Five Reasons Not to Invest in New Insurance Technology

Who doesn’t want to be seen as modern and high-tech? Most insurance carriers and agencies want to consider themselves forward-thinking, and in the rush to prove it, might purchase some questionable products. Getting stuck with a tech tool that doesn’t meet your needs is worse than not doing anything at all because it can hinder future attempts to try something new. 

As an insurtech ourselves, we certainly don’t want to hold you back or discourage you from embracing technology. We just think it’s important to acknowledge some of the very valid reasons not to do so. Simply put, don’t invest in insurance technology just to check a box and say you did. 

Here are five reasons not to invest in a new technology. And even if this changes your mind about AgentSync,* we’d rather you do what’s best for your organization than buy a solution you don’t need or that won’t work for you. 

*Of course, we think every insurance business from the largest carriers to small independent insurance agencies can benefit from AgentSync, so make sure you check us out before making a decision.

1. Everyone else is doing it 

If all your industry peers are clamoring for the latest and greatest insurance innovation, there may well be a good reason for it. It might just be the solution to all your problems. But keep in mind you need a better reason than “everyone else is” to dive head first into a large insurtech investment.

The analogy of jumping off a bridge just because your friend did seemed like a silly one when your mom cautioned you as a child, but recent events have proven there’s a very fine line between a genius innovation and a catastrophe. Yes, cryptocurrency, we’re looking at you.  Don’t let peer pressure or FOMO guide your insurance modernization decisions. 

2. You’ve got shiny object syndrome 

Does your organization pride itself on being an early adopter of new tech? This can be great, until it’s not. Some insurance organizations bounce from one new software to another, never truly giving any of them a chance to take hold and improve the business. 

If you know your organization is prone to jumping at the next shiny object it sees, take a beat and consider whether you really should be investing in that technology. This doesn’t mean the answer is always “no.” It just means you need to be particularly aware of your tendency toward a short insurtech attention span. Your investments are more likely to pay off when you base the decision on careful research and stick with the new solution long enough to give it a fair shot before moving on to the next shiny object.

3. It’s an insurtech solution looking for a problem 

We’ve all been there. You see something really cool, possibly groundbreaking, and you want it. But when you take a step back and look at your business you realize this amazing new solution doesn’t actually solve one of your specific problems. If you’ve got plenty of spare cash floating around and can afford to invest in modern insurance infrastructure just because it looks fun to play with, then by all means, do it! And can you send some of that cash our way while you’re at it? 

But…With the state of the world, inflation, yada-yada, we suspect this isn’t the case for you. Chances are, you’re being pushed to do more with less and you need to have a solid business case for any new insurtech investments you want to make. So, don’t waste your precious budget on a solution that doesn’t actually solve anything for you. Even if it looks really, really, really slick. 

4. You’ve got no internal adoption strategy, or a history of weak adoption

You’ve done it. You bought the magic software that’s going to solve all your problems. You’re going to be a hero and they’ll give you an award. 

If only the company would use it. 

It doesn’t matter how great your high-tech insurance solution is if no one gives it a try. So, it’s extremely important to go in with a plan for a successful implementation, including internal user adoption. 

If you don’t have a plan, the really great insurtechs will hold your hand through that part and give you everything you need to ensure a successful implementation. If your organization has a history of weak adoption and you’ve done nothing to address the issue, and have no strategy to make this time different from all the previous failed attempts, then this is a solid reason to not invest in high-tech insurance solutions at this moment. 

5. The solution doesn’t work the way your end-users want to work 

This is similar to a lack of internal adoption, except you can identify it long before you’ve mistakenly purchased an insurtech solution. If you’re evaluating a potential solution and the workflows are dramatically different from what your end-users are doing today, that may be a red flag. Particularly if your end-users express that the “high-tech” workflow doesn’t make sense and will actually complicate their lives. If this is the case, you’ve got about a zero percent chance of everyone jumping for joy at a new piece of technology. 

The best insurance tech solutions are ones that simplify today’s overly complex processes and automate tasks your people are spending way too much time doing by hand. If a piece of tech doesn’t actually do that for your team, that’s a good reason to walk away. 

On a similar note, if the technology is intended to be client-facing, make sure your clients actually want to use it and that it meets their needs. An AI chatbot might seem like a great idea to help your staff save time on answering repetitive questions, but if your clients find the chatbot impersonal and frustrating, it could do the opposite of what you hoped for and lower client satisfaction. 

Why should you invest in high-tech insurance solutions? 

With five very good reasons not to take the plunge, here are some of the reasons you should absolutely consider investing in modern insurance infrastructure. 

• It solves a specific business problem 
• It can reduce costs
• It can reduce risks
• It can directly increase revenue
• It can free up people’s time to focus on revenue-generating activities
• It can increase employee satisfaction and reduce turnover
• It can increase customer satisfaction and reduce client churn 
• It’s AgentSync (just kidding!) 

With both the reasons to, and not to, invest in your next insurance technology platform, software, tool, or solution in mind, we highly recommend you check out AgentSync to see how we help insurance carriers, agencies, and everyone in between benefit from streamlined and automated producer license compliance.