Most industry leaders agree that tech adoption is critical to the future sustainability of any P&C insurance brokerage.
The question remains, however, whether broker associations should be responsible for leading this undertaking. While some brokers have called for their provincial representatives to help spearhead the shift towards digitization, others believe that the onus lies elsewhere.
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IBAO does impressive work to help provide technology solutions, such as with its mobile app, email communications systems that insurance brokers can utilize,” said Albert Schmidt, partner, Erb and Erb Insurance Brokers Ltd.
Still, Schmidt believes that brokerages need to find tech solutions that address their own business mandates.
“Ultimately, the insurance brokerages themselves are the ones using the technology, and they have to look at things that are easy for them to provide the types of services they want to provide and choose what’s best for their employees and their clients,” he added. “One solution likely will not benefit all brokers. Customization is key.”
Erb and Erb is committed to remaining at the forefront of technology, and strives to remain current with digital trends. One of its fundamental first steps to do so involved optimizing the brokerage’s web experience for consumers.
“Keeping up to date with changes in technology means being proactive,” Schmidt said. “We had our website updated so that any page on our website will line up properly no matter what device it’s being accessed from.”
It also became more active on social media, including such networks as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Tumblr and Foursquare. Additionally, it launched a blog that explores insurance topics and celebrates employees who are active in digital outreach.
“We encourage employees to embrace social media. I want to recognize those who help spread the brand and demonstrate that Erb and Erb is an expert in the field,” Schmidt said.
Finally, Erb and Erb has taken strides to leverage technology by updating the telephone system that has an internal chat feature for brokers to communicate with each other when speaking with a client, a broker management system featuring automatic data entry and a searchable intranet that resembles “an internal Wikipedia.”
“We have an internal intranet where employees can source all sorts of information at their fingertips about what changes are happening to different products or what’s going on with different insurance companies,” Schmidt said. “We deal with so much information, whether it’s political, new legislation, or developments with the insurance companies themselves or their targets, you really have to be up-to-date with all the latest changes.”
“Having that tech infrastructure to make those details more accessible for front-end staff is critical,” he said.
And while the brokerage prides itself on assisting and supporting its employees, Schmidt says there are additional benefits to these initiatives as well.
“Everything is about ease of use: how easy is it for clients to talk to us, to get their policies changed, to have their questions answered,” he said. “If we can make things easier for the end user, that’s the ultimate goal.”
