3 minutes, 24 seconds read
Published on Oct 15, 2019
Updated on May 18, 2020
The technological advancements brought forth by insurtech will soon become routine for brokerage offices within the next few years. Digital-first approaches have finally trickled down, turning ripe for adoption for this major distribution channel. However, broker adoption has still not caught pace with their agency counterparts.
According to a 2019 report surveying independent insurance brokers across the US, Canada & the UK, the average for digital technology adoption at an independent brokerage is only around 43%, even though nearly 96% of them (almost universally) use a broker management system for indispensable day-to-day operations. Interestingly, over 80% don’t offer any form of ‘mobile apps’ or ‘self-service portals’ for customers or staff.
Today’s insurance customers are younger and prefer digital over traditional channels — leaving a lot of unmet gaps in the value chain. The report also identified key areas where adoption is growing — such as capabilities in workflow process management, document management, sales opportunities & prospect tracking, one system-one view visibility into all departments among others. For example, the downside to not outfitting your broker operation with employee mobility tools alone translates to over 30% reduction in staff productivity.