This publish is a part of a sequence sponsored by AgentSync.
Digital transformation is taking the insurance coverage trade by storm as extra companies, carriers, and MGA/MGUs replace their handbook processes in favor of recent, automated options. With regards to a know-how 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 your small business. The incorrect accomplice will price you greater than they’re price and depart you feeling extra like a transaction than a real accomplice. Overhauling legacy know-how (or changing your present not-so-perfect answer) can positively impact every aspect of your business, 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 entails sending inquiries to a shortlist of potential distributors to get extra element into their answer and the way it can (or can’t) deal with a corporation’s ache factors. Not all compliance options are the identical, so an efficient RFP may help you establish which vendor is best for you.
Whereas conducting an RFP may be overwhelming, there are some issues you are able to do to set your self up for achievement and be sure to’re getting the data you have to make the precise resolution.
To make the method as easy as potential and keep away from having to repeat it once more within the close to future, know these 5 frequent obstacles to profitable RFPs and the way to overcome them:
1. Conducting inadequate market analysis
Usually, 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 might go into the RFP course of already understanding one or two distributors they wish to contemplate, however neglecting to do any additional analysis can restrict your probabilities of discovering one of the best accomplice for your small business. The individuals answerable for selecting who makes the shortlist might have bias towards a selected answer, however that doesn’t imply they need to neglect every other 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 you need 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 may help you discover the three to 5 distributors which are probably to satisfy 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 incorrect questions
Uncovering the true worth of an answer isn’t potential in the event you’re not asking the precise questions. Tech distributors aren’t thoughts readers. If you happen to’re in search of particular data, you have to make certain the questions you ask are detailed sufficient to uncover the data you need.
For instance, in terms of pricing questions, you don’t wish to simply ask how a lot an answer prices. As an alternative, ask in regards to the answer’s whole price of possession. That approach, distributors received’t be as more likely to omit any further charges they cost for issues like knowledge pulls or customized stories and also you received’t be in for a shock whenever you obtain your first bill. For extra particular examples of questions you have to be asking in your insurance coverage compliance vendor RFP, try our free trade useful resource: 10 Questions NOT to Ask in Your Insurance coverage Compliance Vendor RFP (And What to Ask As an alternative).
Utilizing the data you’ve gathered from your personal 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. Keep in mind, the extra questions you ask, the extra responses you’ll must dig by means of. Whereas it may be tempting to ask as many questions as potential proper off the bat, your RFP ought to be reserved for extra high-value queries.
You’ll at all times have an opportunity to dig into the main points 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 comprise a sure stage of bias. It’s simple to get caught up in all the guarantees a vendor makes, however how will you know in the event that they’ll truly ship on these guarantees when you’ve signed a contract?
You’ll be able to complement the data 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 critiques on common software program evaluate web sites like G2, studying by means of buyer case research, and asking the seller to offer 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 by means of the method
We talked about earlier that some companies go into an RFP with two to 3 distributors in thoughts already, however typically 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 personal. After all it’s OK to assume 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 may uncover that the answer you had been positive was one of the best match can’t truly provide the extent of reporting that you simply’re in search of, or that its producer knowledge is de facto solely correct about half of the time.
Compliance is mission-critical for insurance coverage carriers and companies
Compliance is a vital a part of any insurance coverage group’s operations and selecting who to accomplice with is a choice 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 frequent pitfalls.
For more specific help and sample questions, download our guide today.
And in the event you haven’t already, contemplate including AgentSync to your checklist of potential compliance know-how distributors. We equip insurance coverage organizations throughout the nation with seamless, automated options for his or her distinctive compliance wants. Plus, our workforce of specialists is devoted to offering glorious customer support from analysis to implementation and past. To be taught extra, view our demo today.
