Podcasts - Insurance Journal

Do you truly understand your policyholders, distribution partners and employees? Do you have a clear lens into what competitors are doing? If your organization attempts to get feedback all by itself or relies on ad-hoc, anecdotal feedback from key stakeholders, you will miss opportunities to evolve and innovative. On this recording, research whiz Mackenzie Wilson unpacks best practices. Customer experience work “is the foundation of any business,” she says. “It doesn’t matter how big or small you are.” Yet, only about 30% of firms in any industry—and even lower in insurance—have a formalized program for voice-of-client experience. As much as they talk about it, they don’t really invest today as they should.” They also are missing the employee perspective with surveys that don’t generate authentic and actionable insights. Often, the initial corporate reaction to research “is very tactical and one-off. Everyone is so excited to get feedback. But they don’t understand how it can be operationalized instead of being a single transactional movement.” Firms should implement a standard, ongoing protocol for capturing the voice of key business partners, Mackenzie says. In this way, they’ll be more proactive and reach out to diagnose problems. “Why do people build products or services? They want to solve a problem. Any new initiative started with a problem.” She also reveals a few tricks to get customers to spill a little extra “tea” during interviews. The post What Do Your Customers Really Think? [https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/25129/] appeared first on Insurance Journal TV [https://www.insurancejournal.tv].

A major workplace challenge is basic human communication among the age groups. How can we create a workplace culture where all four working generations thrive? “Culture Doctor” Warren Wright returns to On Point with insights. Generational conflict impacts teamwork, productivity and retention. Workplace preferences are varied: Boomers and GenXers value stability; Millennials and Gen Z seek rapid growth and flexibility. Younger generations thrive on innovative digital tools and quick feedback, while older generations want to stick with what works. On this recording, Warren also unpacks fascinating takeaways from new research on how consumers of different ages approach insurance buying — and how the generations view insurance agents. Warren will present on these topics at the annual “Ignite” conference hosted by the Insurance Marketing & Communications Association, or IMCA, in Scottsdale this June. The post Cross the Generational Divide [https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/25025/] appeared first on Insurance Journal TV [https://www.insurancejournal.tv].

The danger in writing all small commercial lines is becoming a generalist, says Bobby Touran, who a few years ago founded Rainbow, a restaurant-focused MGU insuretech. Rainbow distributes through independent agents—who he calls “critically” important. Listen as Bobby unpacks three strategic concepts behind Rainbow. “We wanted to be very specialized in classes of business,” he says. “We felt restaurants were a distressed category within small commercial. They were still reeling from COVID, lock-downs and inflation.” He observed other insuretechs taking “a very binary view on the role of technology: a tech-only or human-only experience. We didn’t see examples where purpose-built software was combined with human expertise.” That includes underwriters “making good judgement calls at the margins. We wanted to keep humans in the loop.” Bobby also comments on a specific behavior of successful agents he’s met. The post Rainbow Founder Eyes 3 Keys to Specialization [https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/24971/] appeared first on Insurance Journal TV [https://www.insurancejournal.tv].

Most insuretechs aren’t about flashy consumer-focused websites. They improve the plumbing — all the workflows behind the scenes never seen by agents and consumers. Sound exciting? Well, it sure is for Aaron Wright, director of strategy at Earnix, an insuretech supporting carriers’ pricing and underwriting with AI and machine learning. Aaron emerged from the carrier side, where he saw first-hand the inefficiencies plaguing the industry: “What did my well-paid actuaries spend 60% of their time on? Moving things between systems and validating if they copied and pasted things accurately from Excel. Much of this inefficiency and duplication of work was caused by the artificial barriers we put up between IT and business.” Are you a left-brain, rationale thinker? Well, here’s a guest for you: “I was drawn to insurance in college because an actuarial career sounded good. A career combining mathematics, statistics and computer science — what’s not to love?” (Yeah, what’s not?) The post AI Is Barrier-Buster for Business & IT [https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/24925/] appeared first on Insurance Journal TV [https://www.insurancejournal.tv].

On this recording we welcome back Dave Tralka, our knowledgeable and friendly banker who understands a thing or two about independent agents. Dave is CEO of InsurBanc, the financial institution launched by the Big “I” to support agents’ growth. Dave lucidly covers today’s business opportunities for agencies as well as the broader landscape over which they don’t have much control. Strategic loans to buy other firms or books, hire producers, and install new technology are available. But, “agents are generally debt-adverse,” Dave notes. “The most successful business models I have seen in 20 years of working with independent agents are that the over-performers are doing it both ways. They’re focused on organic growth. And they’re taking an opportunistic approach through acquisitions — in geographic regions, in markets, in specialties, etc. If you can accomplish both of those…, you have a home run.” Listen in to hear how firms are generating tremendous profitability, cash flow and resultant long-term growth. (With guest co-host Dave Evans.) The post Debt as an Asset [https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/24894/] appeared first on Insurance Journal TV [https://www.insurancejournal.tv].