An insurance provider unlocked the full potential of its digital platform — and increased online applications by 48%

Key results

About the client

Our client is an insurance provider that was formed out of a partnership between two conglomerates: a global financial protection and asset management company operating in over 60 countries, and one of the largest national banks in Thailand. The company has been underwriting life, accident, health, disability, and medical insurance for a worldwide customer base since 1997.

The challenge

Our client had been achieving tremendous growth year on year, with an average of 50,000 policies sold every month. However, this success had created a bottleneck in processing. As a result, the quality of applications had become more difficult to manage. Reworking those applications also added to the workload.

The company developed a digital platform to reduce application errors, automate policy issuance, and to better manage information. However, this presented some additional challenges:

• The rollout and implementation of the digital platform suffered setbacks due to technical issues and low user uptake.
• Training and implementation was largely focused on the technical aspects of the new platform. Not enough attention was given to the changes it would bring to the way of working.
• There was also a perception problem internally. The platform was regarded as an “IT initiative” instead of a tool that could support and complement sales. More concerning was the worry that the platform would negatively impact sales.

What we did

A brief analysis of the plan showed us that buy-in — especially from Sales — was required to overcome the negative perception of the digital platform. As a response, we brought in the Head of Sales Support and Heads of Sales for each region into the transformation project.

Identifying problem scenarios and areas of improvement

We carried out our Focus Process® over a three-week period to map out all “as-is” sales processes and to identify the behavioural challenges and process constraints in using the digital platform.

At the same time, we identified all possible scenarios that could hinder distributors from effectively using the platform. From there, temporary workarounds were designed and developed to enable usage.

System software developers were brought in to address bugs and workarounds. Following this, a formal process was set up to effectively communicate these fixes and enhancements. The users became more motivated.

Answering the question: ”What’s in it for me?”

We worked on new training materials to get distributor buy-in for the platform. These materials answered a key question that kept popping up in the initial rollout: “What’s in it for me?”

We also prepared a comprehensive checklist to ensure that all activities were carried out in a systematic and coordinated approach.

Setting up a new system of control

A comprehensive management control system (MCS) was developed to ensure proper planning, reporting, and monitoring of performance. We designed dashboards that provided details on performances for each region, line manager and down to individual sales personnel. This allowed managers to:

• Monitor performances and drive corrective action through the ranks to improve usage levels.
• Execute a structured coaching and performance review mechanism to systematically engage all distributors.

Customising training sessions

To ensure maximum knowledge retention, we implemented a “just-in-time” training methodology. Sessions were set up one week before the project went live in a region, and had customised content for both end-users and coaches.

Results

Alongside the key results that were obtained after the project’s implementation, the company also obtained a blueprint for the systematic rollout and buy-in of any future IT implementation for its distributors and end-users. The streamlined training course and coaching mechanisms developed during the project also lay the foundation for future change management initiatives for the company.