Portal Solution Results in Higher Agent Close-rates and Reduced Cycle Times

Challenge
Life Insurance can be a complicated business for customers and agents alike.  Not only has the concept historically been difficult for customers to understand, but the quoting and application process for agents has been complex, confusing, and time-consuming.  As a result, insurance companies such as PEMCO have had difficulty selling customers life insurance policies.  The effect is not only lost business opportunity, but also families left vulnerable to future complications because they are not covered.

PEMCO is a Seattle-based provider of auto, home, boat, life and umbrella insurance to Washington state residents.  PEMCO Insurance is sold by community agents and offices throughout the state. 

The company questioned why so few of its existing insurance customers were also purchasing life policies.  They discovered their quoting and application processes were so cumbersome that they discouraged agents from writing applications. First, the third-party vendor software quoting system they were using was expensive and software updates distributed via CD resulted in significant rate and product conflicts due to agents failing to install new versions.  Second, because the policy application was so complex, many agents would simply send the customer a blank application to complete and send back.  Naturally, many customers weren't motivated to complete a 4-page application and thus very few applications came back. 

PEMCO called for a radical change in this cumbersome business process, and brought in Integro, a leader in workflow and business process automation, to help.
  
Solution
First, Integro and PEMCO jointly defined data, process and reporting requirements, which Integro used to re-engineer the quoting and application process.  The agreed-upon solution was a web-based insurance rating system that would significantly simplify the existing process, and could easily be accessed by agents through a centralized portal. 

Integro built the new insurance rating solution using Microsoft .NET.  The first step of the process is a web-based Quick Quote application.  The Quick Quote is accessed through a link on PEMCO's agent portal, and enables the agent to provide prospective clients with a quick quote for insurance, accessing real-time product and rate data.  If the customer shows further interest in a policy, the agent is prompted to ask a series of questions.   Throughout this process, questions are answered over the phone, and an application is populated by the rating system. If a customer decides to proceed with a new policy, only a signature and premium payment are required to process the new policy.  The entire process from quoting, to application processing, to outsourced medical exam processing is now integrated into one comprehensive solution.  Integro continues to manage the system so PEMCO can focus on their business rather than maintenance and upkeep. 

Results
Just months after the solution was implemented, PEMCO has seen very positive results.  The number of applications has doubled compared to months prior and not a single blank application goes out to a customer.  In fact, agents that previously avoided selling life insurance due to complexity and hassle, have now switched to promoting life insurance thanks to the easy, web-based rating, quoting, and application solution.  

Looking to the future, PEMCO anticipates continued higher close rates, reduced cycle times, and an increase in new policies.  Their opportunity for growth is now within reach and they are well on their way, having already increased new life policies three-fold from 5 years ago.