TECHNOLOGY
Accessing data to improve sales
Revolutionizing the way we think about insurance
“Data helps us get a
view on customers’
needs and how their
insurance agents are
responding.”
Bryan Eshelbrenner is director of
product management for Ebix’s
SmartOffice platform. He has more
than 16 years of experience in
the financial technology sector,
overseeing software design,
development, quality control, sales
and marketing. He can be reached at
[email protected].
Mark Krantz is Sr. Director and
Product Owner of the WinFlex
platform. He has over 14 years
of experience in Life Illustrations,
overseeing product vision and
operations. He can be reached at
[email protected].
Big Data—It’s everywhere. In a recent study, “Data Never Sleeps, 7.0,” Domo shows that we
produce 4.3 Quintillion — that’s 4.3 followed by 18 zeros! — bytes of data every day. And for
life insurance, Big Data is the name of the game and can provide insights into all aspects of a
company’s individual performance. However, accessing data across our entire ecosystem has
proven elusive.
How can we understand our customers and what they need? How do you know if you’re
offering the right products to the right customers, at the right time?
We all sense that there’s a rich reservoir of data just outside our reach. It’s time to tap into
that data and start applying its value to our businesses. Here’s a look at how accessing big
data, and uncovering its insights, could help you provide better customer service and generate
more premiums!
Understanding how insurance is being sold
Aggregated data from thousands of illustrations can provide clarity around how brokers are
selling insurance products, along with offering insights for carriers and brokers alike for future
marketing and sales efforts:
What products are being compared?
What type of sales strategy are being used?
What solve options are being running?
Do they project Indexed Universal Life returns at a bear-market 2% or a bull-run 7%?
Are they doing a lifetime pay or short pay?
Are they taking income?
What riders are being added?
Understand buyers’ needs
Do you ever wonder how other brokers and case designers are presenting plan options
for their clients? Do you consider how we could extend other product offerings based on
customer demographics? Data helps us get a view on customers’ needs and how their
insurance agents are responding. We can look at insurance solutions being offered to people
in different age groups, in different locations, and with varying health concerns. As we all work
to gain a better understanding of the evolving insurance industry, that information is really
valuable to get a birds’ eye view of the landscape
Identify which insurance products are trending
Just as it’s important to understand customer needs, it’s helpful to know which insurance
products are hot in the market. Big data can give us a big-picture look at the products that
are new, trending, and gaining in popularity — and help us understand the best way to match
those products with customers’ needs.
Our team of data experts see insights based on data as the transparency provider of the
future, and a new way to understand, manipulate and apply the insights from that data in the
insurance market.
Customer demographics and needs will continue to change. The products we offer as an
industry will certainly evolve. But we can use our advancing technology, and the data we
collect through it, to get insight into what customers need and how to best serve them. That’s
a future that looks bright.
36
Perspectives
Q4 2019