A 2022 ICTA nomination
Toronto, ON (Apr. 25, 2022) – For over two years the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of a remote working environment and the continued need for the digital transformation of the Canadian insurance industry. We embraced this need back when we launched our custom-built, automated and innovative CRM/lead management system back in 2015. Now seven years later, we continue to put traditional BMS and CRM systems costly built on older, manual processes and yesterday’s technology in our rear-view mirror.
Our lead management system is the starting point for our cloud-based CRM. It’s built on an open-source, modular platform and connects through our custom API with PowerBroker for the exclusive purpose of EDI uploads and downloads. Its integration with QuickBooks provides us with a stand-alone accounting system that gives us real-time profit-loss, balance sheet, AR, AP and budget actuals.
Express quoting solutions with our premium financing partners are fully integrated into the CRM as well and provide a one-step process for our producers at point-of-sale, including automated broker disclosures as required by regulation.
The addition of our full-fledged, in-house marketing team in 2020, and the investment in Act-On, a marketing automation and communication platform, signaled the necessary investment to enhance the technology and sales team’s efforts.
Web generated leads are tracked in real time by campaign, target class, and landing page to measure ROI. When a lead enters their information via our lead generation forms, the CRM automatically signals Act-On to send out a thank you email, along with links to blog articles that may be of interest. At the same time, the CRM cycles leads through customizable, and predefined routing queues in 3-minute intervals, on a round-robin basis, based on target class which ensures leads are assigned to our producers according to their area of expertise. Once the lead is accepted, the producer must respond to the request within 60 seconds before the lead moves to the next producer, thus creating a sense of urgency for immediate action and a timely response for all leads.
Our CRM also triggers an Act-On email, in the event of a delayed producer assignment, stating ‘it’s taking us a bit longer than expected to get back to you, please click this link to book a call back time at your convenience.’ These automated processes keep the lead engaged and respect the lead’s time by allowing them to book a call back at their convenience. This email has saved leads from going elsewhere by booking a follow up and closing more business.
Thanks to cross-pollinated data to Act-On from the CRM, emails are sent to lapsed customers weeks and months in advance of their X-date to restart the conversation and try to win back their business.
Furthermore, our marketing team works with each producer to tailor outbound communication campaigns through the CRM and Act-On. We send over 500 personalized warm emails per month which are tracked and assigned to the campaign’s respective producer in the CRM. We populate the CRM with an abundance of data from Act-On, Google Analytics, TruConversion and heatmap technology to not only make better business decisions, but to also track user behaviour and activities across all connected email and website properties. Tracked activities may include when a lead opens, an email, fills out a form on a website, clicks on a link, visits any of our websites and more. Each behaviour and activity is assigned a scoring rule (for example, opening an email may yield 1 point, but clicking on a link in the email may yield 3 points). Our CRM’s ‘Hot Prospects’ dashboard is an up-to-the-minute view of the top 20 users with the highest lead score and engagement in each producer’s pipeline. Our producers review the dashboard and can now distinguish between prospects at various stages of the sales funnel based on their frequency of activity.
Once a lead converts to a customer in our system, Act-On sends the customer a welcome series of five onboarding emails over the course of two weeks. Each communication tracks opens and click throughs, and we can offer customized cross-sell marketing and policy-specific updates based on lead and policy types. The added transparency allows for better reporting like ROI, lifetime value and opportunities for improvement.
Benefits
By building our own system, Ai Insurance Organization mitigated escalating licensing fees and industry technology consolidation. Our CRM has no monthly licensing fees and our platform costs are nominal, and primarily associated with ongoing development and maintenance. Our CRM technology coupled with marketing support and integration continues to have a profound positive impact on our bottom line. Enhanced visibility and reporting has allowed our team to make better decisions, improve targeting, and focus on profitable areas of our business.
Even though our marketing budget increased 6% in 2021, we decreased our average cost per leads by 6.5% while also increasing our total leads by 21% from the previous period. With better targeting, we increased our close ratio 12% from 2019 to 2020, and by another 25% from 2020 to 2021. The end result has seen an a 9% increase in average premium and an 31% increase in gross written premium year over year.
After brokers experienced our single platform’s efficiencies, they quickly changed their mindset and understood the value of embracing our new online/technology-driven culture. As technology and the digital landscape tries to catch up, our constant and never-ending pursuit of innovation continues to deliver on the value proposition for both our clients and insurance markets.
About Ai Insurance Organization Inc.
Ai Insurance Organization Inc. is an award-winning, full-service insurance brokerage in Mississauga, Ontario. We are licensed in Canada except for Quebec, and the Territories, and throughout the United States through our sister company, Ai Surety Bonding USA, LLC.
Our surety bonding programs service companies of all sizes; from start-ups to tenured companies, including Fortune 500. Our clients include contractors and construction companies from all industry sectors, transportation firms, estates, financial institutions and those with miscellaneous and hard-to-place bonding requirements. We also have international surety bonding capabilities. Our surety partners are the best the industry has to offer, and are chosen specifically to meet your individual needs. Together, we are committed to provide sound counsel and deliver continuity of experience and consistency of service. Our brokerage is committed to delivering the utmost in customer service and is well informed on changing risk appetites and industry trends. Together, we are in the best position to negotiate the most competitive rates, terms and limits on your behalf.
For more information, visit getcertain.ca.
Source: Ai Insurance Organization Inc.
Tags: Ai Insurance Organization Inc., ICTA nomination
