Pitch perfect: the most critical questions to ask an insurance administration software provider during the selection process
Advanced insurance administration technology promises to help insurers, MGAs and brokers to simplify processes, reduce costs and transform the customer experience. But how can you make sure you’re choosing the right solution and company to partner with?
In this short guide, we set out some of the most essential questions that businesses can ask an insurance administration software provider during the selection process.
Differentiating between software providers
Whether you’re an insurer, MGA or broker, there are a huge number of technology options that promise to help improve how effectively you run the core administration side of your insurance business. Specialist policy administration software will help you to easily deploy and manage multiple insurance products, digitise your quote-to-bind and claims processes to improve our customer experience, increase your sales channels and make managing your policies simple and efficient.
But with so many solutions out there, from platforms that claim to be full end-to-end insurance administration solutions to specialist software covering various elements of policy, billing and claims, how do you know where to start?
Digital innovation is now rapidly transforming the insurance industry, so finding trusted partners and software providers to enable your innovation is vital. And with things moving so quickly, you have to seek solutions with the flexibility to future-proof your business against further changes, instead of just addressing your immediate needs.
To help as you assess your technology options, we’ve summarised a few essential questions to ask prospective tech partners during the selection process, which we hope will help to guide your decision-making.
Being honest and upfront about your needs as part of the tender development is key. Take care to define your requirements, skillfully interrogate what the provider can bring to the table and really understand the platform you’re buying.
Is the insurance administration functionality fit for purpose?
Ok, let’s get started with what might seem like an obvious one – but it’s surprising how often the insurance administration element gets overlooked when assessing an insurance administration platform!
Firstly, before getting into highly specialist software for various elements of your ‘digital transformation’, don’t forget that what you really need is a highly-functional core insurance administration platform, built by insurance specialists.
That means testing out the really important stuff to make sure your core processes will be improved, rather than disrupted, by tech. For example, how straightforward (and configurable) is the online quote-to-bind journey? How simple is the claims process? Can you easily create on-brand policy documents? How easy is it to update or amend policies? Can you offer discounts and offers to customers? Will it have the right billing and payments options? How will you access your customer policies and information all in one place?
A software provider might tell you that their product does all the insurance basics, but don’t take their word for it. Drill down into the details, and don’t forget that before you get into the innovation, you must be able to easily run your day-to-day business!
Key takeaway #1
Don’t forget that what you really need is a highly-functioning insurance administration platform. That means testing out the really important stuff first!
How configurable is the software, and what are the tools to do so?
It’s great to see what can be done with a software solution when you watch a slick product demo, but it’s vital to see how easy it is to create the end-result. For speed and efficiency, it’s imperative that staff within your business – and not just your IT teams – can build products on the platform and handle day-to-day tasks independently.
Pay close attention to the extent to which a software system allows you to configure products, and consider what level of technical skill is required to do so. Does the process involve extensive coding, or are there genuine, easy to use no-code options? How intuitive is it for non-technical specialists?
Have a proper look at the configuration tools available, and invite the right people (i.e. those who will be using the platform on a regular basis) into any demonstrations.
Ask for a walk-through of creating an insurance product, and look at how you would make changes to the kinds of variables you know you’ll be changing regularly as you optimise your business. Is it a genuine ‘self-service’ model – meaning that non-IT specialists can do it themselves? Or will it require a certain level of in-house technical support? Of course, the latter may mean that you have to make long-term change requests as your needs adapt.
Key takeaway #2
The aim is to build a picture of how quickly and easily people can configure products. Is it a genuine ‘self-service’ model, meaning that non-IT specialists can do it themselves? Or will it require a certain level of in-house technical support?
Will the solution integrate with existing technology, and can it flex to meet future needs?
Whatever business you have, you’ll more than likely need software that works seamlessly with other existing IT systems, and something that is flexible enough to meet any future integration needs.
Think about where you’ll be in a few months or years, and consider exactly what external factors and new technologies there might be to take into account. The truth is, you don’t know exactly what will happen, so you need to avoid being left with legacy tech.
Key takeaway #3
The key to future proofing involves choosing a modern, cloud-native software solution with open architecture.
Does your prospective software have open APIs? Can you review them with your IT team to make sure this will not just connect, but connect with all the functionality you need?
While most software providers make big claims about them, in reality, not all APIs are created equal. For example, the APIs created three or four years ago worked to different standards and weren’t necessarily designed to deliver true inward and outward exchanges of actionable data, which is increasingly essential for effective integration.
It’s therefore important to get your tech provider to walk you through the functionality of their APIs, demonstrating how it works with your own systems and that of existing and prospective partners. You need to be confident that your solution will integrate smoothly with current and future technologies to help you stay ahead of the curve.
Key takeaway #4
Whilst most software providers make big claims about APIs, the reality is that not all APIs are created equal. Modern, cloud-native software solutions should have best-in-class APIs designed to deliver true inward and outward exchanges of actionable data with other modern cloud-based technologies – essential for effective integration and building a future-proofed tech stack.
Does the software provider offer pre-integrated, third-party platforms to support other business processes?
As well as looking to the future, you’ll also want to think about what additional specialist technology might be a game-changer right now, and consider how you can connect that to your core platform.
Many insurance administration providers will say they can do everything, and do it all as best-in-class. They can’t. Every solution has its specialisms, and you will likely need to draw upon other specialist software partners to get the right tech stack for you. This is where the insurance ecosystem comes into its own.
Whether it’s specialist ratings engines, telematics, best-in-class online payments or anything else you’ve identified to give your product the edge within your target market, your software admin provider should be able to demonstrate solutions that integrate with the core platform. Assess whether the provider you’re talking to has the right wider network or partners to fulfil more specialist requirements, and crucially, ask to see demos of how the integrations work directly with that partner.
Key takeaway #5
Assess whether the provider you’re talking to has a wider network of partners to fulfil more specialist requirements, and crucially, ask how it integrates with the core platform.
How easy is it to embed your quote-and-bind journey on other websites?
Embedded insurance is a major talking point in the insurance industry right now, with experts predicting huge growth in the amount of insurance bought through embedded products in the near future. The reasons are simple: technology is getting easier to configure, and customers are expecting easier, more seamless purchase experiences. So, there’s a natural shift towards buying insurance quickly and easily at the point of purchase, rather than as a separate journey.
For insurers, this usually means enabling customers to buy policies not just through the central insurer’s own website, but through a network of partner and affiliate websites too. Even if that’s not the reality for your company today, you’ll likely want to be ready for it in future.
If so, you need to look at how a prospective software partner will help you deliver a multi-channel experience. Can you replicate the product offering across partner channels? Can it be easily configured to the specific channel or risk? Is day-to-day management easy to do for many channels from one admin hub?
Think particularly carefully about the practicalities of administering a genuine multi-channel offer as you grow your network. Imagine how laborious it could be if you’re selling across 30 partner websites and need to make updates to every single one. How can the prospective solution make this process more manageable?
Key takeaway #6
Look at how a prospective software partner will help you to deliver a multi-channel experience. Can you easily replicate the product offering across partner channels from your core platform?
How customer centric is it?
You’ll often hear insurance admin providers talk about customer centricity, or the ‘single view’ of the customer. That’s because it’s important, and fairly easy to say. But in reality, it’s far more complex. The software architecture needs to have been designed specifically for the nuanced single view of the insurance customer.
You need to assess how you will manage each customer, and look at it from a policy and claims management process. Can you have multiple policies and relevant data all in one place? What dashboards can you build? How intuitive is the interface for exploring data, so you can capture the insights needed to improve your customer service?
Get a handle on how the solution will help you provide an efficient and seamless process for both your staff and customers. Make sure the software genuinely makes life easier for the customer, rather than just solving an internal problem for you.
Key takeaway #7
Take a look at how the software will handle individual customer records, and make sure the software genuinely makes life easier for the customer.
What level of customer service and technical support will be available?
Another thing that’s often overlooked in service-level agreements is the level of support available to help an insurance provider with their new software. However, this is fundamentally important to ensure any operational issues are quickly resolved.
Be sure to explore what the support package looks like, and push hard on the detail. What’s the onboarding offer? Will the software provider offer in-person training, or is it online only? How many hours of technical support are included? Is help available around the clock, or only during designated hours? Are there guaranteed response times for urgent queries or problems?
Think about whether the provider is a good ‘fit’ for your own organisation. Who are the faces behind the platform, and what are their values? Do they come across as credible and trustworthy? Are they clear and straightforward in the way they speak, or do they hide behind jargon and vagaries? Are they constantly trying to upsell?
Remember that making a success of new technology is as much about the people as it is the product. It’s crucial to have the right team behind you. These questions will help you to understand whether a provider has ‘got your back’ when it comes to technical support.
No matter how good the software solution, you’re naturally going to spend a lot of time dealing with the team. It pays to consider whether your values are strongly aligned with theirs, so that you can trust them as a long-term partner.
Key takeaway #8
Remember that making a success of new technology is as much about the people as it is the product. Has your provider ‘got your back’ when it comes to technical support?
Is the solution reliable, and can you depend on the provider if things go wrong?
Software can (and does!) go wrong. However, if a problem affects a policy administration platform, it could have a devastating impact on your business.
You therefore need to look at whether a business is established enough to be relied upon for the long term. You’ll also want some proof around the effectiveness and reliability of the product. Ask the provider for hard performance data. Does their system always work? What’s the uptime? How well has it responded when a large volume of claims go through at once (during a large catastrophe, for instance).
Speak to their existing customers too. Ask what value they feel the provider brought to the organisation, and whether there were reliability issues. Did they experience any problems during implementation, and how were they managed?
Key takeaway #9
You can have the most innovative software in the world, but you won’t be able to run your business on an unreliable insurance administration platform. Ask for evident on reliability.
How quickly can you get the new system up and running?
This is a big question, and the answer from providers will invariably be something along the lines of “superfast”. But check what they mean by this, and whether they’re making realistic claims.
Be mindful of how you may unintentionally rock your wider ecosystem with any new technology change. A gung-ho approach can disrupt the ecosystem with serious consequences. When technology changes overnight, there’s little opportunity for you and your supply chain to catch up. For instance, think about how the ability to offer a daily rather than annual policy could leave reinsurers scrambling, because they don’t understand how to factor this into their own model.
However, if you have the right tech provider, one with a genuinely agile approach, you can start small. You can get an initial product launched quickly without disrupting the rest of your business, and then migrate based on initial learnings to make things as smooth and fast as possible. Discuss how a migration plan would work, and see how they’ve delivered for other partners.
Scaling down your plan doesn’t mean scaling down your ambition. Instead, develop your digital maturity at a pace that suits your business, targeting longevity with a well-defined foundation and room to build. Yes, a new platform can deliver success within a couple of months, but that’s not a given. It’s critical to factor in time to reassess, and pivot if it isn’t delivering.
Key takeaway #10
Think about how you may unintentionally rock your wider ecosystem with any new technology change – a gung-ho approach can disrupt the ecosystem with serious consequences. However, with the right tech provider, you can start small and launch an initial product quickly without disrupting the rest of your business.
How do they charge for their products and services?
Last, but not least, there will inevitably be a series of financial calculations related to the provider’s charging models. Be wary of those who are not transparent about their costs.
Some important checklist questions to ask include:
- How much are the upfront costs vs. any ongoing license fees?
- Does it cost more as you grow? If so, by how much?
- Does the price include services and hosting, or will that be an additional charge?
- Are there any other hidden costs/fees to be aware of?
In addition to any license fees, look to the future and reflect on financial constraints further down the line, some of which you perhaps hadn’t fully considered. Opting for low-code and no-code tools can help you to become more self-sufficient, and rely less on expensive IT services. A good software provider will support you to future-proof your business by building your internal digital capabilities, which is a win for the corporate balance sheet.
While obvious, make sure you interrogate the small print. Don’t end up being tied into a never-ending journey of spiralling costs for service upgrades and bug fixes you never asked or planned for. The devil really is in the detail.
Key takeaway #11
A good software provider will support you to future-proof your business by building your internal digital capabilities, which is a win for the corporate balance sheet.
Modern Insurance Magazine, Genasys Supplement
If you’d like to find out more, and discuss your insurance administration software needs, contact us today.
