Why brokers are looking at personalized communication automation

Canadian property and casualty insurance brokerages are gravitating towards personalized communication automation (PCA), an executive at brokerage automation company Pathway tells Canadian Underwriter.

Nine years ago, only about 3% of insurance brokerages had adopted PCA into their operations, says Alek Mirkovich, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based Pathway, a provider of insurance automation tools for brokerages/agencies in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.

“Today, we estimate that between 60% to 70% of brokerages have integrated PCA into their workflows, a testament to its effectiveness and the industry’s evolving needs,” he says of his client base.

PCA includes workflows such as welcome campaigns for new clients, pre-renewals asking clients to take a survey, eDelivery to send them their documents, cross-selling emails and emailed customer satisfaction surveys.

When asked why he thinks the PCA adoption rate has increased from 3% nearly a decade ago to between 60% and 70% now, Mirkovich attributes it to the broker world craving tools that make life easier and work smoother.

“It’s got everything from keeping tabs on emails — so you know who’s read what — to automatically sending out pink slips and documents, and even giving a heads-up on policy changes or places where coverage might be lacking,” Mirkovich says.

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“Also, these tools were traditionally only affordable to enterprise-sized brokerages but today any size of brokerage will find value in automating messages and document delivery to clients…and it’s much less costly than adding team members.”

Tech-savvy brokerages are really getting into digital tools, Mirkovich adds. “Many traditional brokers are hesitant to jump on new tech, but those diving into digital are seeing how awesome PCA (and similar tools to Pathway) can be to make things run smoother and smarter.”

Pathway looked at 88 Canadian brokerages that integrated PCA into their customer engagement strategies. It found a correlation between automated, personalized outreach and an improvement in client retention rates, with averages increasing from 89% to 92%.

Mirkovich adds that feedback from a recent insurer webinar supports this finding, with 65% of 300+ attendees confirming their use of PCA.

Integrating PCA can improve client retention, he adds.

“Sliding PCA into the mix really helps how brokers chat with each client,” Mirkovich says. “It’s like customizing every message just for them, whether it’s giving them the heads-up on stuff their policy doesn’t cover or throwing in some tailor-made advice.”

Pathway has a product that helps brokers automatically fill in those policy gaps. “An example might be a property policy that has one of the houses without a sewer backup coverage,” Mirkovich says. “The email might read, ‘Did you know that your policy currently doesn’t include sewer backup insurance?’ Or an auto policy that doesn’t have a winter tire discount.

“Toss in a survey asking, ‘Hey, anything changed?’ before renewal time and checking in on how they feel with [net promoter score] surveys, and you’ve got a recipe for making sure clients feel listened to and looked after,” he says. “This kind of personal touch not only keeps the conversation flowing but also bumps up how many clients stick around by 3%…on average.”

Feature image by iStock.com/suwadee sangsriruang