Whether you realize it or not, quoting accuracy greatly impacts your success as an advisor. In particular, you need to be aware of the pitfalls of quoting clients using the wrong health class. These are easy errors to make but can cost you time and sales, and—worst of all—harm your reputation.
Some quoting solutions include an automated health analyzer. This tool increases quoting accuracy. It allows you to produce quotes based on carrier-specific underwriting rules.
How does it work? And why does it matter so much to advisors?
First-Class Accuracy
The industry’s top solutions have health analyzer tools built in. Don’t underestimate the effect this can have on your sales. Hexure’s sales platform, for example, can improve quoting accuracy by as much as 60% for advisors who use the health analyzer tool.
The advisor inputs basic client information, such as height, weight and tobacco use. The quoting solution automatically selects the health class per carrier and returns quotes based on each carrier’s build charts.
Even calculations like BMI are calculated automatically and factored into quotes for carriers who require it.
The key feature here is the automated quoting specific to each carrier. Every carrier has unique criteria for what qualifies for a given classification. The client in front of you may get a standard policy for Carrier A but qualify for preferred status with Carrier B.
Why It Matters to You
A health analyzer tool allows you to better serve your client. If you manually select the health class, you could be screening out policies that are a better fit. By automating the health class, your clients never miss out on a product they would have found more value in. Automation gets rid of the guesswork.
Plus, you save time. Without this automation you have more manual work to do. To be thorough, you would need to chase down each carrier’s specific rules. In addition to stealing your time away from other tasks, this makes the client’s experience worse. It takes longer and feels like a lot more work.
Maintaining Order
Automated health analysis ensures clients never miss getting the best policy based on their health category.
But what about the reverse? What about the cases in which the client does not qualify for a product you mistakenly thought they did?
Health analyzers help here, too. All advisors have experienced the dreaded not-in-good-order (NIGO) application. NIGOs delay the process by days or even weeks. They result in frustrated clients. NIGOs feel even worse when you tell your client they do not qualify for the policy you thought they did.
Solutions like Hexure’s quoting platform automate selecting the health class to prevent these errors. When you quote, you see the products the client qualifies for based on each carrier’s specified rules. All without having to remember to build charts or take the time to research.
You no longer risk submitting business that will be NIGO due to health class errors. Preventing NIGOs shortens your sales cycles, which gives you time for more important tasks. It also improves your client relationships by meeting their expectations for a streamlined sales experience.
Wider Benefits
It is not just advisors who benefit from improved quoting accuracy. Distribution firms and carriers have just as much interest.
NIGOs are costly for everyone, including the distributor and carrier. All parties involved save time, money and resources with fewer NIGOs.
Automated health analysis makes advisors more efficient and clients happier. Everyone wins when sales cycles are shorter and clients are matched with the life insurance policy that best meets their needs.
Plus, carriers and distributors can embed Hexure’s quoting solution solution into their websites or other systems via API. For example, they might add this as a quick health check on a consumer website to help identify the correct risk class behind the scenes before quoting. Or on an agent portal or within other daily processes.
A health analyzer tool also increases advisor adoption of digital quoting and application platforms. It makes the solution more reliable and easier to use, which is exactly what advisors are looking for.
Your agency and industry partners play a key role in supporting you with technology solutions. As an advisor, it matters that distribution firms and carriers see the benefits of using health analysis tools. They have as much interest as you do in quoting accuracy and matching clients with the right products.
Hitting the Mark
In today’s fast-paced, consumer-driven marketplace, you need quoting accuracy. You have to find the best policy for your clients’ needs. And you need to get it right the first time.
Hexure’s sales platform includes automated health analysis so you can get rid of the guesswork. Our solution saves you time, reduces costly NIGOs and helps you find the perfect product for your clients.
Article by Kevin Pohmer, Chief Product Officer, Hexure
This article was first published in the InsuranceNewsNet magazine.
