Technology has always been a powerful lever companies can pull to grow their businesses, increase their market share, and outperform their competitors. By leveraging new systems and practices, they gain a competitive edge in attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. 

One industry where companies are increasingly taking that action is small business insurance. Insurance companies have not historically embraced technology outside the essential systems needed to run their businesses. But that dynamic has changed rapidly as forward-thinking business insurance companies are turning to what’s called insurtech. 

From Enhanced Customer Experiences to Increased Efficiency

These days, many people are familiar with the term “fintech,” which is shorthand for financial technology. Financial services companies use it to deliver products and services quickly and enhance the customer experience. 

Insurtech follows that naming convention and pursues the same objectives. It enables business owners and decision-makers to purchase policies quickly and conveniently so that they have appropriate financial protection from business risks. 

That includes getting real-time, self-service, online quotes for various small business insurance policies (general liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation, commercial auto, etc.). Instead of carving out time to connect with an insurance company representative to get answers and quotes, business owners can research insurance whenever it’s convenient—early in the morning before the workday gets rolling, while they eat their lunch, or in the evening when they have a little more time to focus on the company’s needs. 

The online quote process is designed so that all they have to do is provide a little information about their company, and the system instantly generates a coverage cost. For a user, it takes just a few minutes. But for the insurer, that quote results from significant time and effort spent developing the processes and algorithms for producing an accurate answer. The system must assess business risk and then generate a quote that is as cost-effective as possible for the customer while generating profit for the organization.

The shopper may still have questions for a company’s licensed insurance experts, but the better its insurtech is, the more self-sufficient its customers can be.  

Information That Attracts Prospects

Insurtech benefits insurance companies even before a business owner purchases policies. One of the most effective ways is by teaching consumers about insurance coverage and related issues. Today’s technology makes it simple for businesses to develop, update, and maintain robust “libraries” of accurate, up-to-date content that educates and informs website visitors with resources available 24/7/365. And that education can be the key to closing a sale.

Take the case of a first-time business owner who doesn’t know what type of policy would cover the kind of visitor slip-and-fall accidents he hears are so common. He’s fairly certain a workers’ comp policy won’t address the person’s medical costs but isn’t sure what type of coverage will protect his company from the costs of a lawsuit (legal defense, a settlement or judgment, etc.). 

Using a well-indexed collection of articles on an insurer’s website, he can determine that a general liability policy provides the type of coverage he’s looking for in just a few minutes. Then, confident he knows what he needs, he can get a quote and purchase the policy. 

Making It Easy To Use Small Business Insurance

Insurtech has also improved how businesses use their policies. Most providers today enable them to report claims online, uploading written descriptions, photos, etc. They will likely still communicate with the company via phone, email, etc., as the claims process plays out, but getting the ball rolling can be a relief for a business owner facing a significant loss.

And not surprisingly, policyholders can complete other administrative tasks online—downloading Certificates of Insurance (COIs) for their policies, changing the contact information on their account, etc.  

Insurtech Is a Win-Win for Companies and Their Customers

While customers benefit in many ways from insurtech, companies also gain advantages. For instance, when shoppers can obtain fast, accurate, self-service quotes on an insurer’s website, its employees spend less time fielding questions. As a result, the company can assign personnel to other tasks or just maintain a lower customer support headcount. Either way, the organization saves money.  

So, insurtech is a true win-win, and its use will only expand—to everyone’s benefit—in the years to come.