This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.
4 characteristics that distinguish good insurance data from bad
America may be based on Dunkin’, but insurance is based on data. Data impacts every part of insurance. Underwriting, ratings, pricing, forms, marketing, claims processing – you name it, data influences it. Even the foundation of our beloved industry is based on actuarial tables, which consist of hundreds of points of statistical data used to better predict risk.
Good insurance companies use data to better understand their customers. Better insurance companies use data not only to support their customers, but also their producers and their own processes. Conclusion: Data is the key to driving business growth. But the business decisions you make are only as good as the data you use to make them.
What makes insurance business data good?
With good data, companies can make informed decisions about their processes and improve the way they work. But what makes data “good”?
It is accurate and complete
While a company can have access to all the data in the world, it’s not much use if the information is outdated or incomplete. Consider the producer onboarding process or, to make things a little more complex, the variable line broker onboarding process.
Getting a new variable lines broker on board and ready to sell requires gathering a lot of data. From background checks to E&O policies to state insurance license verification and FINRA registration, it’s important that the information you receive is accurate and up-to-date to ensure no one is selling with an expired or invalid license.
Inaccurate and outdated manufacturer or variable line broker data introduces uncertainty and unnecessary costs to a company’s sales management processes, which can negatively impact its ability to adapt and scale.
It’s structured
If you want a detailed explanation of the difference between structured and unstructured data, you can read all about it here. The main thing to remember is that unstructured data such as emails, Word documents and paper files are much less efficient, accessible and secure than structured data.
Too often, unstructured data is chaotic, redundant and inaccurate. Think about how difficult it is for an insurance agent or customer service representative to answer a policyholder’s question when their personal and insurance information is spread across several different locations. This can make even a simple task like adding a new vehicle to car insurance much more tedious.
Structured data collects, organizes, and stores information in a way that allows easy access and analysis for both people and technology. Structured data gives business leaders a clearer view of what is happening in every part of their organization and at every step of their processes.
It is customizable
If you’ve already ditched locally stored spreadsheets and paper files in favor of a cloud data warehouse, you’re on the right track to unlocking good data. Often, the modern software systems you use to store your data can organize it into reports and dashboards, giving you the insights you need to make more informed decisions.
These days, it’s fairly common for software providers to offer a set of generic reports that your company can access at the click of a button. However, creating more detailed, specific, and customizable reports may not be possible, at least not without additional costs. (Shameless brag: At AgentSync, we believe your data is yours and you should be able to use it as you wish without incurring any additional fees.)
With the ability to slice business data based on specific needs, insurance carriers, MGAs/MGUs, and agencies can uncover process roadblocks, team inefficiencies, growth opportunities, and more.
It is easy to digest
Unless you’re a particularly technical person, large amounts of data can be daunting and difficult to digest. While it’s important that your data is easily readable and shareable across the technology stack, sometimes the human aspect is lost in translation.
For example, when you think of the authorities under which a manufacturer is licensed, you probably think of words (like life, health, property, and casualty) rather than numbers. Your producer management software may analyze and interpret each producer’s lines based on numerical values. However, if the information is not presented to you in a way that is easy for you to understand, it becomes difficult to contextualize the data and use it to make informed business decisions.
How better data can benefit your insurance business
So your data meets all of the criteria mentioned above. What now? Carriers, MGAs and agencies should use their data to evaluate their current processes and drive both vertical and horizontal growth. Armed with good manufacturer data, insurance organizations can:
- Eliminate workflow bottlenecks: With stale, unstructured data, key business processes like producer onboarding can be extremely slow. Your compliance team may spend weeks (or even months!) tracking down all the information needed to validate a manufacturer license. When your team has accurate, up-to-date data that they can easily access when needed, the entire onboarding process becomes much faster and less tedious for everyone involved.
- Improve the producer experience: Is there a delivery point where you are most likely to lose producers? Does it take far too long to attract a new producer and get them ready to sell? This is what your data can tell you! At a time when it’s harder than ever to hire and retain top talent, creating a best-in-class producer experience is critical to the growth and success of your business.
- Reduce costs: Unreliable manufacturer data costs you more than you think. First, there are the more obvious costs. Compliance violations such as missed renewals, CE deadlines or appointments come with fairly hefty fees. Then there are the less visible (but equally high) costs associated with bad data, such as operational inefficiency and wasted manual effort. Accessing accurate and complete data exactly when you need it eliminates these unnecessary costs to your bottom line.
Unlock better business data with AgentSync Manage
Carriers, agencies and MGA/MGUs depend on high-quality data to improve their processes and drive growth. Unlocking your insurance organization’s data can lead to clearer insights into your sales channel, a better understanding of which partners are driving growth, and the ability to identify expansion opportunities that allow your business to scale intelligently.
With AgentSync Manage, customers get the most up-to-date vendor license and appointment data in one convenient place. Our custom reporting features give you insight into your entire sales channel in a way that best suits your unique business needs and without additional fees. If you’re ready to use better data to make better business decisions, schedule a demo today.
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2024-03-26 04:19:28
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