Even as the direct to consumer channel has become more prevalent, the relationships between insurance carriers and agents are still the foundation of the insurance industry. Most insurance companies still rely on agents to place a majority, if not all, of their business.
In order for insurance companies to drive premium growth, they need agents to decide to place more business with them. But independent agents have many options as to who they work with and ultimately who they decide to place their business with.
Carriers shouldn’t let how they support their agent network be the reason agents place business with a competitor. Agent support should drive agents to want to place more business with you in the future.
How can carriers improve their agent support? It starts with technology.
Digital Customer Service for Agent Support
In many respects, technology has revolutionized the way agents and carriers do business. Agent portals have enabled agents to better self-serve and have given them access to information at their fingertips.
Despite these advancements, and agents spending the bulk of their time navigating carrier portals, they inevitably run into snags. And no one likes waiting for help.
Agents and their admin assistants are juggling many client needs throughout any given day. Rather than delaying them from checking an item off their to-do list, what if you could help agents resolve their questions in real time?
Today, carriers are leveraging Glia’s Digital Customer Service platform to do just that. By adding Glia to your quoting tool, for example, you can offer your agents instant connection to an agent support team or underwriting help desk.
At the click of a button, agents can connect to the right support team through whatever channel makes the most sense—chat, OnScreen Voice or video. No more lengthy email back and forths. No more phone tag.
But the magic of Digital Customer Service goes beyond chat or video. Within the same interaction, the underwriting helpdesk can leverage collaboration tools—such as CoBrowsing and Screen Sharing— allowing them to immediately get on the same page as the agent, literally. They are able to move between any of the communication channels and collaborating features seamlessly, without having to download any applications.
Rather than scheduling time to connect, or forcing the agent to entirely disconnect from the digital experience to call in and try to explain their issue over the phone, Glia is embedded directly within the quoting tool or portal for ease of use.
The Value of Premium Agent Support
Just as agents rely upon relationships to build their client base, relationships are at the heart of a successful partnership between agents and carriers. At the end of the day, technology alone won’t lead to premium agent support, but it does empower support reps and underwriters to more effectively communicate and collaborate with agents.
Given ease of use and quote turnaround time are often cited by agents as the primary reason an agent works with one carrier over another, carriers have the opportunity to differentiate themselves by streamlining the agent experience.
By introducing Digital Customer Service, carriers and agents are able to focus their time on better serving the needs of their clients, rather than battling through the headaches of a disconnected and frustrating digital experience.
Carriers using Glia today have seen increased agent portal adoption, fewer phone calls, and better agent satisfaction and loyalty. Download our white paper How P&C Insurers Provide Digital Engagement for Premium Agent Experiences to learn more about how Digital Customer Service can help you give the gift of differentiated agent support.
