This publish is a part of a sequence sponsored by AgentSync.
Digital transformation is taking the insurance coverage trade by storm as extra companies, carriers, and MGA/MGUs replace their guide processes in favor of contemporary, automated options. With regards to a know-how revamp, who an insurance coverage group companions with issues. The very last thing enterprise leaders need is to spend a major period of time, cash, and sources implementing an answer just for it to fail to offer worth.
The proper tech companion will assist you and contribute to your success all through each stage of what you are promoting. The fallacious companion will value you greater than they’re value and go away you feeling extra like a transaction than a real companion. Overhauling legacy know-how (or changing your present not-so-perfect answer) can positively influence each facet of what you are promoting, however the course of isn’t a simple one. To discover a companion that’ll actually energy your development, begin by nailing down your RFP course of.
Conducting an insurance coverage compliance vendor RFP
An RFP, or request for proposal, is a technique generally utilized by companies to check distributors earlier than deciding which one to companion with. The method entails sending inquiries to a shortlist of potential distributors to get extra element into their answer and the way it can (or can’t) deal with a company’s ache factors. Not all compliance options are the identical, so an efficient RFP can assist you identify which vendor is best for you.
Whereas conducting an RFP might be overwhelming, there are some issues you are able to do to set your self up for achievement and ensure you’re getting the data you want to make the proper resolution.
To make the method as clean as attainable and keep away from having to repeat it once more within the close to future, know these 5 widespread obstacles to profitable RFPs and methods to overcome them:
1. Conducting inadequate market analysis
Typically, corporations will start their procurement course of by making a shortlist of distributors to ship an RFP to. This shortlist ought to embrace the highest three to 5 distributors most aligned together with your compliance administration wants.
Figuring out who makes the shortlist is the primary very important step find your long-term compliance companion. Companies could go into the RFP course of already realizing one or two distributors they need to take into account, however neglecting to do any additional analysis can restrict your probabilities of discovering one of the best companion for what you are promoting. The folks in command of selecting who makes the shortlist could have bias towards a selected answer, however that doesn’t imply they need to neglect some other choices.
On the flipside, inviting each potential vendor out there to take part in your RFP is rarely a good suggestion, both. The extra RFPs you ship, the much less time you need to correctly consider every response. It will be an enormous waste of everybody’s time to ship an RFP to each single vendor out there.
Conducting adequate market analysis can assist you discover the three to 5 distributors which might be more than likely to satisfy your distinctive enterprise wants. Researching which of them you’d like to ask to the method reduces the hassle required downstream and will increase the percentages of receiving high quality responses.
2. Asking the fallacious questions
Uncovering the true worth of an answer isn’t attainable for those who’re not asking the proper questions. Tech distributors aren’t thoughts readers. In the event you’re on the lookout for particular info, you want to be certain that the questions you ask are detailed sufficient to uncover the data you need.
For instance, on the subject of pricing questions, you don’t need to simply ask how a lot an answer prices. As an alternative, ask in regards to the answer’s whole value of possession. That means, distributors received’t be as more likely to pass over any extra charges they cost for issues like knowledge pulls or customized stories and also you received’t be in for a shock whenever you obtain your first bill. For extra particular examples of questions you need to be asking in your insurance coverage compliance vendor RFP, try our free trade useful resource: 10 Questions NOT to Ask in Your Insurance coverage Compliance Vendor RFP (And What to Ask As an alternative).
Utilizing the data you’ve gathered from your individual inner discussions and market analysis, divide your RFP into completely different sections, every with its personal subset of questions. Sections may embrace:
- Pricing
- Basic enterprise questions
- Product performance
- Safety
- Aggressive knowledge
- Buyer assist
In every part, ask a mixture of closed- and open-ended questions to permit distributors to offer a major quantity of element with out overwhelming you with info. Together with a number of easy sure/no questions in every part lets you extra simply rating responses.
3. Asking too many questions
Simply as you don’t need to spend time evaluating too many distributors, you additionally don’t need to ask too many questions in your RFP. Keep in mind, the extra questions you ask, the extra responses you’ll must dig by way of. Whereas it may be tempting to ask as many questions as attainable proper off the bat, your RFP needs to be reserved for extra high-value queries.
You’ll all the time have an opportunity to dig into the main points afterward within the vendor choice course of. For instance, the demo stage of an analysis could also be a greater time to ask extra detailed and particular questions on an answer’s options and performance.
4. Relying solely on vendor-supplied info
Whether or not intentional or not, vendor responses comprise a sure stage of bias. It’s simple to get caught up in all the guarantees a vendor makes, however how will you know in the event that they’ll truly ship on these guarantees when you’ve signed a contract?
You may complement the data you obtain from a vendor with info from third-party sources. This might embrace reaching out to folks in your community who’ve expertise working with a vendor, studying opinions on well-liked software program evaluation web sites like G2, studying by way of buyer case research, and asking the seller to offer you buyer references.
Neglecting to do any exterior analysis and solely counting on what a vendor is telling you about their product and repair may go away you with a skewed notion of the true worth of an answer.
5. You already made your choice and are simply going by way of the method
We talked about earlier that some companies go into an RFP with two to 3 distributors in thoughts already, however generally it goes a step additional. Organizations that go into an RFP course of with their thoughts already made up about who they’re going to decide on are doing themselves and the distributors they’re evaluating a disservice.
Not taking the RFP course of severely wastes distributors’ time, cash, and sources, in addition to your individual. In fact it’s OK to assume who you need to companion with, however that doesn’t imply you shouldn’t go into the RFP course of with an open thoughts. You may uncover that the answer you had been certain was one of the best match can’t truly supply the extent of reporting that you just’re on the lookout for, or that its producer knowledge is admittedly solely correct about half of the time.
Compliance is mission-critical for insurance coverage carriers and companies
Compliance is a vital a part of any insurance coverage group’s operations and selecting who to companion with is a choice that shouldn’t be taken calmly. Whether or not you’re prepared to begin the choice course of for the primary time, otherwise you’re sad together with your present vendor and able to consider potential replacements, conducting an RFP is in your future, so set your self up for achievement by avoiding these widespread pitfalls.
For extra particular assist and pattern questions, obtain our information immediately.
And for those who haven’t already, take into account including AgentSync to your checklist of potential compliance know-how distributors. We equip insurance coverage organizations throughout the nation with seamless, automated options for his or her distinctive compliance wants. Plus, our staff of consultants is devoted to offering glorious customer support from analysis to implementation and past. To study extra, view our demo immediately.
