Work with Quote, Rate, and Apply

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Identify the people who use insurance quoting systems in the workplace.
• Identify the jobs to be done for each persona.
• Explain typical business processes and tasks supported by Quote, Rate, and Apply.

Working with Quote, Rate, and Apply

Cumulus Insurance is in the midst of implementing Quote, Rate, and Apply, and Justus Pardo is spearheading the project. He needs to understand all the people involved in insurance quoting and how they’ll use the new solution. Ultimately, many people play a part in managing quotes, so Justus wants to set up the solution in a way that serves them best. Who are the people at Cumulus who’ll use Quote, Rate, and Apply? And what do they need to do? Let’s dive in to find out.

Customers

The customer wants to self-serve to find quotes for best-fit insurance plans online. Just like Anna Murphy, they look for plans in their budget with the desired coverages and to enroll with as little effort as possible. Getting a quote must be fast and easy. 

Insurance Professionals

Now it’s time to learn about some key roles in the quoting process.

Broker

A broker, also known as a producer or independent agent, sells insurance plans to meet the unique needs of their customers. This means affordable, best-fit plans for companies and individuals. Transparency in the quoting process, with accurate quotes for premiums, are must-haves for the broker to do their job well because their customers don’t want to mess around! Brokers don’t work for the carrier like Cumulus Insurance, but instead act between the carrier and the customer to help customers secure the best possible plan.

Sales Support Agent

As they shop for plans, customers and brokers may need help with the quoting process. Here's where the sales support agent comes into the picture, working as part of the insurance sales team. The main goal of the sales support agent is to increase sales. They want to ensure that customers and brokers have all the information they need to enroll in their desired plan. 

Underwriter

An underwriter evaluates insurance applications and determines coverage eligibility and premiums. They review new applications and renewals, and ultimately decide whether the insurance company should insure the customer, and under what terms. 

However, underwriters don’t base the decision on gut feelings. They use solutions like Salesforce to assess the risk involved in insuring the customer. Depending on their assessment, underwriters make adjustments to calculated premiums. They also need to change the levers that impact the premiums. 

OK, now you’re familiar with key people involved in quoting and their role in the process. What quoting tasks do they need to do? 

Customer and Broker Jobs to Be Done

Customers and brokers perform similar tasks when it comes to quoting. Both want the same thing: to find suitable insurance plans quickly and easily. 

Here are some typical business processes and associated tasks that customers and brokers carry out.

Obtain New Quotes

Customers and brokers want to obtain accurate quotes, so they need to complete the following tasks.

• Shop and compare insurance plans.
• Provide minimal information to shop anonymously, namely without creating a user account.
• List only the plans available to them or their customer.
• List intelligent recommendations for plans.
• Browse a full list of available plans.
• Obtain an initial price and final quote.
• Save quotes to pause and resume the quoting process later.

Work with Existing Quotes

Customers and brokers may want to pause the quoting process for various reasons. For example, the customer may want to shop around or to discuss the quote with a spouse before proceeding. They may need to: 

• Access saved quotes.
• Review saved quotes.
• Obtain and review final quotes.
• Download a PDF version of a quote.
• Accept a quote and proceed to the application process.

Get Help from the Insurance Carrier

Customers and brokers may have questions or experience issues during the quoting process. In this case, they may need to:

• Contact a sales support agent.
• Ask questions about the quote content.
• Ask questions about the plan coverages.
• Ask questions about enrollment.

The Quote, Rate, and Apply solution streamlines all these customer tasks and broker jobs to be done.

Sales Support Agent Jobs to Be Done

Quote management business processes are also part of the sales support agent role, because agents need to support brokers and customers as they shop for suitable plans. Agents need to be ready when the phone rings, because customers and brokers may call with a question about a plan, coverages, or specific quote. 

Here are some typical business processes and tasks that sales support agents need to perform.

Support Customers While They Shop

Led by the sales manager, sales support agents have several quote-management duties to support customers while they shop for plans.

• Resolve inbound calls from customers asking about insurance plan products or specific quotes they received.
• Create cases reported by customers, for example, if the customer reports an issue with a particular product, coverage, or quote.
• Get new quotes for customers and work with existing quotes.
• Access and update a knowledge base to support customer queries.

Support Brokers While They Sell

To help maximize insurance plan enrollments and renewals, sales support agents also support brokers through several activities.

• Resolve inbound calls from brokers asking about insurance plan products or specific quotes they received.
• Create cases reported by brokers, for example, if the broker reports an issue with a particular product, coverage, or quote.
• Support brokers in obtaining new quotes for their customers and help them work with existing quotes.
• Access and update a knowledge base to support broker queries.

Underwriter Jobs to Be Done

Not all quotes require the underwriter’s eyes, but some insurance plans may need further assessment and revision of the quote. Underwriters do just that.

Here are some typical business processes and tasks that underwriters do.

Determine Coverage Amounts and Premiums

When an application is sent for underwriting, the underwriter examines the details and determines the coverage amounts and premiums. In this case, they need to:

• Review details of new applications and renewals.
• Request additional information as needed.
• Assess the risk of insuring the customer.
• Create or update the quote with a new premium.

The Quote, Rate, and Apply solution automates and streamlines many underwriting tasks, including application reviews and risk assessment.