Scaling Carrier Client Experience Starts Behind the Scenes
Whether onboarding agents, sending compensation, providing quotes for end-insureds, or processing claims, the client experience is driven by speed.
Information must move seamlessly between end-insureds, their agents, and carriers for each part of the insurance lifecycle. Vertafore research has found that policyholders expect agencies to act quickly—83% want their agents to respond to their queries within a day. And agents said a fast underwriting decision was highly important to them when placing business with a given carrier.
Insurers are facing more pressure to meet those expectations as well. According to a 2023 McKinsey report on customer experience in insurance, carriers that led in customer experience also led in revenue growth and employee and agent satisfaction. Meanwhile, a softening market in 2026 has increased competition.
The modern insurance distribution system is evolving so that carriers can help carry out each of those processes without manual input, without wait time, and without friction.
Fragmented insurance workflows create drag
Many insurance carrier organizations were built around fragmented systems with teams separated by function, product line, or channel. Bridging a gap between one team’s software and another’s typically requires individuals to reenter information.
But each time data is reentered or a step is repeated creates drag and adds pressure to processes that were not built to scale. And the cost of data entry errors in manual steps is high: Experian’s data quality research found that U.S. organizations estimate nearly a third of their data is inaccurate and that inaccurate or incomplete client and prospect data affects revenue through wasted resources, lost productivity, and inefficient communication spend.
As more insurance organizations automate processes, manual processes decrease and organizational speed increases, and agent and end-insured experiences improve.
How insurers can increase organizational velocity
Find speed bumps in the process
The rapid technological change in the insurance industry is creating a technology landscape where it seems like there’s a tool for everything. But easing drag and improving the client experience requires focusing on specific problems.
Many organizations can fall into a trap of trying to do too much at once, but getting started often requires improving just one high-impact workflow, such as compliance, onboarding, or agent compensation. Each has an impact on carrier-agent relationships that can then turn into more business.
From there, work on finding the drag within that workflow. Where are manual steps required? Where is one party waiting for a response from another? It’s likely that those steps can be automated or that better connectivity can cut out data entry or wait times. Using intelligent workflows is one way of changing processes to free insurers and agents from manual tasks, document search and repeat data entry.
Use AI to reduce drag
AI is now part of nearly every client experience conversation. But for carriers, the best opportunities are ones that are secure, compliant, and help staff do more to improve experiences.
AI can take carrier velocity to the next level. It helps get information quicker and help agents get final responses to their clients faster when they need help. Because the traditional systems are fragmented, issues often need research or additional communication. Someone hangs up the phone, finds a solution, and responds later. But AI tools that improve information access and connectivity can make those processes instantaneous. Agents get a better experience, end-insureds get their problems solved, and everyone moves on with their work.
Carriers are able to move faster while improving outcomes across the distribution lifecycle. AI can solve smaller tasks and staff become more effective.
Tie employee experience to client experience
Client experience depends on whether employees and partners have the tools, context, and confidence to serve clients well.
If internal users cannot see the same data, operate from the same logic, or speak the same language across a workflow, the client feels it. If employees are burdened by manual steps and disconnected tools, the client feels that too.
Distribution Velocity gives carriers a better way to think about the problem. It connects internal efficiency to external experiences. Faster, cleaner, and more connected workflows help carriers serve agents, policyholders, and employees at the same time.
The carriers that lead will be the ones that treat workflow drag as a client experience issue, data as a strategic asset, and technology as a way to make people more effective.
To see how the Vertafore Velocity AI platform can help your teams scale better customer experiences, visit our website.
