Digital Tools For Insurance Partner Engagements: The Need Of The Hour

In a digitally savvy world, it has become imperative for insurance partners to be empowered with digital systems and infrastructure. Digital transformation for partner enablement holds ample promise but also requires some serious thinking. The vast insurance partner networks will benefit greatly as more and more engagements shift to digital platforms. This is the need of the minute because partners are an integral link in the business chain, connecting insurance providers to customers.

A quick look at the stages in a partner lifecycle demonstrates the required level of engagement to ensure the partners feel supported, cared for and appreciated by the company.

Partner Lifecycle in the insurance industry: An Overview

• Identification of right partners; onboarding them to get them certified.
• Familiarizing them with products and processes
• Training to familiarize them with solutions like the digital journey for sales fulfilment.
• Providing updates/information of completed transactions and performance details
• Providing marketing collaterals etc.
• Partner success measurement on well-defined parameters ( including but not limited to NPS score, the volume of complaints, FTRs)
• Partner Engagement for Performance

In this lifecycle, except for the first stage of onboarding a new partner – which is a one-time activity, interaction during all other stages is a continual process. Regular exchange of information helps the partner service clients better. Additionally, by tracking performance, the insurance company can provide training to their partners to fill the gaps. This will further add to their knowledge while dealing with

 Digital T-I-P (Tools – Interventions – Personalisation), can swiftly address the key needs of partners in their day-to-day operations.

Tools for Digital Identity: To successfully operate in a competitive insurance landscape, a partner needs a formal identity that allows the customer to seamlessly trust and interact with the partner. These can comprise of -

• Digital Cards / Microsites / E-mail ids:

With virtual cards and coordinates being the order of the day, offering partners with templates to create their own digital identity online in the format of cards, microsites and e-mail ids with an official corporate domain can go a long way in creating the right first impression. Being digital, these are easy to share with prospects and provide an authenticity check.

• Digital Identity for secured transactions and information:

Insurance providers can enable biometric access to the digital assets of the insurance company. This ensures will ensure secure transactions and secure access to information. This also serves as an assurance to the partner and his clients that information shared is safe.

• Partner communities and forums:

Online communities help create a space for partners to participate, engage, share best practices and accomplishments, and learn from each other. Active communities can enhance a sense of belonging and productivity while offering members formal and informal opportunities for mentorship and learning.

Digital Interventions based on AI:

Today data-driven and AI led interventions can shorten the learning curve and over time even the conversion time. Strategic data collection, management and analytics can help partners in the following ways:

• Lead scoring and nudges: Generate and maintain a healthy pipeline of leads. This helps the partner with the scoring of hot and warm leads, and faster conversions.
• Cross selling / upselling opportunity prompts on existing client diary: AI can track customers purchases and preferences and recommend appropriate product bundling for larger sales ticket per client.
• Monitoring customer behaviour and sharing insights: Data points analytics across company-wide partner network can help define patterns of customer behaviour and flag off propensity to lapse early in the sales cycle.
• Customer Risk Score: A risk score can be enabled for every customer being onboarded by the partner, indicating which cases might require due diligence vs which cases can be issued effortlessly.
• Byte Size learning tools: E-learning apps and platforms based on AI can be woven in with partner performance and assessment to recommend further training in weak areas. This kind of training will enable the partner to improve performance across all metrics.

 Digital Personalisation for Partner Promotion

As partners expand their client base and look to their existing client diary for revenue, keeping in touch becomes a key part of their business activities.

• Personalised Collateral and Giveaways: Online platforms that offer partners a host of collaterals and giveaways with the option of personalisation can serve as affordable self-promotion tools.
• Insta-Business Support: Platforms that let partners generate quotes, BI and Financial plans as per the specific client needs within a few clicks can boost partner morale during customer interactions in a big way.

 Digitisation of Partner Engagement

While insurance providers across the board have been working on digitisation of partner engagement for a while now, there is still a lot of scope for achievement. The benefits of empowering and equipping partners are multi-fold:

• Productivity boosters enable partners to do more and contribute to a higher Growth Rate
• By enabling Transparent Process, partners are more confident while dealing with customers
• When partners are satisfied, customers are delighted thus leading to Higher Persistence and a positive NPS score
• Further, productive partners enable fulfilment and a positive DSAT

Especially in Indian markets where networks spread across vast geographies and digital capabilities of partners vary from highly accomplished to very basic. Yet, with digitisation sweeping the country at a rapid pace, and apps being accepted across the board for everything from shopping for daily necessities to shopping for insurance, the time for empowering insurance partners with powerful digital tools is now!

Authored by: Anjana Rao, Chief Strategy Officer, IndiaFirst Life