When we talk about the insurance industry, we usually talk about the traditional insurance models and the gap that exists between consumers need and supply in the country. While the category is highly under-penetrated, there is one important part of the ecosystem which is the backbone of the insurance industry. And that is the more than 35 lakh strong insurance advisor community, which not only plays a pivotal role in creating awareness about the need for insurance but also in helping consumers choose the right product as well as in claim support when the need arises. This is why insurance companies and the industry, as whole, cannot thrive and insurance penetration cannot be improved until and unless the advisor ecosystem is empowered.

It is the insurance advisor who builds trust and provides long-term commitment to the consumers. Thus, every insurance company needs to ensure that this vertebral segment is constantly empowered to perform better. The more an insurance agent is empowered, the more consumer satisfaction he will bring in, the more consumer outreach will increase and the more the industry will grow.

Technology in the last four years has played an instrumental role in improving the productivity and performance of insurance agents. Digitally enabled insurance aggregators as well as new age digital insurance companies, have disrupted the category, resulting in tremendous growth in sales, better underwriting, smooth claim processing and desired customer service, through their digitally empowered agents. With smart phones and cheap internet, India today is connected better than ever. Hence, by harnessing the digital insurance model and empowering agents; insurance industry can witness growth by at least 30-35 percent in the short term and make insurance agents three times more productive and efficient.

Here are some advantages for digitally enabled advisors:

Increasing consumer outreach by 20 percent:

Unlike the past, insurance agents do not have to spend hours visiting a consumer, explaining the policies, getting the documentations done, travelling back to the office to meet the end-to-end process, which consumed (on an average) half a day's time to complete the entire process for one policy issuance. With digitization, insurance is getting real time, where the agent can seamlessly help customers understand and buy the right insurance products at the click of a button. This has also led to increased productivity and income earning potential of the advisors.

Reduction in turnaround time by 80-90 percent: According to a report in the Harvard Business Review – "A thoughtful digitization program can deliver up to 65 percent in cost reduction — 90 percent reduction in turnaround time on key insurance processes and improves conversion rates by more than 20 percent”. Covid has been a testimony to this fact - how digital accelerated the turnaround time for insurance companies. More and more insurance companies adopted the digital way during the Covid times. Insurance advisors could reach out to 20 percent more consumers within the same time frame (They would have reached out to, in case of face-to-face meetings and offline documentation). This helped consumers immensely in receiving insurance products, services and claim settlements within minutes, rather than waiting for days.

Insurance advisors are acquainted with the real time consumer behavior: Technology has eased out the work for insurance advisors, making the entire insurance process seamless. Telematics and big data are changing the insurance landscape, where insurance companies and advisors can measure real time consumer behavior and use the complex behavioral patterns to help consumers buy accurate and need based insurance products. Digitized platforms have also immensely helped insurers with consumer’s information which could accordingly help them group people as per risk categories, prevent them from fraud losses and minimize expenses.

Building competitiveness in the agent eco-system: Because of its ability to derive risk related insights, micro data-based information, and reducing insurance process time duration; technology will become the key factor for competitiveness in the insurance industry. The omnichannel experience provided by digital, will build enthusiasm amongst insurers to reach out to maximum consumers in lesser amount of time. Self-service and digital empowerment, in contrast to traditional office dependency remove all the roadblocks that an insurance agent can face, thus hugely improving his/her performance.

While the insurance industry is moving towards digital; the role of an insurance advisor will only strengthen. Insurance in a complex product and the role of an insurance advisor is as important as any financial advisor, who helps consumers in making the right financial decision. Thus, more and more insurance companies should adopt the digital way to increase insurance penetration, using insurance advisors as key catalysts. \

- Authored by Balachander Sekhar, Co-founder at RenewBuy. Views expressed are personal