In today’s digital world, we expect technology to speed things up. But it seems that it might not be the case for brokers, who are often being hindered by their own systems.
“Consumers want things very quickly, and they want things done correctly the first time,” Traci Boland, partner at Ontario West Insurance Brokers and the incoming president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (
IBAO), told
Insurance Business.
And while Boland believes that the broker channel is the “best place” for that to happen, she said brokers are being prevented from providing the best possible service due to poor systems.
“We do need the technology from broker management systems, and we need the technology from the companies, so that we can service our clients and be the front-line spokespeople for the companies… and right now that’s not happening,” she explained.
Boland, who describes technology as the number one challenge that brokers are facing right now, will be sworn in as the new IBAO president this week, during the annual IBAO convention, and will officially begin her role in January.
Boland said that brokerages are being placed at an unfair disadvantage: “It’s very difficult to work on our systems right now, we are not able to work at the same speed that the direct writers with our insurance partners can.”
The cost for single brokerages to implement systems that are able to talk to the company portals is “outrageous”, according to Boland, who suggests that the changes need to be made from the top-down.
“It has to be done on the company side and the broker management side… they have to build the platforms in which we can communicate faster, and give the clients exactly what they want – and they’re not doing that,” she
explained.
While brokers’ “hands are tied” in terms of the management systems that they are given from companies, some brokers are embracing technology, such as online quoting and social media, and dealing well with the new clients of today, Boland said.
However, many aren’t, according to Boland, who urged those brokers to embrace new technology and the next generation in order to move forward in the future.
“[Brokers] have to find what their niche is, and excel at whatever it is that they are good at. They are going to have to move forward with technology and embrace the technology that’s given,” she said.
Speaking of the upcoming conference, which will focus on the future for brokers, Boland said: “I hope that everybody takes the information that applies to their own brokerages and excels and exceeds with it… listen to the messages that are coming out of this year’s convention – because I think that they’re going to be the reason why brokers succeed and see big growth in the future.”
The 96th IBAO annual conference will be held this week on October 19-21 at the Toronto Hotel Sheraton Centre. More information and tickets can be found at: http://www.ibao.org/events/convention/
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