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 packing for a new career.

But I had a change of heart. It’s a story for another day… but suffice it to say, I came to believe quite strongly that the symbiosis between agents/brokers and carriers is not only healthy, but it is here to stay. In twenty years, we will still have a fundamentally collaborative industry structure, no matter where technology takes us. And that’s a good thing.

Insurance is one of the most collaborative industries on earth. The way insurance really gets done is by professionals working together. If you were to rank their time spent on software, in first place you would have Outlook. In second place you would have your company’s phone/VOIP system. A very distant third would be the PAS/CRM/analytics/reporting stack.

Yet all the technology investment pours into that last bucket. And it typically gets done poorly, in a way that impedes the work of professionals. Think about how much money your company invests in policy administration, accounting, CRM, and analytics systems. It is huge. But does it help you with listening? Questioning? Understanding? Negotiating? Communicating with your business partners, so that the insured ultimately gets the best outcome?

Sort of makes the millions of dollars spent on technology seem like an afterthought, doesn’t it.

We felt like the front-line people of insurance needed something built for them, to address the collaborative way insurance really gets done. The rest of the world has moved beyond email, onto collaboration platforms that are tailor-fit for purpose. Risk/R is going to help the insurance industry take that step.

It is a simple product, and we love it. We think you will too.