Suncorp New Zealand has been refreshing its digital strategy over the past year, and CEO Jimmy Higgins says the firm is particularly focused on making it easier for advisers to connect with Suncorp, obtain quotes, submit customer information and obtain “easy” policies quickly.
Higgins says the last year has highlighted some inefficiencies when it comes to communicating with brokers, and has proven the value of investing into digital systems. He says brokers have been asking for easier access to underwriters throughout the pandemic, as the competition in the broker market often relies on turning things around at speed.
“Every broking group that we speak with has their own digital strategy in their respective businesses, and for them to properly connect with us, we need to work with our core insurance systems - whether that’s pricing engines, underwriting engines, policy administration systems, or other areas,” Higgins said.
“We need to be able to build and provide that capability to enable those brokers to connect with us digitally.”
“Once you start building in those capabilities, the natural result of that is cleaner and better data that you can then turn into value,” he explained.
“You can then use that to support the brokers when they come to have conversations around insurance with their respective customers.”
Higgins says that when he’s personally spoken to advisers, most of them have been very happy with Suncorp’s value proposition - however, digital tools and ease of access have occasionally been a pain point.
“When I reflect on the business and the brokers that I’ve spoken to, they like our people, our product and our price,” he said.
“But sometimes they find our service difficult, in that our connectivity isn’t quite where it needs to be for certain parts of our business. When a broker is speaking to a customer, understanding their risk profile and the assets they want protected, we need to be able to turn around quotes and pricing pretty quickly, because it is a competitive market.”
“We’ve seen a shift during the pandemic where brokers are wanting greater access to and connectivity with underwriters, as that helps them support their proposition to consumers,” he added.
“The investment that we’re making into our business is to enable that connection, so that they can place simple business and risks with us seamlessly.”
