They emphasize that the client was given the possibility of using platforms and self-managing different services, far from delegating more tasks to them, what was given was power.
The fourth edition of InsureTech Connect (ITC 2019) began at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with about 7,500 participants from 60 countries on 5 continents, an event that will feature 275 talks and the participation of more than 600 CEOs. During the event there will be product launches and business talks between the different actors in the insurance industry.
Where is the importance?
Caribou Honig, one of the founders of ITC, who gave the first speech in the plenary sessions, showing how mergers and acquisitions in the insurance branch generate value, as well as the importance of the collaborative economy, complementary strategic alliances and work on digital ecosystems “It’s not about the size or years of experience of a startup that is associated with a bigtech or a large insurer, but about the value proposition, complementation and organizational culture,” he said.
In that context, he described success stories, one of which occurred within the framework of a previous edition of the ITC between State Title and North American Title.
A more natural relationship
For his part, Chris Colborn, Chief Experience Officer of Lippincott, warned of the imbalance that has always been observed between the interest of the client and the insurer. In his opinion, there must be a “more natural” relationship between both parties. For this, the key is brand innovation and customer experience. “Companies must do more than say,” he said.
Colborn said that the key is to look for specific niches and business segments, appealing to ingenuity and processes with a focus on the customer and disruption.
It is precisely the axis that occurred in many of the presentations, including that of the renowned Glen Shapiro, President of Personal Lines of Allstate Insurance, who warned that the insurance market is still far from being an innovative sector, especially in comparison with others industries such as banking, entertainment and travel. “We have mental complexity those of us who have been in (the sector) for years and we must burst the bubble in which we live”, he said.
Do the evolution for customers
Shapiro said that today’s world is not like 20 years ago, that explains that customers do not expect the same today as before. “That forces us to innovate seriously, to be disruptive”, he added.
For the executive, when the client was given the possibility of using platforms and self-managing different services, far from delegating more tasks to them, what was given was power: “in the financial services industry they already do everything and it is not a load for the user, is power”, he said.
In a captivating dissertation, Shapiro urged investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning to respond to new customer needs.
Working step by step
Even at this time, the process of registering a car for an insurance company lasts 5/6 days on average. “It is inadmissible”, he warned. And he showed with an example how to work step by step at each stage of the internal processes to reduce time and improve efficiency. “The same thing happens in life insurance, where these processes take about 30 days”, he complained, highlighting the relevance of focusing the company’s business strategy on improving those processes, which is neither more nor less than the Customer experience.
He also urged to work on disruptive ideas in home insurance, telematics (thought beyond what the platform itself provides, but in the spirit of how a credit scoring works for example and everything that can be done with that information), pay per use and collaborative consumption systems.
Within that framework, the Netflix model stood out, but not only because of the streaming revolution, but also because of the vision of generating exclusive productions and content. “In that they invested only in 2018 more than $ 8,000 million, which marks the importance that means for your business. If they invest that, imagine what they invoice, but without that vision, today Netflix would not be the giant that it is, ”he closed.
Robots yes, replacement for creatives no
Kara Swisher, co-founder and editor of Recode, was one of the keynote speakers of the plenary sessions, someone not an insurance specialist who talked about the trends that affect all consumer relationships. “It’s not just Amazon, Google or Facebook, it’s more than that and we must also fear for everything they are generating. They are companies that are opening the way, investing in startups to broaden their horizons”, he said.
Under his gaze, the key trends go through AI (Artificial Intelligence, in Spanish), robotics and automation, urban mobility, use of drones, autonomous cars, and differentiate within the infinite options that consumers have, among other aspects.
The renowned speaker, far from an apocalyptic vision, brought peace of mind with the future of work in general and the role of certain actors “threatened” by the fourth industrial revolution, such as insurance intermediaries. “The robots are not murderers nor should they kill to win as in the movies. Human creativity can never be replaced”, he said.
And he stressed the importance of AI: “Everything that can be digitized will be digitized sooner rather than later”.
He made special focus on how the car market and the insurance associated with them will change. “The cars of today are the horses of yesterday, and the scooters are the magic carpets of the present”, he said.
Also published on Medium.