LTC
Being the Chief of Expectations
Success will not be measured by what we promise , but what we deliver .
We ’ ve seen many innovations in insurance over the years . But to what end ? Stagnant industry growth indicates our innovation efforts have failed to increase the understanding , appeal , and reach of our products . We have continued to innovate what we can sell , competing over existing market share , but have yet to crack the code on what will help more people buy .
In many cases , innovation has made products more complex and harder to purchase , usually in the name of driving higher illustrated values ( not real value ) or lower prices . However , we are beginning to see more forward-looking innovation take root in both product and process . By looking into the future , we create products that are easier to buy and simpler to understand , which is crucial to reaching more consumers and narrowing the insurance gap . Necessary complexity in products will remain , but how we develop , design , and convey our products and solutions to customers must improve .
Increasing close rates
Dennis Martin is President of Individual Life and Financial Services at OneAmerica . Previously he served as the senior vice president of Product and Business Development , overseeing insurance operations and product development for life , annuity and asset-based long-term care solutions , as well as brokerdealer operations for OneAmerica ®.
Advancements that improve speed and ease of underwriting are evolving rapidly , focused on using technology and increasingly available data solutions to reduce barriers and expand our industry . While we still have a ways to go , the industry is making important strides in becoming easier to do business with . Over the next three years , a significant shift in the underwriting paradigm is anticipated as companies mature in their understanding and ethical use of consumer and medical data . These innovations will be forward-looking , helping to grow the market through more rapid and less invasive underwriting processes . This will benefit producers through a faster , reliable , predictable process , reducing time and increasing close rates .
While these process improvements are critical , forward-looking innovation in product design is another key component of growing the market . Too often , product innovation has been narrowly focused on enhancing the illustrated performance of an existing product , devolving into a chase for illustration supremacy . This is more engineering than innovation and can be based on fair-weather assumptions or assumptions that the past repeats itself . These designs may perform differently than expected in many real-world conditions that may emerge .
52 Perspectives Q2 2022