Accelerating Change In Insurance Distribution Through Technology

Innovation never waits, and the insurance industry has seen its fair share of disruption and change over the last decade, especially in the last year. As insurtechs have grown to establish themselves within the industry, it has forced a reckoning for many legacy players. Companies are looking to upgrade their technological infrastructure and are taking a new look at their own distribution channels, identifying opportunities for efficiency in carrier and agent/broker interactions and strengthening relationships with policyholders.  

To better understand how the industry is evolving and its aspirations, DocuSign partnered with Salesforce and Salesforce Velocity to sponsor a quantitative survey by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services. The study leveraged interviews with subject matter experts to better understand the needs of insurance carrier and MGA executives, and the influence insurtechs are having on insurance distribution channels globally. The Accelerating Change in Insurance Distribution Through Technology report included 150 respondents across a range of companies and functions including New York Life, Lloyd’s of London and AmWINS. 

Below are three key insights about the role technology will play in the new era of insurance. These concepts, and a lot more, are analyzed in depth in the full report: 

Technology investment is necessary to compete with insurtech

• 70% insurers say these newer tech-based companies are driving their organization to advance the use of technology in their distribution channel 
• Only 7% of insurers feel the distribution of their products and services is fully digitized today
• Digitization is on the horizon, with 59% believing their companies will be an 8-10 on a 10-point scale of digital sophistication in the next 5 years 

Technology will empower carrier and broker/agent relationships in the future 

• 53% of insurers believe that only those brokers that are tech-savvy and mobile-enabled will have a significant impact on the business versus other traditional distribution channels 
• 73% of insurers believe that traditional channels—brokers, agents, managing general agencies (MGAs)—can’t be ignored in favor of insuretechs and other direct-to-consumer channels, given the variety of consumers 
• “I don’t want to get rid of the human, I want to enable the human to be the super agent” - Santiago Ontanon, Chief Transformation Officer, Seguros Monterrey New York Life Mexico 

Customers will increasingly expect more accessibility and flexibility

• 70% of insurers agree that customers are driving the industry in the direction of omnichannel products and services 
• 71% of insurers agree that the systems used to distribute insurance products and services must support allowing customers to move in and out of different channels easily 

Learn more in the Accelerating Change in Insurance Distribution Through Technology report and join our webinar on January 19th to hear from thought leaders from Salesforce and DocuSign, as they discuss key findings from the report and the future of insurance distribution.

By Prachi Mishra, Sr. Product Marketing Manager - Salesforce Partnership