Mr Jonathan Connelly from Cigna Global Health Options shares his view on why it is critically important for brokers to immerse themselves in new technology to reap the full benefits of online technology.
The insurance industry. Fast-paced, dynamic, perpetually in flux, and phenomenally competitive; but you knew that already.
Yes, success in the insurance industry for brokers is about staying one step ahead of the game. For a long time, the formula to achieve this has remained unchanged: Ensure at any given time, you have the best possible partners, the best possible products, and an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction.
New key differential is modern online technology
In recent times, however, it’s become clear that while these aspects remain important for successful brokers, the new key differential will be the utilisation of modern online technology.
As technology continues to accelerate in capability, so too does its implementation expand exponentially to deliver efficiencies in business and everyday life. Such is the magnitude of these advancements, it’s become critically important for brokers to immerse themselves in new technology, or concede to missing out on the efficiencies, and revenue that is waiting to be gained from it.
We at Cigna, as specialists in Individual Private Medical Insurance, focus more than most on global insurance market purchasing habits and online behaviours. With IPMI sales in Asia booming, Asia currently being responsible for approximately 36% of the world’s global internet usage, and 77% of the developed world using the internet every single day; it is easy to see how the more traditional brokers could be left in wake of their trailblazing modern web-literate peers.
Asia is at the forefront of online shopping
Data from research group PwC also supports this, and confirms that Asia is at the forefront of online shopping.
Currently, 80% of consumers in Asia browse or buy online, compared to the global average of just 26%. That, coupled with the fact that the Asia-Pacific region has overtaken North America as the world leader in e-commerce revenue generation with sales of US$525.2 billion in the region, compared with $482.6 billion in North America (source eMarketer, February 2014) should serve as a strong indicator for brokers that the online marketplace is the place to be.
Sure, we know that e-commerce is thriving globally, particularly in Asia, but for brokers to fully maximise their financial potential within the industry, they must do more than simply have an online presence.
To establish and maintain a competitive advantage thanks to online technology, brokers must look at how their online presence and technology can best serve them to optimise their communication prospects, product placement, and key service differentiators.
In order for the customer and broker to reap the full benefits of online technology, like-minded insurance providers must be sought out by them. To illustrate how this can be achieved, we need to look no further than our current Cigna broker market infrastructure. Through a personalised broker partners’ portal, we provide key information to allow brokers to gain access to any relevant supporting documentation, sales aids, or further contact details that may be required to secure a sale.
Online Broker Quote Tool
As well as this, more advanced tools have been developed to streamline the broker insurance sales process. One such tool developed at Cigna has been our new online Broker Quote Tool.
This was introduced in line with broker feedback we obtained, and has been developed to streamline the quote process, while boosting the professional look and feel of our quotes for brokers.
This was achieved by building in features such as:
• The ability to build and compare up to three, side-by-side quotes in a matter of minutes;
• Issuing brokers a secure personalised link to the tool, removing the need for usernames and passwords;
• The generation of professional quote PDFs with bespoke broker branding, which can be emailed directly to a client without leaving the tool, or logging into an email client; and
• Personalised broker contact details and branding on all outputs, as well as the ability to share everything with the client, and save/retrieve quotes for use at a later date.
Despite only having been introduced a few months ago, the Cigna Global IPMI Broker Quote Tool has already been responsible for a sharp rise in quotes and sales. This tool, and others like it will continue to be a key driver for quotes and sales in the IPMI market in Asia. However, only brokers that embrace online technology can be in a position to benefit from it. The rest face the limitations of regionalised, face to face only business.
Learning opportunities too
Away from directly dealing with sales, online technology can also be used to further advance the expertise of brokers, ultimately improving their proposition, and making for a more successful broker-insurer business partnership.
Currently at Cigna, we utilise online technology to do exactly this. Regular online expert webinars are hosted for brokers to come along and learn about things like the Broker Quote Tool, or to enhance their knowledge of sales techniques and benefits for our niche product, Individual Private Medical Insurance for expats.
These have proved to be very popular, and have given brokers a competitive edge. Again, brokers who choose not to embrace online technology will watch this ship sail past them, while competitors gain a leg-up in the market.
Scope is limitless
As great as these online tools are, the remarkable thing is that in terms of potential, we have only begun to scratch the surface. Given that the scope of possibility for online technology is all but limitless, we know that the potential to enhance the broker-insurer business partnership is limitless too.
The more we communicate with brokers, the more we learn the problems that they face. This opens the door for us to present solutions through online technology, and secure more IPMI business together in the future.
Mr Jonathan Connelly is Marketing & Communications Exec at Cigna Global Health Options.