Multi-Channel Resolution - Insurance

While away on holiday, my 10yr old son & I played a new game. It doesn’t have a formal name, and there is no real winners or losers, but helped pass the time on our way to Alaska from Texas. I’ll call it the “Wouldn’t be funny if…” game for lack of a better term. It’s simple, you just start a comment with “Wouldn’t be funny if” and the some statement. It’s enlightening to play with a 10yr old, who is not constrained by all the learning, social, and political norms restricting adults. So you get “Wouldn’t be funny if a bear jumped out of the woods and bit our tire off?” Or “Wouldn’t be funny if that glacier slid down the mountain and into the side of our ship?” The best one was “Wouldn’t be funny if there were no TVs and everyone had an iPhone(iPad) and got all of their (calls/mail/movies/television/email/internet/maps/music) stuff there?”

What I realized is that we are not far from that reality. With the new Kindle and iPad, these portable internet devices will soon handle more functions that today are either addressed in the physical world or by other devices, single use items that lose relevance quickly. Does anyone use their 1GB iPod or iPod Stick anymore? How many 256k thumb drives are in your desk drawer?

Working with insurance firms recently has reconfirmed the need to accelerate our migration to multi-channel delivery, agents clamor for it, insured demand it. It was the number one executive issues listed in the past survey we conducted, and several firms have cross functional teams assembled to address it. Some of them are closer to the future than others, and often times they are their own worst enemy – siloed functions, antiquated administrative and communication systems, and lack of executive vision to lead the firms forward. We’re working on new research to help better clarify the issues and provide clarity on the strategy forward. It makes me wonder, “Wouldn’t be funny if customer communication was simple, understandable, accessible, personalized, relevant, and timely?”