23 Jan
23Jan

Today’s insurance market is fast-paced and highly competitive, and it’s incredibly difficult for insurance businesses to achieve meaningful differentiation. Multi-channel distribution has become one of the most effective ways to help insurance businesses stay ahead of the curve. A well-executed multi-channel strategy drives efficiency whilst reducing cost, expands reach, enhances decision-making, and improves the customer experience. 

This can be achieved by effectively utilising and supporting a range of distribution channels - including direct-to-consumer, broker partners, affiliates, agents, insurtechs and increasingly embedded solutions. Unsurprisingly, this has been a key focus of digital transformation efforts in recent years - a time when changing customer preferences, an uncertain economic environment and competing market forces have forced insurance businesses to rethink their distribution strategy. But it has not been without its challenges. 

The challenges of multi-channel have been a reality for many 

Many have adopted an incremental approach – bolting on technologies over time in response to customer and market demands. Yet, they find themselves still failing to deliver the right products and services to the right customers, via the right channels, at the right time, as well as ensuring that channels are ‘joined up’, so that whatever point customers or partners join the distribution journey they can continue through to bind. This bolt on approach has failed because it cannot deliver the single customer view, or single version of the truth that insurance businesses need across the full cycle of digital customer journeys. Instead of streamlining the process, this approach adds complexity with logistical and maintenance issues that hamper efficiency in terms of product and process, and ultimately therefore damage the customer experience. 

But, not for those with a ‘build it once’ approach  

A ‘build it once’ strategy is a uniquely powerful multi-channel digital solution, delivering a level of sophistication that is often quoted by other software providers, but rarely delivered. It’s an API-powered, intelligence-driven, end-to-end/ecosystem solution that allows insurance products to be built once and easily distributed across all channels, with pricing readily available, and customer experience integrated at all stages of the customer journey by design. With a build it once approach insurance businesses can say goodbye to multiple pricing instances, data silos, a high cost/multi-vendor technology stack, and fragmented customer experiences. 

A tailored solution, not a variation 

A ‘build it once’ multi-channel digital distribution solution can be used in any context – B2B, B2C and B2B2C – across every single channel that matters most to insurers and their customers – embedded, direct, via partners, affiliates and agents – on a wholesale or retail basis. It achieves meaningful differentiation in three key ways:   

  • Single customer view and single source of the truth: It’s no secret that enhanced insight is essential to meeting both customer and market demands and retaining competitive advantage. A single view empowers a multi-channel approach with customer experience front and centre at every touchpoint in the policy lifecycle. Whilst a single source of truth boosts decision-making for agile reactions to customer needs and market conditions.

  • Reduced time to market: With a single source of the truth, insurance businesses can build responsive products and get them out to market faster via an effective distribution network

  • Maximised efficiency for bottom-line cost savings: Insurance products are built once and then enabled by seamless API integration across the multi-channel ecosystem. This removes multiple pricing instances and introduces a level of automation that significantly reduces the average cost of distribution.

When asked how you can differentiate your business and stay ahead of the curve, the answer is without doubt via a build it once multi-channel distribution strategy. But don’t just take our word for it… we can provide many referenceable projects and customers who have embraced the ‘build it once’ advantage and transformed their multi-channel distribution strategy. 

Lukango and Bravo Network Digital Trader – Markel Direct 

“IS2 is more than a software provider, it has been a trusted partner for close to a decade now. Closely aligned in values, they are a digital extension of our business. The partnership has enabled us to offer customers a modern digital approach, identify opportunities and rapidly scale our operations.” Rob Rees, Divisional Director, Markel Direct  

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