New York, NY, USA, March 11, 2005 — Not getting the information you need from IT vendors during the sales process? You are not alone. Celent�s latest report, What�s Wrong with Insurance IT Sales Practice, and How to Fix It, examines the disconnect between what buyers want from the sales process and what they are getting. It discusses the results of a survey of insurer business and IT executives.
“There is a tremendous amount of frustration with the vendor community among insurance IT and business executives,” says Matthew Josefowicz, manager of Celent�s insurance group and author of the report. “Although insurers are continuing to buy vendor solutions and components, there is a general feeling that it�s too hard to find and evaluate a solution that might fit one�s needs. This is hurting productivity for insurers and sales volume for vendors.”
The report reveals several important disconnects between what buyers value in the sales process and what their general experiences are. For final decision�makers, the areas of greatest disconnect were knowledge-related. Knowledge-related issues topped the list for lower-level decision makers as well, but nearly as important were two key communications areas: willingness to discuss pricing and ability to assist in internal communication.
The survey also examined the effectiveness of marketing channels, and included an open question about respondents� best sales experience with a vendor. The report includes brief profiles of the sales practices and philosophies of ImageRight and CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation), the only vendors mentioned more than twice by respondents.
Celent believes that insurers can take positive steps to improve their vendor sales experiences by clearly explaining their business needs and technical environment to prospective solution providers, as well as outlining what kind of information they expect from the vendor before wasting time in an unproductive meeting. The report includes concludes with important points for both vendors and insurers.
The 26-page report contains seven figures and one table. A table of contents is available here.
About Celent
Celent’s service offering falls into two categories, consulting and research, each of which is dedicated to technology in the financial services industry. We help banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies use IT to enter new markets in the shortest possible timeframes. All of our services are geared towards facilitating better informed, faster decision making. For more information visit www.celent.com.
