[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1621858391488{margin-right: 10% !important;margin-left: 10% !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
In a digital society where online channels and social media have taken over, our attention span has dried out. Insurance is affected by this as well – products must be made available across multiple channels, fast. This convenience is not only expected by consumers but also by brokers, demanding simple online products and a seamless buying process.
In order to adapt to market needs and be able to launch insurance products quickly, MGAs must have an excellent understanding of their product and its structure. They must realise the cost of using customised insurance software, be ready to change their business processes, as well as choose a software provider who is on the same page as them. This may sound easy, but reality turns out trickier. This is why we put down 7 tips to MGAs for a quick product launch.
1) Product Completeness and Structure
Where does your product begin and end? Completeness of product, including organised product materials, is crucial when it comes to product management. The biggest challenge for MGAs is to define the product, create structure around it and avoid scattered materials. Insurance products consist of two parts:
- information MGAs collect from customers through the application form;
- external information that MGAs forward to other databases.
Often, the importance of external information is underestimated, but this is necessary to, for example, calculate the price. Full understanding of the quote form is essential and not just for the customer – It’s more complex and affects the whole product design and pricing. Your product is not only built on data you get from your customers, but also on additional data you need to calculate the price and produce reports for insurers.
To launch products quickly, MGAs should think of two aspects when it comes to product design:
- what is the list of possible covers and underwriting capacity, i.e. who are the insurers;
- what are the product components, e.g. form, rating or underwriting guide, standard or special case documents, output reports (e.g. bordereau or BI), etc.
2) Cost of Customisation. Go for No-Code Software
MGAs must bear in mind the project and product concept. When you go for a tailored solution that covers your specific business needs, there is a cost. In addition to the numbers on the invoice, the cost is slowness in progress and improvements. MGAs can pay for the set-up, but when each update or adjustment is charged, the solution becomes too costly in terms of time and money, since it’s business-specific. That’s why it’s often wise to prefer an out-of-the-box no-code insurance software. It pays off in the long term – you get a subscription-based plan that includes constant product updates. By choosing a no-code solution, MGAs don’t limit their future possibilities – if the system develops, they automatically get all the upgrades, whereas users of customised solutions struggle. So, there’s already one less problem in the way of quick product launches.
3) Choose an Open Solution
To be open towards customers, your underwriting software must be open and connectable. For ensuring seamless data flow, MGAs have to integrate their product to other systems like accounting or third-party reporting. When the solution is closed or very specifically customised, its implementation requires many development hours and can be a challenge. On the other hand, open solutions are really easy to integrate into other systems via APIs – just like Insly.
4) Define Platform Users
Understand who is using your platform. It’s an important criterion when MGAs choose insurance software, since providers take different approaches. The most common players, which Insly platform can also accommodate, are:
- insurance company underwriter who sometimes wants to be part of MGA’s system, especially for complex cases, getting notifications, giving approvals, etc.;
- MGA underwriters and other staff;
- agent or broker staff;
- end customer.
5) Flexibility to Build Your Own Products
MGAs might have skilled project managers and other advanced users who want to design products or workflows themselves. No-code insurance software guarantees this flexibility since it doesn’t require any coding knowledge to build, launch, or redesign products. But there’s a catch – many no-code software providers claim that their solution enables this, but implement changes themselves and charge MGAs for adjustments and updates. That’s why MGAs must clarify their possibilities for configuration and how much they can actually do on their own. For example, Insly admin interface is very flexible and MGAs can configure products on their own.
6) Re-engineer Business Processes
When creating structure around a product, MGAs should be ready to change and re–engineer business processes. Implementing a new IT system provides the opportunity to bring structure to products and processes – this is crucial for quick product launches. Sometimes conflicts arise from the need to change corporate mindset, especially when a new IT partner is onboarded, who suggests to do things differently compared to the status quo. This is why MGAs should put trust in the cooperation with the IT partner who is an expert in its field, has worked with various customers and product lines.
7) Choose a Reliable IT Partner and Understand Its Business Logic
A myriad of insurance software is on offer for MGAs. In fact, here’s a comparison of no-code and low-code insurance software providers for MGAs, that you might find useful. However, it doesn’t matter how much experience you have in using IT systems, each insurance software provider is different, and you need time to adapt to its business logic. This defines the speed of implementation – the faster MGAs comprehend the solution, the faster the deployment cycle.
This is why it’s important that software providers engage MGAs already from the early stages to create an understanding of how the system works. The best way to do that is by designing an interface visual of the system, a so-called mock-up. MGAs should feel free to ask for this, since it gives the exact feeling of how the software will work in your case, on your terms. At Insly, we always pay attention to this and it’s our standard to make sure our customers get a clear picture of their future solution from very early on.
An aspect that shouldn’t be forgotten when choosing an insurance software provider is culture. We have experience with customers from very different cultural backgrounds and this clearly defines the speed of the project. Things that are taken for granted by MGAs from the UK might not be by those from India. This is where MGA-provider communication and minor technical details start kicking in. Daily interactions are important, especially during the implementation phase. Businesses from various cultures value communication differently which is why MGAs should bear in mind the culture of the insurance software provider.
These are our 7 tips for MGAs for quick product launch. Of course, you can go in more detail, but this is a great starting point. In general, structure around the product, deciding on an open solution that enables your team to work hands-on on building products, but also choosing the right software provider are the cornerstones that define quick product launch.
If you have any questions, need advice on this topic, or have ideas that you would like to discuss, feel free to reach out to our team!
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
