In 2024, insurance distributors face a harsh truth: adopt digital processes or risk significant losses. Gartner predicts 80% of customer interactions will flow through digital channels by 2025. Sixty percent of BGAs and IMOs still process paper applications, wasting time and money on preventable costs.
McKinsey’s latest analysis cuts deeper. Digital transformation boosts profitability by 20% through stripped-down costs and strengthened advisor loyalty.
Distribution leaders can no longer ignore these numbers. While some firms remain bogged down by paper-based processes, digital frontrunners are advancing. These firms are reducing error rates to single digits and delivering better advisor and client experiences.
The results expose an uncomfortable reality. The distance between digital adopters and manual processors isn’t a gap. It’s a canyon that widens with each passing quarter.
Digital tools help distributors process applications faster. They meet requirements easier, and help advisors sell better. This isn’t about distant possibilities or theoretical gains—it’s a practical shift that drives real impact.
Distribution organizations making this shift won’t just keep up. They’ll advance and grow in both today’s and tomorrow’s market.
Modern Solutions for Modern Distribution
Hexure’s sales automation platform orchestrates in-good-order business with four key capabilities:
- Customizable Sales Tools. Set up rules behind the scenes to guide advisors through data and signature capture.
- Automated Workflow Management. Create unique workflows and review queues for your business.
- Integrating Can-Sell and Licensing. Eliminate NIGOs associated with lacking licensing or appointment.
- Multi-Carrier, Multi-Product, Multi-Channel. One system for all products, creating simplified processing across channels and multiple carriers.
Real Results
Distribution partners across the industry demonstrate the impact of digital transformation. Asset Marketing Systems, a leading IMO, showcases how modern solutions transform distribution operations:
- Processing 87% of annuities through digital submission
- Achieving 91% in-good-order applications
- Reducing review time from 24 hours to 5 minutes
“We post a 24-hour turnaround time from receiving physical application, scrubbing it, and either letting advisor know of NIGOs or passing it to carrier. But in FireLight, it is just a matter of getting the notification, doing a high-level review, and sending it to the carrier, which takes five minutes.” explains Mia Dempsey, Director of New Business at Asset Marketing Systems. Read the firm’s full success story here.
The Path Forward
Insurance distribution is at a digital crossroads. Forward-thinking distributors who embrace digital sales position themselves to capture significant market share.
While those who hesitate risk falling permanently behind. The future belongs to organizations that recognize digital adoption isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about survival and growth in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
