Transformation Opportunities in a Digital Advisor Business Model

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Even from the early 90s, the world has already changed so much. There were technologies shown on television that we thought are just a brilliant figment of the movie creator’s imagination. From a hint of wireless communication to high technology cars to touch screen phones, there has been a huge technological revolution in recent years. A lot has come into fruition of what we thought was never going to happen. If we try to look back, back then was an era sans Google, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, smartphones, digital tablets, smartwatches, and even digital cameras.

The rapidity of how the world changed has been so exponential in a way that life today has been intertwined with technology. No matter how much we deny it, the internet has already made a big impact. Not only has this revolutionized the way people connect with other people, but it has also become a bank for different sorts of information.

One of the many breakthroughs of technology is the birth of the Digital Advisor. This is an integrated model that is intended for leaders in business who are constantly on the lookout for something new and make use of technological evolution to modify and achieve business goals. So, with the adaptation of availing a digital advisor, this then breaks down the following points:

  • Because information has already been made portable, this will enable you to access personal and business information anytime, anywhere.
  • The comprehensiveness of this model enables end-to-end and consumer-focused interaction.
  • The modernization will also produce the need to incorporate up-to-date hardware trends, mobile trends, and social trends.
  • The Digital Advisor can assume different roles like that of an agent or a financial planner with a Broking Firm. This same model can also be deployed across all other face-to-face distribution channels by applying the appropriate modifications and different emphasis.

Of course, there are other more benefits that are not encompassed by the items mentioned above, if you select the right Digital Advisor that complements with your needs, then there is so much more than it can give.

Below are components of which the Digital Advisor model has which makes it an effective toolkit:

  • With the availability of the vast information by just a click away, one of the first things that is noticeable is the transition from a single source of leads to a numerous source of leads. Most of these new lead sources will, of course, be technology assisted. You will be expecting to have websites like Facebook and LinkedIn to transpire as a great source of lead generation as they are already the virtual café’s for a lot of us.
  • Along with the surge of a number of leads coupled with multiple lead sources, the will mean that the existing lead or contact management systems are no longer going to meet future requirements. In the case of insurers, they are already starting to invest in systems that will allow leads to be channeled to individuals, and this can be done possibly thru shared lead pools, and then this will be handled by the advisor directly.
  • Even with the recent emergence of tablets since the year 2010, tablets have already made it clear that they are having a profound impact on society. This has become an ideal tool for advisors to be used directly in dealing with customers. As a result, the Digital Advisor will also need a customer facing tablet tool that encompasses the needs for analysis, quotation, and digital proposal submission.
  • To have an effective Digital Advisor, it needs to have easy access as to customer policy data, the training records, the recruitment data in the case of team leaders, the performance data or benchmarking and the pipeline status information. These sorts of data are all encapsulated in the Advisor portal. The Advisor portal is not customer facing and this is the core part of the Digital Advisor toolkit making it as an essential infrastructure investment.
  • Most of the insurers with scale have sufficient back-end policy administration systems. For the last 20 years, there have been innovations little by little and this has been predicted to continue in the next coming 20 years. These innovations will be focused mainly on policy administration systems, and the Digital Advisor model will allow these developments to be incorporated within an overall framework.
  • The internet-based customer portals are going to emerge as a key communication channel as insurers will now start to pair with their advisors and turn into one that is more consumer focused. If a consumer centered portal is well-designed, this will help solidify customer loyalty and offer more opportunities for a successful cross-sell and up-sell. Entrenched into the customer-advisor service relations will be a multi-channel customer support technology that is going to include support for online knowledge bases, email, call, and social media backing that is inside a single database with an unswerving method of case management and case escalation.

There are already a number of insurers who have some of these components in place. Although realistically, a very few only have these components in place, and based on experience, none have satisfactorily connected the relations from a strategic, operation and technical perspective to be able to create a smoothly integrated model

With a Digital Advisor in mind, the benefits are very clear because this impacts most of the key performance metrics, wherein which as a result, is already possible to acquire the senior management’s interest and the proceed of building a financial case. It is also best to make the business case based on the impact on sales performance because success in this area will permit all of the other benefits to be realized in the next coming years.

The deployment of a Digital Advisor model is not going to be fast, it will take 2 years at the very least, so there will be a need to create a plan for quick wins and incremental improvements within the overall deployment approach. In the process of migration to this kind of model, there should always be a road map to be able to make the most of your business plans that complements well with changes.