people avoiding travel in general as a precautionary measure. 

Customer Engagement Another area where the Insurance sector is facing a problem is how to reach customers? Selling agents are no longer welcome knocking on the door due to the lockdowns. It is very difficult for banks and insurance companies to reach their customers in the normal fashion.

Economic Slowdown– Many people are drawing negligible salaries or in some cases no salaries at all. But they still have to pay insurance premiums which are an additional burden on them. 

Insurance is a kind of business where sale is prompted in some way. It may not be the case for some Insurance lines such as car insurance which is bought online in many countries. Without that prompt, probably people won’t buy insurance. Moreover, times like these where there is a cash crunch, insurance might be the last thing in people’s minds. 

Changing Customer Preferences

In a post-pandemic World, will insurance ever be bought offline? Or have we crossed the threshold for now buying policies purely online?

It’s quite a mixed bag of what we see around the world where some countries are quite advanced in digital sales. On the other hand, some countries still prefer manual processes. In this first wave of the pandemic, developing countries have not been impacted compared to the sort of lockdown. We have seen platforms like Alibaba, Amazon, and food delivery apps where people are spending more time on it and ordering food online. Insurance too will see a similar trend towards more online sales.

Customer Expectations from Insurance

Consumers, now more than ever are seeking value-added experiences with the products & services they buy. How will these expectations amidst this Pandemic backdrop impact new product innovation within insurance? 

Many insurance companies have a lot of data about their customers such as where they live, their buying habits, etc. For example, if they have a car how many miles do they do every day, where do they go, where’s the car parked or when do they go to the airport, etc. This data has not been used in the past but it enables us to determine premium based on which part of the district they live. There’s a lot of data available, but companies are not able to extract and use it to their benefit. Companies want to invest in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to understand customer behavior and give a personalized experience. That is happening currently in health insurance and car insurance. Certainly, Insurers will look forward to investing in these technologies in the coming months.

Impact of COVID-19 in AI Adoption

Many Insurance regulatory bodies are introducing sandboxes for Insurtech startups to experiment with AI and new cost optimization technologies. How does this pandemic impact the Insurance industry in terms of AI adoption? Will AI remain a priority?

Certainly AI will still be a priority. Everybody believes that AI will have the most impact on the Insurance industry. Nobody could have predicted this pandemic coming. One cannot plan for situations like these. But AI will help us cope with the pandemic better. Coming to the sandboxes, it has made it much easier for the Insurtechs to connect with Insurance companies.

Risk Mitigation Strategies in Insurance

What are the strategies to mitigate risks in insurance?

Insurers are investing in AI-driven products which require digital platforms to reach to the customers. Digital channels such as chatbots will play a key role in getting potential clients, create leads, upsell or cross-sell, etc. Many Insurers in developed countries have not invested much in digitalization. Digitalization will be a key mitigation strategy.

The New Normal in Insurance

What will be the new normal/upcoming Insurtech trends across the globe?

There are three areas in technology that are popular- Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Blockchain. The world probably is not yet ready for blockchain but AI and IoT combined have a big impact. It’s a common misunderstanding that if AI is plugged into data, it’ll create magic tricks. But it doesn’t. Digitalization is the step one and creating data is step two. What you do next to make a difference is the key which is AI. AI can be used to detect fraud and calculate premiums. IoT can help connect with clients at home and blockchain will have a huge potential in the Insurance sector.


AI is going to be essential for Insurers to gain that competitive edge and adat to the new normal in the post-pandemic world. Check out FlowMagic— an AI-driven platform for Insurer workflows and Hitee — an Insurance specific chatbot for driving customer engagement. For your specific requirements, please feel free to write to us at hello@mantralabsglobal.com. 

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How Smarter Sales Apps Are Reinventing the Frontlines of Insurance Distribution

The insurance industry thrives on relationships—but it can only scale through efficiency, precision, and timely distribution. While much of the digital transformation buzz has focused on customer-facing portals, the real transformation is happening in the field, where modern sales apps are quietly driving a smarter, faster, and more empowered agent network.

Let’s explore how mobile-first sales enablement platforms are reshaping insurance sales across prospecting, onboarding, servicing, renewals, and growth.

The Insurance Agent Needs More Than a CRM

Today’s insurance agent is not just a policy seller—they’re also a financial advisor, data gatherer, service representative, and the face of the brand. Yet many still rely on paper forms, disconnected tools, and manual processes.

That’s where intelligent sales apps come in—not just to digitize, but to optimize, personalize, and future-proof the entire agent journey.

Real-World Use Cases: What Smart Sales Apps Are Solving

Across the insurance value chain, sales agent apps have evolved into full-service platforms—streamlining operations, boosting conversions, and empowering agents in the field. These tools aren’t optional anymore, they’re critical to how modern insurers perform. Here’s how leading insurers are empowering their agents through technology:

1. Intelligent Prospecting & Lead Management

Sales apps now empower agents to:

  • Prioritize leads using filters like policy type, value, or geography
  • Schedule follow-ups with integrated agent calendars
  • Utilize locators to look for nearby branch offices or partner physicians
  • Register and service new leads directly from mobile devices

Agents spend significantly less time navigating through disjointed systems or chasing down information. With quick access to prioritized leads, appointment scheduling, and location tools—all in one app—they can focus more on meaningful customer interactions and closing sales, rather than administrative overhead.

2. Seamless Policy Servicing, Renewals & Claims 

Sales apps centralize post-sale activities such as:

  • Tracking policy status, premium due date, and claims progress
  • Sending renewal reminders, greetings, and policy alerts in real-time
  • Accessing digital sales journeys and pre-filled forms.
  • Policy comparison, calculating premiums, and submitting documents digitally
  • Registering and monitoring customer complaints through the app itself

Customers receive a consistent and seamless experience across touchpoints—whether online, in-person, or via mobile. With digital forms, real-time policy updates, and instant access to servicing tools, agents can handle post-sale tasks like renewals and claims faster, without paperwork delays—leading to improved satisfaction and higher retention.

3. Remote Sales using Assisted Tools

Using smart tools, agents can:

  • Securely co-browse documents with customers through proposals
  • Share product visualizations in real time
  • Complete eKYC and onboarding remotely.

Agents can conduct secure, interactive consultations from anywhere—sharing proposals, visual aids, and completing eKYC remotely. This not only expands their reach to customers in digital-first or geographically dispersed markets, but also builds greater trust through real-time engagement, clear communication, and a personalized advisory experience—all without needing a physical presence.

4. Real-Time Training, Performance & Compliance Monitoring

Modern insurance apps provide:

  • On-demand access to training material
  • Commission dashboards and incentive monitoring
  • Performance reporting with actionable insights

Field agents gain access to real-time performance insights, training modules, and incentive tracking—directly within the app. This empowers them to upskill on the go, stay motivated through transparent goal-setting, and make informed decisions that align with overall business KPIs. The result is a more agile, knowledgeable, and performance-driven sales force.

5. End-to-End Sales Execution—Even Offline

Advanced insurance apps support:

  • Full application submission, from prospect to payment
  • Offline functionality in low-connectivity zones
  • Real-time needs analysis, quote generation, and e-signatures
  • Multi-login access with secure OTP-based authentication

Even in low-connectivity or remote Tier 2 and 3 markets, agents can operate at full capacity—thanks to offline capabilities, secure authentication, and end-to-end sales execution tools. This ensures uninterrupted productivity, faster policy issuance, and adherence to compliance standards, regardless of location or network availability.

6. AI-Powered Personalization for Health-Linked Products

Some forward-thinking insurers are combining AI with health platforms to:

  • Import real-time health data from fitness trackers or health apps 
  • Offer hyper-personalized insurance suggestions based on lifestyle
  • Enable field agents to tailor recommendations with more context

By integrating real-time health data from fitness trackers and wellness apps, insurers can offer hyper-personalized, preventive insurance products tailored to individual lifestyles. This empowers agents to move beyond transactional selling—becoming trusted advisors who recommend coverage based on customers’ health habits, life stages, and future needs, ultimately deepening engagement and improving long-term retention.

The Mantra Labs Advantage: Turning Strategy into Scalable Execution

We help insurers go beyond surface-level digitization to build intelligent, mobile-first ecosystems that optimize agent efficiency and customer engagement—backed by real-world impact.

Seamless Sales Enablement for Travel Insurance

We partnered with a leading travel insurance provider to develop a high-performance agent workflow platform featuring:

  • Secure Logins: Instant credential-based access without sign-up friction
  • Real-Time Performance Dashboards: At-a-glance insights into daily/monthly targets, policy issuance, and collections
  • Frictionless Policy Issuance: Complete issuance post-payment and document verification
  • OCR Integration: Auto-filled customer details directly from passport scans, minimizing errors and speeding up onboarding

This mobile-first solution empowered agents to close policies faster with significantly reduced paperwork and data entry time—improving agent productivity by 2x and enabling sales at scale.

Engagement + Analytics Transformation for Health Insurance

For one of India’s leading health insurers, we helped implement a full-funnel engagement and analytics stack:

  • User Journey Intelligence: Replaced legacy systems to track granular app behavior—policy purchases, renewals, claims, discounts, and drop-offs. Enabled real-time behavioral segmentation and personalized push/email notifications.
  • Gamified Wellness with Fitness Tracking: Added gamified fitness engagement, with rewards based on step counts and interactive nutrition quizzes—driving repeat app visits and user loyalty.
  • Attribution Tracking: Trace the exact source of traffic—whether it’s a paid campaign, referral program, or organic source—adding a layer of precision to marketing ROI.
  • Analytics: Integrated analytics to identify user interest segments. This allowed for hyper-targeted email and in-app notifications that aligned perfectly with user intent, driving both relevance and response rates.

Whether you’re digitizing field sales, gamifying customer wellness, or fine-tuning your marketing engine, Mantra Labs brings the technology depth, insurance expertise, and user-first design to turn strategy into scalable execution.

If you’re ready to modernize your agent network – Get in touch with us to explore how we can build intelligent, mobile-first tools tailored to your distribution strategy. Just remember, the best sales apps aren’t just tools, they’re growth engines; and field sales success isn’t about more apps. It’s about the right workflows, in the right hands, at the right time.

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