This publish is a part of a sequence sponsored by AgentSync.
Digital transformation is taking the insurance coverage business by storm as extra companies, carriers, and MGA/MGUs replace their guide processes in favor of contemporary, automated options. In relation to a expertise 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 supply worth.
The precise tech accomplice will help you and contribute to your success all through each stage of what you are promoting. The unsuitable accomplice will price you greater than they’re value and depart you feeling extra like a transaction than a real accomplice. Overhauling legacy expertise (or changing your present not-so-perfect resolution) can positively affect each facet of what you are promoting, however the course of isn’t a straightforward one. To discover a accomplice that’ll actually energy your progress, 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 match distributors earlier than deciding which one to accomplice with. The method includes sending inquiries to a shortlist of potential distributors to get extra element into their resolution and the way it can (or can’t) handle a company’s ache factors. Not all compliance options are the identical, so an efficient RFP can assist you establish 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 knowledge it is advisable to make the suitable choice.
To make the method as clean as doable and keep away from having to repeat it once more within the close to future, know these 5 widespread boundaries to profitable RFPs and find out how to overcome them:
1. Conducting inadequate market analysis
Typically, firms 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 important step to find your long-term compliance accomplice. Companies could go into the RFP course of already figuring out one or two distributors they wish to take into account, however neglecting to do any additional analysis can restrict your probabilities of discovering the perfect accomplice for what you are promoting. The individuals accountable for selecting who makes the shortlist could have bias towards a specific resolution, however that doesn’t imply they need to neglect taking a look at another choices.
On the flipside, inviting each potential vendor out there to take part in your RFP isn’t a good suggestion, both. The extra RFPs you ship, the much less time it’s a must 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 are most probably to fulfill 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 unsuitable questions
Uncovering the true worth of an answer isn’t doable if you happen to’re not asking the suitable questions. Tech distributors aren’t thoughts readers. Should you’re in search of particular data, it is advisable to ensure the questions you ask are detailed sufficient to uncover the knowledge you need.
For instance, with regards to pricing questions, you don’t wish to simply ask how a lot an answer prices. As an alternative, ask concerning the resolution’s whole price of possession. That means, distributors gained’t be as prone to pass over any extra charges they cost for issues like knowledge pulls or customized reviews and also you gained’t be in for a shock if you obtain your first bill. For extra particular examples of questions try to be asking in your insurance coverage compliance vendor RFP, take a look at our free business useful resource: 10 Questions NOT to Ask in Your Insurance coverage Compliance Vendor RFP (And What to Ask As an alternative).
Utilizing the knowledge you’ve gathered from your individual inner discussions and market analysis, divide your RFP into totally different sections, every with its personal subset of questions. Sections may embrace:
- Pricing
- Basic enterprise questions
- Product performance
- Safety
- Aggressive knowledge
- Buyer help
In every part, ask a mixture of closed- and open-ended questions to permit distributors to supply a major quantity of element with out overwhelming you with data. Together with just a few easy sure/no questions in every part lets you extra simply rating responses.
3. Asking too many questions
Simply as you don’t wish to spend time evaluating too many distributors, you additionally don’t wish to ask too many questions in your RFP. Bear in mind, the extra questions you ask, the extra responses you’ll must dig via. Whereas it may be tempting to ask as many questions as doable proper off the bat, your RFP must be reserved for extra high-value queries.
You’ll all the time have an opportunity to dig into the small print in a while 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 data
Whether or not intentional or not, vendor responses include a sure stage of bias. It’s straightforward to get caught up in all the guarantees a vendor makes, however how are you going to know in the event that they’ll truly ship on these guarantees when you’ve signed a contract?
You possibly can complement the knowledge you obtain from a vendor with data from third-party sources. This might embrace reaching out to individuals in your community who’ve expertise working with a vendor, studying opinions on common software program evaluate web sites like G2, studying via buyer case research, and asking the seller to give 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 depart you with a skewed notion of the true worth of an answer.
5. You already made your choice and are simply going via the method
We talked about earlier that some companies go into an RFP with two to a few 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 suppose you understand who you wish to accomplice with, however that doesn’t imply you shouldn’t go into the RFP course of with an open thoughts. You would possibly uncover that the answer you had been certain was the perfect match can’t truly provide the extent of reporting that you simply’re in search of, 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 crucial a part of any insurance coverage group’s operations and selecting who to accomplice with is a call that shouldn’t be taken flippantly. Whether or not you’re prepared to start out 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 at this time.
And if you happen to haven’t already, take into account including AgentSync to your checklist of potential compliance expertise 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 wonderful customer support from analysis to implementation and past. To study extra, view our demo at this time.
