#SMETowkay: Brokering Its Way to a Paperless Future
Imagine having to sort through information for over 10,000 customers.
Each of your customers whom buy multiple products and could make changes at any time. Now, imagine having to continually follow-up with each of these clients over several months.
This is a real-life challenge for insurance brokerage firm, OCW Insurance, a firm which brokers insurance coverage for construction work on the behalf of contractors and developers. However, unlike personal life insurance which have fixed terms and conditions, policies for ongoing commercial projects may be modified at any time if the client requests for it. This is why the firm needs to have all the necessary information at its fingertips — a once laborious and time-consuming endeavor. However, a new digital solution adopted by towards OCW earlier this year has made this arduous task a lot more manageable.
The General Insurance Module of the Success Auto Suites from tech solutions provider, Success IT, has helped OCW digitise a large volume of its customers’ policies. This has enabled the company to quickly access policy details and promptly respond to the many requests it receives daily.
“Our clients expect professional advice from us,” explains OCW’s Chief Executive Officer P.K. Modi. “That professional advice is dependent on whether we have all the information readily available to us.”
Besides making information more accessible, the software has also helped OCW better manage its manpower. What was once done by an external accounting firm is now managed entirely in-house by a single staff. This is no easy feat considering that OCW deals with over 20 different insurance companies and has a variety of payment arrangements with different customers, but it has helped cut down on operating costs.
OCW’s customers have also benefited from the company’s digitalisation strides. As the software generates outstanding payment reminders and detailed statements, customers are more likely to avoid any lapse in coverage, and to be clearer about what exactly they are paying for. More informed customers also mean less enquires for OCW — a process that used to involve sifting through thick paper documents to figure out an answer.
“Even if our customers still need help with the improved statements, we now take only a few minutes to extract what they need from the new system,” says OCW’s Director Augustine Ong.
Despite the benefits employees enjoy today, P.K. admits it took a while for them to appreciate the software upgrade as they were too used to doing their jobs the traditional way, however inefficient they were. But his employees eventually came around, especially after they got past the initial hassle of porting all the data into the new system. Now that they don’t have to look through the same policy contracts multiple times a day, the employees have more time to complete other tasks.
This is only the start of OCW’s digital overhaul, says Augustine.
He is preparing the over five-decade old company for a paperless future — one which he notes many insurance companies around the world are already taking steps towards. Most recently, OCW has been looking into developing a mobile application so that customers can easily access their policy information without having to call the company. With the app, OCW may not even need to issue physical documents in the future.
Looking at the rows of thick black files above the cabinets in his office, Augustine cannot hide his excitement for this plan. “Half of my office space has been taken up by documents,” he says. “Technology will solve my storage problem.”
