First principles: why insurance is a relationship business

Insurance is a relationship business. It will be for a long time. And that’s the best thing for everybody, especially insureds. Some of you don’t need any convincing about this… but some of you do. We have encountered plenty of…

Part 1 of 2: Why automation across companies is so hard

In this two-part series, we will take a critical look at an aspect of many insurance technology initiatives: automated processing of data from one company to another.

The underwriters’ meeting

One of the things Risk/R does for you is helps you cut down on meetings. We think meetings are mostly bad, and that you can largely eliminate them from your work day. Consider the following:

• Real work rarely happens when more than 5 people are involved.

Part 2 of 2: Why automation across companies is so hard

In part 1 of this series we looked at why insurance forms are so tricky. We made the case that forms, by definition, have inherent problems which require human storytelling to resolve. We suggested that you emphasize that storytelling…

What life is like for a “producer”

Producers are the tip of the spear in the insurance industry. They are the professionals who actually engage with the end customer. In an agency they are the “front office” staff; in a specialty lines carrier they are the underwriters; at a large broker they are the…

Constrain your analytics initiatives

We’re going to get ourselves in trouble with this one. We have an ugly observation to make about insurance IT. Here goes:

Your company spends a ton of money on analytics. But your company will be too market-constrained to respond to 80% of…

The haves and have-nots of insurance technology

There is a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots of insurance technology.

The haves can boast of: fat IT budgets, solid reporting, and a realistic expectation of meaningful digital innovations going forward.

Why we built Risk/R

I used to be one of those people who grew suspicious whenever someone said “insurance is a relationship business.” I figured it was only a matter of time before technology replaced the industry’s intermediaries, and massive consolidation & automation sent the stereotypical salesy insurance guy…

Every industry needs an email killer

If you are an agent or commercial broker, you are most likely communicating with your carriers via email. Emails. Grrrr. They interrupt you. They make you worry about dropping the ball. They silo your organization. They bury information you might need 24 months…

The danger of insulating your executives from your business partners

As carriers / agencies / brokers get larger, they get more stratified, and the people at the top, who carry most of the decision-making power, become increasingly separated from their company’s key relationships…