E-application software continues to grow in popularity in the life, annuity and wealth management industries. Carriers and distributors alike have taken notice of the productivity and cost-saving benefits of this digital solution. Improvements to NIGO rates, placement ratios, the advisor experience, and client satisfaction to name a few.

Inside that e-application experience, carriers have a decision to make. Will your digital workflows feature traditional forms or be a wizard-based experience? Some see forms as a stepping stone to getting used to e-application environments, which is useful.

But wizard technology continues to progress. Wizards offer more productivity and superior user experiences. They allow you to take full advantage of your e-application platform. And they are easier than ever to implement. So, those still using forms are running out of excuses not to use wizards in their digital sales journey.

Need more convincing? Let’s take forms and wizards head-to-head on the key factors of e-application efficiency.

1. Reflexiveness

Wizards quite literally remove the gray areas in e-application workflows. Forms can provide reflexive experiences, but it can get ugly. At best, you can use logic to gray out form sections that are not required based on previous answers. Wizards, on the other hand, can change dynamically as the user progresses through the application. No gray areas needed.

2. NIGO Management

E-application software gives you the ability to tailor your application workflow to reduce NIGO rates. You can add questions to gather extra data necessary for optimal NIGO reduction. The challenge with forms here is one of available real estate: there is simply no room for additional questions. You end up squeezing fields into the margins. This adds complexity to the user experience. With wizard-based workflows, the user experience can look however you want it to look. Add NIGO-fighting questions to your heart’s content.

3. Digestibility

Clutter is the enemy of productivity. Wizards allow you to clean up your e-application experience. You can include as few as one or two questions on each screen. That means less scrolling, less clutter and less to go wrong.

4. Ease of Implementation

Form experiences may seem easier to stand up at first glance. But today’s top e-application vendors know how important wizard experiences are to their clients’ productivity, so they make the process as easy as possible . Some vendors even offer discounted packages to help you convert your form workflows to wizards. And in some cases, vendors automatically make any future enhancements to wizard functionality available to clients who have implemented a wizard UI.

With the right partner, the wizard implementation process is as easy and streamlined as you want it to be.

5. Intuitive Flow

Form workflows require users to stick with the form structure. Proceed from A to B to C and so on. Wizards, conversely, are not constrained to the traditional application flow. You can ask questions from future pages to streamline the flow of earlier pages. You can even skip entire sections by simply asking questions at a more opportune place in the application flow.

6. Maintenance

It is a fact of life: application experiences require maintenance. You must keep up with changes to present the most updated copy of state-filed forms. And when you have a rate or product change, you need to roll it out quickly.

With a form UI, you must upload the new form and spend the time needed to ensure all the fields line up. Even a minor change to a form’s layout can throw off your entire field structure. With wizard experiences, you can simply tag where the information belongs. There is no need to manually correct field location with every minor update.

The Way of the Future

Carriers and distributors are always looking for ways to improve the sales experience. Because of their many benefits over forms, wizard UIs are becoming a necessity rather than a nice-to-have feature. You can elevate your advisor and client experiences, improve productivity, reduce NIGOs and decrease the upkeep of your e-application workflows. When maximum efficiency is what the industry is striving for, wizards are the way of the future.