Good partners and partnerships are critical to success in any business, but it’s crucial in technology where the pace of change and breadth of innovation is high. Insurance tech is growing fast, and it’s critical to look to progressive partners to keep up with the pace.
Why Partnerships Matter
Innovations happen everywhere, every day. Things like electric cars, an increase in IoT, the interconnectedness of tech systems in healthcare and our own homes, and other innovations significantly impact our industry. These tech advances inform how insurers can gain data to inform policies and process claims.
The pace of change is exceptionally high in this digital age. No matter how good your team is, you can’t do everything, and finding the right partner with the right complementary specialty can make all the difference in getting your customers what they need.
What We Look for in Our Partnerships
Who you partner with is incredibly important. Just as you take time to find the right employees, you need to be discerning when working with outside organizations.
When we at Partner Platform know we need a new partner in a specific arena, we look for Partner Allies that commit to innovation and excellent client experience. There are plenty of potential solutions out there, but we look for ones that simplify the experience for the customer and the effort needed to deliver it. That’s what innovation means to us – a total solution that is simple to use and easy to implement.
In the end, our partnerships are about shared values. Those core values are a shared perspective on client success and how easy it is for the client to implement something new in their everyday job. If the solutions aren’t easy or super compelling, it’s not going to happen throughout the agency.
Who We’re Partnering with Today
We regularly add to our insurtech partnerships, growing our Partner Allies list. Some of our stand-out partnerships include:
Semsee Comparative Rater: helps streamline the details of the sales process that frequently slow things down, such as packaging coverages, obtaining prices, and delivering quotes or proposals.
BlueJay Reviews: ensures our agencies have a positive online reputation and maximizes the value of agency marketing spend.
Rpost/RSign: provides email security as one of our longest-standing Partner Allies with fast, easy, and secure e-signature and encrypted email.
Lightspeed Voice VOIP: fosters a tight communication integration, including a pop-up screen when a client calls an agency.
Where We’re Headed with Partner Platform
Our goal is to have the best agency management system suite for today and tomorrow. A stagnant system does nothing for our customers in a world of quick innovation and rapid advances. That’s why we’re focused on growing our partnerships to better our systems, bringing the best in class to our Partner Platform agencies every day.
Find out what our Partner agencies have to say about their experiences on our Client Stories page, or view a demo to see the system for yourself. We look forward to growing our Partner Platform community and hope you’ll join us.
Your agency management system is among the most
critical pieces of technology you use for your insurance software. Every day
you rely on your agency management system to create certificates, write new
business, and process claims, among other essential functions.
With such a valuable piece of technology, you want more than just a vendor or provider for your agency management system. You need a partner – a partner who focuses on long-term, mutual success. That’s what we are for our Partner Platform agencies – someone in the trenches with them and working for them to make their business run smoother.
We often check in with our Partner Platform
agencies to determine what it is about SIS and Partner Platform that they
value. Our
client stories share various reasons – from service to technology to
accessibility – but there are two that stand out: relationship and innovation.
Building Relationship from Day One
The loudest feedback we hear from our Partner
Platform agencies is that they value the relationship they have with our team. That
relationship starts from day one and continues indefinitely. Our team builds on
that relationship, growing trust and confidence at every stage.
The Evaluation Phase (pre-customer)
Clear, direct communication with targeted
contacts who stay with agencies throughout their decision journey
Individualized meetings with each person in the
agency, covering what they need to know to feel confident to make the big move
to a new system
Regular
touch-points with account managers, via regional and national meetings, and in monthly
informational webinars
Going
beyond answering questions to solving the problem, dedicating all the time
needed to resolve issues fully
These points throughout an agency’s experience are
what make the difference. Everything looks good in a product demo, but what
happens after is what matters. What if you need to make unanticipated changes
or want something added to fit your business workflows? That’s where our
agencies rely on our innovation.
Committing to Continual Innovation
Technology isn’t static, nor is the insurance
industry. We value innovation to keep our team nimble and proactive. And we
strive for collaborative innovation, from the macro-level helping
agencies compete to the micro-level improving productivity through reducing clicks.
Some of our most notable innovative strategies
include:
For us, being a true partner means keeping this
collaboration and innovation alive every day. And it’s something we know our
Partner Platform agencies value above all else.
The year 2020 was one like no other: it provided
individuals and businesses worldwide with some interesting and rarely seen
challenges. Innovation, flexibility, and adaptation were required in increasing
measure to reduce risk and make the most of the opportunities that came our
way.
For the Partner Platform team at Strategic Insurance Software, the foundational service principles we practice every day were exercised in new ways and to new heights, helping us turn the many challenges of 2020 into some amazing successes. The growth and achievements of the team are truly remarkable.
In this unpredictable and challenging year, our
team worked with the Partner Platform Community to improve the Partner Platform
experience and achieved significant accomplishments including adding and
enhancing features such as:
Through it all, we as a team welcomed a dozen new
team members, celebrated births and marriages from afar, and supported each
other and our Partner Platform agencies through each new test and transition
2020 brought us.
We are thankful for our Partner Platform Community,
who expressed encouragement and appreciation as we worked through the
challenges of 2020 together. Countless positive emails and conversations on
service team experience and product enhancements make us all exceedingly proud
of our team’s commitment, effort, and accomplishments in serving the Partner
Platform Community.
We look forward to building on these successes and assisting our clients in growing and flourishing in the years ahead.
Community, learning, and innovation are core
principles for the Partner Platform team. 2020 has provided many challenges and
opportunities for our team to exhibit these principles. We’ve worked together
to face the obstacles of social distancing and system interruptions, and innovated
with more virtual learning events,
enhanced webinars, and online learning to keep our community connected and
educated.
In these uncertain times of the COVID 19 novel
coronavirus, community is more meaningful than ever. SIS CEO Alex Deak shares
about the SIS Partner Platform community partners: from tech to industry organizations
to regional groups, we’re committed to connecting for collaboration,
innovation, and support.
Your insurance agency marketing goal is to stand out among the noise. Identifying and investing in serving a niche market is one of the most efficient and effective ways to achieve this challenging goal.
When you serve a niche market, you have less competition, making it easier to gain new customers in a specific arena. Your agency is set apart as providing “X” type of insurance, making you distinctive. PIA National’s 2022 Independent Agent Survey found that respondents devoted more than 20% of their book of business to a niche market. You, too, can capitalize on this valuable strategy.
Over the past few years, there has been a surge in insurance agency management transitions. Mergers and acquisitions specifically are on the rise, with an estimated 550 deals, up 12% from the previous year, in the first quarter of 2021. While these transitions can be profitable for owners, they can come with significant trepidation and worry from employees and customers.
As an owner, you need to start thinking ahead about how to prepare your agency for its eventual ownership transition. Whether you plan to perpetuate internally or externally, it’s essential that you prepare. That preparation includes setting your agency up for its highest valuation, prepping your team, and investing in tools and processes to bring your agency into the future.
Good partners and partnerships are critical to success in any business, but it’s crucial in technology where the pace of change and breadth of innovation is high. Insurance tech is growing fast, and it’s critical to look to progressive partners to keep up with the pace.
Why Partnerships Matter
Innovations happen everywhere, every day. Things like electric cars, an increase in IoT, the interconnectedness of tech systems in healthcare and our own homes, and other innovations significantly impact our industry. These tech advances inform how insurers can gain data to inform policies and process claims.
