With the digitization of the insurance industry now fast underway, insurance companies are faced with the unique opportunity to leverage advances in technology to reclaim something of the bygone simplicity of the once trusted agent-customer experience, free from the mounds of paperwork, clunky technology, and complicated underwriting processes that have come to characterize buying insurance. In this webinar, we will discuss how the insurance industry can re-imagine its own tradition of the agent-customer experience to usher in a new era of digital transformation built on trust, transparency and customer needs.

1. 1
5 Ways to Re-Imagine the Customer-Agent
Experience in Insurance for the Digital Age
Transformation & Tradition
Thursday, February 23, 2017 | 12pm ET

2. About us.
2

3. We do customer experience.
We’re a customer-experience agency who
partners with insurance companies. We’re
leading global digital initiatives with MetLife,
ProSight, among others, for launches that span
life, group benefits, P&C, and specialty. We use
customer data to achieve results, focusing on
increasing policy renewals, driving profitable
growth, and creating digital experiences to get
you closer to customers and allow for more self-
service.
We build stuff people love using.
We start every project by studying the needs of
every group of users who’ll be involved in the
experience. Our research methodologies ensure
we uncover actionable insights based on human
behavior that are current and relevant. Those
insights help us plan an accurate trajectory for a
solution that achieves our clients’ business
goals and leaves users feeling valued. Placing
people at the heart of the process is how we
deliver results.
3
WHO WE ARE WHAT W E DO

4. We’re social.
4
facebook.com/cakeandarrow/ @cakeandarrow linkedin.com/company/cakeandarrow

5. 5
Christina Goldschmidt
Christina has 20+ years of digital experience in a wide
variety of industries, including financial services,
insurance, legal, healthcare, advertising, broadcast,
media, technology start-ups and e-commerce. She has
helped design innovative experiences and products
and integrated lean and agile methodologies into the
design process for an array of Fortune 500 Clients
including MetLife, Wolters Kluwer, American Express,
The Discovery Channel, Omnicom Media Group, and
Morgan Stanley. She is a champion for the end-user
and has expertise in interaction & visual design, user
research and testing, data visualization and mobile-
first experiences.
DIREC TOR O F UX

6. Jane Lindner
Jane Lindner is a strategist who is passionate about
product and service design. She loves to develop
frameworks to align user and business needs, and
bring together technical, design and analytical
talents. She started with early ecommerce ventures in
1997 for Nickelodeon and Dick’s Sporting Goods, lead
digital strategy at Grey Global Group’s G2 and worked
with brands like Disney, Chase and Adobe. And like
any great NYC digital industry veteran, ran a NYC
start-up. For the last 8 years, Jane has focused on
areas she knows to be the only real game changers:
experience research and design for notable products
and services such as Pizza Hut, GE and MetLife.
6
PRO D UC T STRATEG I ST

7. TRANSFORMATION & TRADITION
5 Ways to Re-Imagine the
Customer-Agent Experience in
Insurance for the Digital Age

8. • Carriers are mislead that the only good experience
exists in a DTC market.
• Agents and customers are both dealing with
burdensome paperwork and data entry.
• The technology is broken.
• The process takes too long.
THE PRO BL E M
The Customer-Agent Experience is Broken

9. 35 days
average time it takes to complete an
insurance sale (in life)

11. A lack of trust between
carriers, customers
and agents.
THE E ND -TO -E ND C USTO ME R E X PE RI E NC E PRO BL E M
C&A USER RESEARCH 2013-2017
SEATTLE, WA | PROVIDENCE, RI | CINCINNATI, OH | NYC
CENTRAL NEW JERSEY | TOKYO, JAPAN | SIDNEY, AUSTRALIA

12. 5 tips for re-imagining the customer-agent experience
1. Know the Actors
2. Don’t Digitize Business as Usual
3. Enable Self Service
4. Focus on What You do Best
5. Let Trust Trickle Down
12
AGE N DA

13. ONE
Know the actors.
13

14. Improving the customer-
agent experience must
start with user research.
Agents, employees, & customers are all
end users. Conducting ethnographic
and usability studies with all actors
involved in the customer-agent
experience will help you articulate a
vision for service design that benefits
everyone.
14
O NE
Know the actors.

15. 240
producers
OUR FIRSTHAND EXPERIE NCE
120
consumers
60
employees
C&A USER RESEARCH 2013-2017
SEATTLE, WA | PROVIDENCE, RI | CINCINNATI, OH | NYC
CENTRAL NEW JERSEY | TOKYO, JAPAN | SIDNEY, AUSTRALIA

16. Tips for understanding the customer-agent experience.
1. Investigate everyone: Plan to conduct
research with agents, customers and employees.
2. Observation first: conducting ethnographic
research and contextual inquiry is better than
relying on what people remember and recount.
3. Validate hypothesizes: always take your
work back to users to make sure it matches their
needs and to catch any misalignment.
16
O NE: Know the ac tors

17. 56
Assignment
Increase sales, build a direct relationship with customers
and turn them into enthusiasts.
• Conducted interviews with employees to
get an understanding of areas for
improvement.
• Observed different customer segments to
understand their behavior and mindset.
• Developed and validated a working
prototype over three user testing
sessions.
• Launching March 2017.
CASE STUDY:
KINDsnacks.com Redesign

18. CONFIDENTIAL
Results
USER TESTING VALIDATED THAT THE DESIGN
IMPROVED BRAND PERCEPTION AND HELPED
COMMUNICATE KIND’S VALUE PROPOSITION.

19. Fast Research
Conduct right-sized research - creatively and nimbly to get
the right amount of info. We recommend conducting
multiple, additive research events per project and
leveraging specialized recruiting methods and
relationships to get hard-to-reach, high-cost targets both
inexpensively and quickly.
Rapid Prototyping
Unlock the power of your team and users through design
thinking workshops to sketch a hypothesis for your
experience. Using prototyping software like Invision can help
you quickly visualize an entire experience for feedback.
User Validation
Validating an experience with user testing is key. You
should not launch anything into market without running
usability sessions with all key user types. These testing
events are great for confirming your hypothesis as well as
catching any interaction and content issues.
DIY
19
ONE: Know the a c tors

20. TWO
Don’t just digitize
business as usual.
20

21. Focus on user experiences.
Not business processes.
You’ll be rewarded for both.
Improving a processes quality and speed are great.
But what if you could remove certain processes all
together?
Digital transformation only occurs when the focus is
customer or user centric. Otherwise there is no
compass to guide the business, marketing and IT
team priorities. And new technologies and
automation could serve obsolete functions.
21
TWO
Don’t just digitize business as usual.

22. Map customer journeys
and pinpoint moments of
greatest vulnerability.
How we resolve key moments of uncertainty or
unease at purchase consideration—or fear after
an occurrence and at claims filing—determine
the brand-customer relationship.
#1 Wa y to Pri ori ti ze UX

23. Do I need to call
the police?
ACCIDENT
Emotional
State
Oh no! It’s late?
Yay!
DOCUMENTATION FNOL REPAIR RETURN
What details do I
need to capture?
Do I really need an
ambulance?
How do I get a copy of
the policy report?
Will my photos be good
enough for an estimate?
Do I record the witness
statements, too?
Whose insurance do
I call and when?
What other info will
I need to know?
How do I do this right
the first time?
Is the repair shop
reputable?
How long will it take?
How much will it
cost me?
How do I return my
rental car?
When do I pick up
my vehicle?
What if I’m not happy
with the repairs?
Claims Customer Journey

24. Design solutions that give users
transparency and control.
When the burden of complexity is transferred to
the software, business and underwriting rules are
simplified to accurate, real-time interactions.
Customers and agents will be more confident
with their decisions. And more trusting.
#2 Wa y to Pri ori ti ze UX

25. Coverage amount age-based rule guidance and validation in plan configuration.
It prevent errors which ensures no coverage NIGOs for even the newest agents.
Whole Life Medical Insurance
120 Day Hospitalization
Special Provision, Premium Exemption

26. Challenge irrational or legacy
business rules. Remove or automate
required interactions for users.
Compliance requirements are generally the benchmark
for the type of business requirements to be accepted*.
All others need vigorous vetting. Less fields, forms and
workflows. Automating inputs or lookups is critical.
*even compliance requirements have to be interpreted properly as to what is “really” required.
#3 Wa y to Pri ori ti ze UX

27. Useless fields. If a code must be pass to identify user type, promotion or channel, it
must be automated. There are many other examples of useless fields.

28. Automatic lookup saves the consumer time in finding their license and auto VIN while
confirming a check that will have to be made regardless.

29. 56
Assignment
Create the agent-customer experience that
transforms the front-office process to increase
satisfaction and reduce NIGOs.
CASE STUDY:
MetLife E-Mirai

30. C&A INSURANCE AGENT - USER RESEARCH SUBJECT
TOKYO, JAPAN
Most insurance sales are complex,
and the forms require a lot of data entry.
It’s important for me to create the right customer plan.
And for the sales process to feel seamless.
“

31. 56
Critical steps:
• Observe agents and customer behavior with plan
creation and review, and application completion.
• Validate solutions for deeper collaboration in
face-to-face and phone-based interactivity.
• Identify and vet requirements with SMEs and key
stakeholders.
• Validate the desirability and viability of the UX
with agents and customers through testing.
Measure productivity and ensure the best STP.
CASE STUDY:
MetLife E-Mirai

32. CONFIDENTIAL
Results
AGENTS AND CUSTOMERS PREFERRED THE
MOBILE EXPERIENCE FOR PLAN CONFIGURATION
AND APPLICATION COMPLETION OVER PAPER
50%
Reduced underwriting time by
further improving user experience due
to reduced NIGOs and faster policies

33. Focus on user experiences.
Not business processes.
You’ll be rewarded for both.
Improving a processes quality and speed are great.
But what if you could remove certain processes all
together?
Digital transformation only occurs when the focus is
customer or user centric. Otherwise there is no
compass to guide the business, marketing and IT
team priorities. And new technologies and
automation could serve obsolete functions.
33
TWO
Don’t just digitize business as usual.

34. Prioritize UX
1. Map customer journeys
and pinpoint moments of greatest
vulnerability.
2. Design solutions that give users
transparency and control.
3. Challenge irrational or legacy business
rules. Remove or automate required
interactions for users.
34
TWO : D on’t J ust D i gi ti ze Busi ness a s Usua l

35. Map customer journeys
and pinpoint moments of
greatest vulnerability.
How we resolve key moments of uncertainty or
unease at purchase consideration—or fear after
an occurrence and at claims filing—determine
the brand-customer relationship.
#1 Wa y to Pri ori ti ze UX

36. Do I need to call
the police?
ACCIDENT
Emotional
State
Oh no! It’s late?
Yay!
DOCUMENTATION FNOL REPAIR RETURN
What details do I
need to capture?
Do I really need an
ambulance?
How do I get a copy of
the policy report?
Will my photos be good
enough for an estimate?
Do I record the witness
statements, too?
Whose insurance do
I call and when?
What other info will
I need to know?
How do I do this right
the first time?
Is the repair shop
reputable?
How long will it take?
How much will it
cost me?
How do I return my
rental car?
When do I pick up
my vehicle?
What if I’m not happy
with the repairs?
Claims Customer Journey

37. Design solutions that give users
transparency and control.
When the burden of complexity is transferred to
the software, business and underwriting rules are
simplified to accurate, real-time interactions.
Customers and agents will be more confident
with their decisions. And more trusting.
#2 Wa y to Pri ori ti ze UX

38. Coverage amount age-based rule guidance and validation in plan configuration.
It prevent errors which ensures no coverage NIGOs for even the newest agents.
Whole Life Medical Insurance
120 Day Hospitalization
Special Provision, Premium Exemption

39. Challenge irrational or legacy
business rules. Remove or automate
required interactions for users.
Compliance requirements are generally the benchmark
for the type of business requirements to be accepted*.
All others need vigorous vetting. Less fields, forms and
workflows. Automating inputs or lookups is critical.
*even compliance requirements have to be interpreted properly as to what is “really” required.
#3 Wa y to Pri ori ti ze UX

40. Useless fields. If a code must be pass to identify user type, promotion or channel, it
must be automated. There are many other examples of useless fields.

41. Automatic lookup saves the consumer time in finding their license and auto VIN while
confirming a check that will have to be made regardless.

42. 56
Assignment
Create the agent-customer experience that
transforms the front-office process to increase
satisfaction and reduce NIGOs.
CASE STUDY:
MetLife E-Mirai

43. C&A INSURANCE AGENT - USER RESEARCH SUBJECT
TOKYO, JAPAN
Most insurance sales are complex,
and the forms require a lot of data entry.
It’s important for me to create the right customer plan.
And for the sales process to feel seamless.
“

44. 56
Critical steps:
• Observe agents and customer behavior with plan
creation and review, and application completion.
• Validate solutions for deeper collaboration in
face-to-face and phone-based interactivity.
• Identify and vet requirements with SMEs and key
stakeholders.
• Validate the desirability and viability of the UX
with agents and customers through testing.
Measure productivity and ensure the best STP.
CASE STUDY:
MetLife E-Mirai

45. CONFIDENTIAL
Results
AGENTS AND CUSTOMERS PREFERRED THE
MOBILE EXPERIENCE FOR PLAN CONFIGURATION
AND APPLICATION COMPLETION OVER PAPER
50%
Reduced underwriting time by
further improving user experience due
to reduced NIGOs and faster policies

46. THREE
Enable self service.
46

47. But be there when they
need you.
Some customers prefer to do things on
their own, some prefer to work with an
agent. Making self service an option will
give agents a chance to service the
customers who actually want to talk to
them, while enabling those who don’t
the chance to do things on their own.
47
THRE E
Enable self service.

48. C&A USER RESEARCH SUBJECT
SEATTLE, WA
I'm a mom of a toddler. Its actually better to not have to
talk to someone on the phone. I only have a few minutes
between naps to get anything done.
“

49. Be there when they need you.
1. Customers want immediacy, and human
touch when it matters.
2. Agents want more time serving the
customer, less time with administrative
tasks.
3. Technology must be real-time and flexible
to react to business demands and quickly
adapt to user needs.
49
THRE E : E na b l e se l f se r v i ce

50. 56
Assignment
Grow the direct-to-consumer market share and lower the
expense ratio through a pure digital channel.
• Created a fully responsive digital product
that allows a user to quote, purchase and
manage their auto insurance policy
online, without the need to speak to a
representative.
• Result: +22% increase in customers
choosing self service over calling a phone
representative.
CASE STUDY:
MetLife P&C Direct to Consumer
Sales and Servicing

51. MetLife Auto & Home placed
second for end to end mobile
experience in their “US Mobile
Auto Insurance Functionality
Benchmark”
SOURCE: 2015 US MOBILE AUTO INSURANCE
FUNCTIONALITY BENCHMARK, FORRESTER
RESEARCH, INC., OCTOBER 19, 2015

52. Start with Agents
Conducting research with agents is key. Using something
as simple as a card sort can help you understand their
actual priorities. Focus on the items that take the most of
amount of their time and the things that add the most
value. Inquire deeper to understand their pain points.
Anything low value that also takes lots of time is ripe for
self service.
Move to Customers
Conduct behavioral and contextual research to understand
their mental models and how they actually solve problems –
don’t just trust what they say, observation is so much more
powerful. Inquire further to understand the motivation behind
what they do. That context can inspire areas for improvement.
Cross Reference Both
Build a matrix of your findings from both agents and
customers. That will help you quickly determine features
that are meaningful for both user groups and removes the
administrative burden from the agent. The last step in
building your self service road map is to confirm technical
feasibility and help determine prioritization.
DIY
52
THRE E : E na b l e S e l f S e r v i ce

53. FOUR
Focus on what
you do best.
53

54. Invest in your differentiators.
Leverage existing tech.
Carriers have a dizzying array of options to focus
their time and energy on, all in service of their
agents and customers. It’s important that
manufacturers invest resources into only those
areas that provide a true competitive advantage:
customer and user experience, risk rating
models, data insights. For all other functions,
large distributors and carriers should seek out
best-in-class vendors and software partners.
54
FO UR
Focus on what you do best.

55. SOURCE: SURVEY, MCKINSEY & CO 2014
IT UNDER PRESSURE
IT has become less effective at enabling business goals.
“

56. 33%
2016
SOURCE: SURVEY, MCKINSEY & CO 2016
45-55%
by 2021
External IT solution growth:

57. Invest in your true competitive advantage.
1. Be nimble with SaaS & PaaS technologies : if you haven’t
already, move as much of your infrastructure to cloud-based, on-
demand environments.
2. Maintain your intellectual property: sign up with vendors
that provide you an excellent platform to design unique
experiences for your consumers as well as access to your raw
data.
3. Plug ’n play with services as needed: Migrate away from
monolithic sales, servicing, and policy admin systems; instead
develop your capabilities over time by adding discrete services for
specific functions.
57
FO UR: Foc us on wha t you do b est

58. 56
Assignment
Ensure rapid speed to market for a specialty
insurers dynamic and evolving product offering.
Personalize sales and service tools based on user
industries.
CASE STUDY:
ProSight

59. 56
Critical steps:
• After research and prototype validation, perform
a feature analysis to prioritize investments.
• Identify a vendors for each feature and analyze
based on strong APIs that deliver flexible and
extensible front-end solutions.
• Develop an atomic design system and a
component library to easily optimize the
experience design.
CASE STUDY:
ProSight

60. CONFIDENTIAL
Results
AN ANGULAR FRONT-END
APPLICATION WAS
DEVELOPED TO ENABLE
TAILORED SERVICE
OFFERINGS.
A SELF-SERVICING CLAIMS
SYSTEM WAS LAUNCHED,
WITH A CORE UX WITH
PERSONALIZATION FOR
USERS IN MEDIA, SOCIAL
SERVICES, AND
TRANSPORTATION.

61. FIVE
Let trust trickle down.
61

62. Building trust starts with
carriers and agents.
Being easy to do business with goes a
long way to support agents in their
relationship with customers. Agents
know when your quotes are not accurate
and are frustrated by manual
corrections. They will do whatever they
can to shield their customers from
those frustrations and sometimes that
means choosing a different carrier for
their customer’s business.
62
FI VE
Let trust trickle down.

63. AGENTS T HAT AGREE WITH THE B ELOW STATE ME N T:
99.5%
“EDB is critical in choosing which
carrier gets the business.”
DEEP CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS INC.
SURVEY OF 5,000 AGENTS

64. Areas of focus for improving trust
1. Quotes are accurate and issued without
rework
2. Underwriting responsiveness and
flexibility
3. Policy servicing
4. Effective technology
5. Handles claims promptly and fairly
6. Marketing support
64
FI VE : L et Trust Tri c kl e D own

65. 56
Assignment
Reimagine the agent platform for sales and servicing,
ensuring it is usable (for all agent types), convenient and
grounded in technical feasibility.
• Conducted interviews with employees,
research with agents and a review of
competitors’ systems to synthesize into
an experience strategy.
• Created a rapid prototype of key
templates and components and validated
it over 4 usability tests, all in just 2
months.
• Consulting during development and it is
lunching June 2018.
CASE STUDY:
MetLife Auto & Home Agent Portal

66. Intuitive and extendable
templates help agents quickly
produce quotes, complete
servicing tasks and share with
their customers.
Developers leverage components
and templates in implementation.
Foundational
Templates

67. This again has everything when my client
calls. I can dig in deeper if I need to but it’s
really all there. It makes my job so much
easier.
“INDEPENDENT AGENT
C&A USER TESTING
DAYTON, OH

68. Ensure Accurate Quotes
Expose your risk ratings, order reports early and make sure
that the level of accuracy is the same between comp-raters
and your proprietary system.
Align Technology with Agent
Needs and Your Rules
Make sure your technology accurately represents your rules
and that it is transparent to the agent. You want to make it as
easy as possible for them to use your systems so they can go
about their jobs.
Servicing & Claims Transparency
Service the customer efficiently and fairly and inform the
agent of what’s happening with their customer. Agents
appreciate knowing key actions like a late payment or claim
so that they can manage expectations with the customer.
DIY
68
FI VE : L et Trust Tri c kl e D own
Involve Agents in Changes
Sharing plans and getting feedback from agents on in-
progress work not only gives you valuable feedback but it
can convert agents into your initiative’s most powerful
marketing tool with their colleagues and customers.

69. 5 Tips for re-Imagining the customer agent experience
1. Know the Actors
2. Don’t Digitize Business as Usual
3. Enable Self Service
4. Focus on What You do Best
5. Let Trust Trickle Down
69
SUMMARY

70. Thank You.