Providing an unparalleled customer experience (CX) is a driving force for the insurance industry in 2024. So much so that McKinsey found that CX leaders outperformed their peers in total shareholder return by 65%—for P&C insurers—between 2017 and 2022.

So, when CX is paramount to profits, why are insurance brokers still collecting exposure information—the potential risks associated with insuring an individual or entity—on PDFs?

This antiquated process involves either asking clients to download files and awkwardly try to fill in the PDF on a computer, or printing the PDF, completing it by hand, and scanning it back in—both of which are utterly ridiculous in today's world.

This is NOT the CX that contemporary clients are looking for when purchasing and renewing their insurance policies.

In what ways are collecting exposure information on PDFs holding your insurance agency back? Here are FIVE significant ways.

1. It's a terrible client experience

When it comes to analyzing CX, speed, convenience, helpful employees, and friendly service matter the most, with each scoring over 70% in importance to consumers, according to PWC. So, the awkwardness and time-consuming process of filling in PDFs really is the epitome of a terrible client experience.

2. It takes a long time to get responses

When companies make something hard, that won't encourage clients to get the chore done; in fact, it'll do the opposite.

Purchasing insurance requires spending a lot of money on something that isn't tangible—which many clients like to avoid. So, making data collection a tedious task isn't going to help improve the renewal rate or CX.

3. It's a waste of valuable employee time

Since this awkward task isn't likely to be at the top of any client's to-do list, most brokers will need to send nagging reminder emails. Plus, the process requires brokers to pre-fill client applications so their clients don’t have to enter basic information that the broker already has, like address and contact info. This makes soliciting updated exposure information a laborious job for brokers when their time could be better spent helping and advising their clients.

4. It will be (near) impossible to use the data

Moving data from PDFs to systems requires so much manual work that it actually never happens. Brokers simply upload PDF files to their AMS systems, and the data remains unusable as it’s locked in the file rather than stored in a database.

5. You will win less business

If your agency is forcing customers through this arduous experience, it won't be difficult for your competition to offer a better experience. You're practically giving customers away.

How Broker Budda can help

Enlightened agencies using Broker Buddha, for example, will win more business when competing against other agencies as they'll have access to an array of tools that address each of the problems with using PDFs. For example:

Improved client experience: Leverage a huge library of Smart Forms with over 10,000 carrier applications integrated with eSignature. Our assign questions feature allows clients and agent users completing an application to delegate responsibility for a form, section, or question to a specific client user, reducing the possibility of confusion and elevating the client experience.
Accelerate response time: Using our automated reminder emails reduces the time it takes to get applications back while also eliminating the need for brokers to type and send these themselves.
Improved efficiency for agents: Our White Glove Service & renewal applications tool automatically prefills applications on behalf of the broker, eliminating the need for manual entry.
Easy data extraction: Our newly developed RESTful API enables agencies to retrieve data from Broker Buddha applications and store them in their data warehouses.

All of these innovative tools and features help agents increase their efficiency, improve the client experience, and win more business for your agency overall.

If any of these issues drive you crazy, contact us, and we can show you the benefits of being an enlightened agent and introduce you to your Return On Broker Buddha Investment.

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