NETWORKING NEWS
January/February 2010 Volume 13 Issue 4 www.insurancenetworking.com
If you try to do
a CBA on each
deal, you’ll leave
innovation behind.
>>COVER STORY | AGENCY MANAGEMENT
Today, there’s an emerging class of powerful insurance-specific business networking tools that enable carriers to better
communicate and collaborate with their
agents—and generate business. Granted,
Social Networking:
From Fad to Factor
By Bill Kenealy
Insurers will increase their
spending on enterprise
risk management technologies
in 2010.
10
Insurers Look to
Boost ERM Spending
Story on page 38
Expect a 50% increase
Expect a 25% increase
Expect a 10% increase
Expect it to remain
the same
Expect it to decrease
10%
25%
31%
31%
3%
20Modern core systems afford carriers many options when it comes to maintenance.
Better Maintenance
WHILE OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, SOME
carriers used Facebook and other networks
for external marketing purposes, these
social networking tools didn’t make much of
a dent within the enterprise.
there are governance, security and integration challenges to be met, but these ‘business
networking’ tools have the potential to transform how providers and agents operate.l
Story on page 12
>>SPECIAL REPORT | INNOVATORS
IS THERE ANYTHING TRULY
revolutionary about your
customers’ online claims
experience?
If your answer is no, then
you might be interested to learn
By Alex Vorro
Claims of Innovation
Ring True for Esurance
The tools to manage, search
and store internal communications are changing.
Improving Internal
Communication
29
how Esurance—a runner-up
in our 2009 INNovators
Awards—implemented a
plan to vastly improve this
segment of its online channel.
Story on page 26
>>BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
IN THE BATTLE FOR BUSIness growth among life insurers and annuity providers,
expanding organically could
beat out merger and acquisition activity, as industry
experts question the conventional wisdom of focusing on
M&A for growth.
However, the argument is
made that generating new
sales and upselling existing
customers, is a better way
to grow.
By Daniel Joelson
Want to Be Healthy?
Grow Organically
Indeed, many companies
are focusing anew on the
customer, using customer
relationship management,
voice signature, business
intelligence and customer
profitability technologies to
fuel new business and close
sales more quickly.
A look at what some successful life insurers and
annuity providers are doing
to foster organic growth.
Long-established in the
United States, service-oriented
architecture-based policy
admin systems gain ground
from Europe to Asia.
SOA Goes Global
32
INN Online
InsuranceNetworking.com
• AIG Quickly Replacing
Departed Execs
• P&C Reinsurance Rates
Down At New Year Renewal
• PCI Releases Legislative
Agenda for 2010
