Don’t Barbeque Your Budget
How was your Independence Day weekend?
Like mine, I’m sure yours was also different – even just from last year. With continued social distancing efforts, parades, public firework shows, and even large gatherings of friends and family were forgone in lieu of safety.
My wife and I love to host our loved ones, and Fourth of July is always the perfect occasion to grill up a good time. Hot dogs, burgers and ears of corn cloud our backyard with the smells of summer while everyone cools off in the pool. This year, however, there were only a few hot dogs, a couple burgers and much less corn cooking than usual. Now don’t get me wrong: not planning for our big holiday weekend bash certainly disheartened me. But when this year’s food bill for the Fourth came to just a fraction of what we usually pay, I felt a little better. Who doesn’t love saving money, right?
This, of course, got me thinking about budget forecasting (overseeing a business development department will do that to you). Not staying as focused on the grill as I normally would, I started thinking about how much money we’ve saved not only from working remotely, but also from how our processes have evolved, becoming much leaner and able to serve this increasingly mobile world.
In such uncertain times, saving becomes a necessity. We’re no longer just “saving for a rainy day” – as insurers, you know that we’re saving because, truthfully, no one knows where the pandemic stands or how long it will be an imminent threat. The entire meaning of “saving” carries significantly more weight today than it did before the pandemic. We’re not talking about socking away couch pennies anymore – we need to be intentional about getting the most return on our investments and serious budget forecasting. Especially in the insurance industry, fluctuating needs mean unpredictable claim cycles, which means insurance rates need to stay competitive and attainable for everyone being affected by this crisis.
It’s truly been a privilege to be included in conversations with so many of our insurance customers who have gone completely paperless and have so much to say about it. Not only has it served their customers and staff well by providing accessibility and continued support before and throughout the pandemic, but it’s ensuring their processes and pennies are optimized to the fullest – keeping costs low, saving more and investing both time and money in higher-level initiatives. To know insurance organizations are benefitting from the best available tools for the best possible price and, consequently, that they’re able to best support their customers’ needs, gives real purpose to digital transformation – this is the true reason why we do what we do.
Thankfully, getting a whiff of my almost-burnt burgers snapped me out of my thoughts and back into grill master mode – phew! I think it’s safe to say the moral of my story is this: please, don’t barbeque your budget.
Happy belated Fourth, friends. Enjoy your summer and your savings.
Vince
Worth A Look: Coronavirus, What Have You Done?
The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted the insurance industry in both predictable and unexpected ways. Check out the graphic trends, potential rationale, and what comes next for modern carriers in this short article from Coverager.
Sustaining Empathy in a Digitalized Insurance Ecosystem
Mobilizing insurance is not all about efficiency. As explained by Sean Ringsted, Chief Digital Officer at Chubb, it’s about being more empathetic toward your customers. Not only offering mobile apps, text alerts, quick pay solutions and other personal lines, but also expanding through digital channels that meet people amid disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and especially now – while staying quarantined and/or socially distant amidst COVID-19.
Learn more about digitalizing the entire insurance ecosystem, including the right technology to sustain personal empathy, in Insurance Business Magazine’s article “Digital transformation must happen across entire insurance ecosystem.”
Better Claims Processing for Insurance
The Business Process Framework can be used to analyze any business process to identify productivity gains through technology. For a complex process such as insurance claims, insurers can gain a lot from applying this Framework and bring the claims process under control.
Industry News II: Just 15 Percent
Just 15 percent of insurance customers are satisfied with their provider’s digital experience, according to Accenture.
What does this tell us? That we’re missing the point of digitally transforming the insurance industry. Process efficiency is only one benefit – the real intention behind digitalizing your insurance processes should be to best support your customers. And if your customers aren’t satisfied, then what’s the point?
The right electronic insurance solution will optimize your IT costs and drive long-term ROI benefits, including:
- Improved Customer Experiences
- Built-out Insurance Ecosystems
- Established Enterprise Intelligence
Learn more about each of the three branches above in Hyland’s recent blog, “How to optimize IT costs and drive ROI in the modern insurance agency.”
What Can We Do For You?
ImageSoft guides insurers through the selection of enterprise content management to achieve the efficiencies and cost savings you need. Our industry-leading solutions for insurance offer automated workflows, improved speed and efficiency, reduced costs and proper compliance.
ImageSoft is ready to help your company reap the benefits from integrated enterprise content management.