Transforming Insurance Digital Engagement and Buying Experiences for Consumers
A paper-based process for obtaining medical records can take weeks, sometimes longer. Yet it’s still the norm in much of life insurance today, causing significant delays in underwriting decisioning and the consumer buying experience
However, an electronic stream of data directly from platforms that the medical providers use can cut that retrieval time down to two days (or less).
But speed to data is just one dimension of digital enablement. It’s how carriers use the data they secure to transform processes and buying experiences that matter.
In this episode, we interview Alex Cook, SVP, Executive Management Committee Member, Head of Strategic Capabilities at New York Life Insurance Company, about how his company is enabling new digital capabilities for agents and consumers to transform the insurance buying and selling experience.
In this episode, we discuss:
Three digital enablement initiatives NYL is working on
Sources of electronic health data that can bypass the need for APS retrieval
How New York Life’s new technological capabilities are driving digital enablement and transformation for insurance buyers and sellers
Why digital enablement takes collaboration and partnership across the entire process
Let’s dive into what NYL is doing when it comes to digital engagement and consumer buyer experiences.
Enabling Agents & Advisors with Digital Tools
One of the most exciting things NYL is doing today is giving their agents and advisors the right set of digital tools to allow them to engage with their clients in a robust way.
“Digital engagement is a really important part of how we can ensure that people have easier access to our solutions and to the advice and guidance that our agents and advisors can bring to the table.” — Alex Cook
It starts with those first planning discussions with the clients, and looking at how to empower the agents to bring all the best solutions that are available for clients and their families.
Focusing on the Consumer
Life insurance hasn’t always been known for being particularly easy to navigate. It’s historically a difficult process, usually with a lengthy application and exam experience. NYL wants to simplify this experience by doubling on digital enablement and relentlessly focusing on the consumer.
Innovation efforts are organized around answering these questions:
How do we really enable a purchase experience that is as easy as possible for the applicants to work through?
How do we make the process easier, and possibly reduce some of the requirements that an applicant has to go through in order to get fully underwritten?
And that full underwriting is crucial to getting a customer the lowest price for their level of coverage. If you have full underwriting, you’ve got a better ability to price in line with what the actual risk is, and therefore don’t need as much of a buffer.
Post-Sale Engagement
Once you make a sale, and gain a customer, you start a whole different battle. How do you keep a customer engaged? Engaging with a potential customer is quite a different art than engaging with a current customer.
“Let's get an electronic feed directly from that same platform that is used by the medical provider industry to provide that information to life insurers.” — Alex Cook
NYL looked closely at how to bring in pos- sale capabilities in a more self-serve capacity so customers can interact with their agents in a more digital way. Because in this world of instant buying and checkout experiences, the ability to engage at one’s own will is more important than ever before.
To hear more interviews like this one, subscribe to the Digital Insurance Innovator Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.
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