2017 Broker Forum Agenda and Topics

"The Future of Customer Engagement"

– Bill Morris, Senior Partner, Navicom

Insurance consumers continue to evolve; they acquire and use new technologies ever more quickly; they have new things to insure; they are faced with new risks or risks which have changed in nature; they do research in new ways; they seek advice in different places and from different people.

Navicom research continues to monitor insurance consumer preferences and broker performance perceptions. New intelligence about how to drive stronger customer engagement will be shared. How insurance brokers can better address the changing needs of existing customers and new prospects will be debated.

• Are consumers generally engaged with their broker? If not, why not?
• How would consumers like to be contacted?
• What would they like to talk/learn about?
• What topics or assistance would they prefer; which ones not so much

Learn from the discussion; take away thoughts that could inform your next steps.

"Distribution In The InsurTech Age"

– Moderator: Mark Breading, Partner and Chief Research Officer, Strategy Meets Action
– Randy Carroll, Business Consultant, Select Strategy Group
– Ryan Spinner, Head of Digital and Innovation, Aviva Canada
– Jeff Roy, CEO, Excalibur Insurance Group

Following an ongoing analysis off innovation, SMA has studied the InsurTech scene and is involved with Silicon Valley. Mark will discuss the threat – and opportunity – that InsurTech represents for the distribution of insurance.

"Technology Award Nominations: Behind the Scenes"

– Moderator: Doug Grant, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca
– Justin Thouin, Co-Founder & CEO, LowestRates.ca
– Matt Alston, Co-founder & COO, Surex Direct
– Karen Hoflin, Vice President - Operations, Go Insurance

The nominations for the 2017 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Awards were submitted in late 2016. The essence of each – an executive summary and ‘application brief’ – has been published since New Year's (see them all here).

With a brief introduction by each panelist, this discussion will explore the behind-the-scenes experiences involved in the execution of their technology projects, including challenges faced and issues overcome.

"Living the Digital Strategy"

– Sherif Gemayel, President, Sharp Insurance

One of the Canadian broker success stories, the focus on being digital continues to pay dividends. Sherif will share programs and new developments being used internally and with customers.

"e-Signature FAQ for Brokers"

– Andrea Masterton, Director - Corporate Marketing, eSignLive™ by VASCO
– Brian Reeds, CAIB, RIB; President, Reeds Insurance
– Amanda Ketelaars, Operations Manager, Mitchell & Whale Insurance Brokers

As disruptive forces continue to challenge the insurance distribution status quo, brokers that embrace change and satisfy changing customer expectations will flourish. A simple, affordable and impactful way to do this is to eliminate antiquated paper-based processes from your business by using electronic signatures.

In this session, you will hear from 2 brokerages that are successfully making this transition and as a result better able to service a broader customer base while improving broker productivity. Through their stories, you will hear answers to the most frequently asked questions on this topic, including:

• “Will insurance companies accept e-signatures?”
• “Are customers comfortable using e-sign?”
• “What legal requirements need to be met?”

"Commercial Lines: Responding to the Need for Speed"

– Moderator: Kim Opheim, CIP, PMC, Consultant
– Sam Natur, CEO & President, Bullfrog Insurance
– Cindy Gravelle, Vice President - Commercial Insurance, Youngs Insurance Brokers
– Laura McDonald, 2VP Select Product & Platform Strategy, Travelers Canada

As disruptive forces continue to challenge the insurance distribution status quo, brokers that embrace change and satisfy changing customer expectations will flourish. A simple, affordable and impactful way to do this is to eliminate antiquated paper-based processes from your business by using electronic signatures.

In this session, you will hear from 2 brokerages that are successfully making this transition and as a result better able to service a broader customer base while improving broker productivity. Through their stories, you will hear answers to the most frequently asked questions on this topic, including:

"Adjusting For Disruption"

– Gary Gardner, SVP - Global Client Development, Crawford

How is the largest global claims company taking on the challenges of disruption in the Canadian claims space?

A discussion with Crawford & Company on their strategy for staying relevant in the market and their view of the future, examining We Go Look and Crawford Compliance and what it means to be a claims solution supplier today and beyond.

"Chatting It Up With Customers"

– Amanda Ketelaars, Operations Manager, Mitchell & Whale Insurance Brokers

Mitchell & Whale has implemented a chatbot on its website to service customers 24 /7. Similar to the financial Robo-advisor, the online chatbot can give a quote, take a claim, setup a call, take a change request and a growing number of service calls, all without human intervention or monitoring.

It is set up on a natural language recognition platform that will continue to learn and become smarter, offering more options to service customers, with no human intervention.

Amanda will describe Mitchell & Whale's experience.

This chatbot was submitted by Mitchell & Whale as a 2017 ICTA nomination.

"Customer Engagement & Digital Self-Service"

– Darryl May, Principal, KTX Insurance Brokers

In pursuit of improving the digital customer experience and with an eye to increasing operational effectiveness, KTX Insurance Brokers have implemented a client-facing digital tool on the Client Desk platform.

Darryl will describe the impetus behind this decision, the key functionalities that it brings to the brokerage, and how it will help KTX increase customer engagement.

"Digital Consumer Acquisition"

– Andrew Lo, President & COO, Kanetix Ltd.

The expectations of the digital consumer continue to be very demanding because of technological advancements worldwide. Learn how to track and use the data available to take the guesswork out of advertising and measuring the effectiveness of the consumer experience. In this discussion, find out how to drive effective digital marketing, frictionless user experiences and ultimately revenue growth.

• Learn how advanced digital marketing techniques help drive positive ROI every time.
• Hear about how to build and optimize a consumer experience using data and digital psychology.
• Understand how advances in cross-device tracking are changing the traditional purchase funnel.

Success lies in looking beyond what has traditionally been relied upon. Digital innovators today need to keep evolving their data analytics to understand the changing customer journey and optimize digital acquisition.1

"First Principles: Let's Just Be Great Brokers"

– Moderator: Wendy Watson, President, ORBiT
– Johanna Allen, Executive Vice President, Allen Insurance Group
– Adam Hare, COO, Insurance Jack
– Beth Sigurdson, Partner, Efficient Broker

How excited do you get when you hear about a new tool to help brokerages reach new prospects, or to grow the business, save steps, track what's being done, and more? Tools are great; however...

In my experience, only a small percentage of brokerages are doing the really simple things that provide value to a customer and truly strengthen the relationship.

Tools are great – don't get me wrong – but they do not replace a thorough discussion with your client, an extra question asked to truly understand their needs, answering a question before it is asked, excelling at claims time, or other pro-active interactions outside a renewal.

Is your brokerage doing the fundamentals – consistently or sporadically? Join the discussion about the basics, the benefits and getting our house in order ... service excellence aligned with the unique broker proposition: a foundation to build upon to leverage those tools.

Let's talk about it!

"Understanding Guides the Way: Know Yourself – And Your Customer"

– Sherif Gemayel, President, Sharp Insurance

As a broker which has grown successfully, Sharp Insurance has used digital tools extensively to improve customer service while containing expenses. To understand the value that a tool brings, it is essential to measure, monitor, and manage the effects it enables.

Based in part on Sharp's 2017 ICTA nomination, which featured a number of statistics to illustrate the value they have received from the technology deployed, this presentation will focus on Sharp's use of measurements and metrics to help guide the way forward.

"Experiences in Digital Customer Acquisition"

– Sam Natur, CEO & President, Bullfrog Insurance

If Bullfrog were started today, it would be viewed as a "disruptor" "InsurTech" startup. By offering some industry firsts in Canada, the brokerage is positioned to win in its market, for the growing segment of small businesses which prefer a digital approach.

With an eye on the marketing elements, Sam will look at Bullfrog's experience – obstacles, how they were overcome, and keys to success – and offer some perspectives on the trends that brokers will need to address in the near future.

"Brokers and Analytics: The Challenge Grows"

– Greg Purdy, Managing Partner, Pathway Partners, Ltd.; getClarity, Inc.
– Janine White, Vice President - Marketplaces, Kanetix

Analytics as a toolset has progressed from early adopter status to broad use across many different parts of the insurance business, even beyond product development, underwriting and claims.

In the broker community, for several reasons, analytics is just starting to emerge from the shadows of better management reporting into the spaces where it has real potential. The partnership between brokers and companies is enabling and driving some of this and the hurdles are being tackled. Arguably, the real value in analytics as a broker tool is in support of more sophisticated marketing and sales.

There too the bar is being raised.

Greg will discuss some of the leading uses of analytics for insurance marketing. If your competition is doing it, can you afford not to be aware of it and planning your approach to keeping pace.

"Realizing the Marketing Potential of Broker and Company Collaboration"

– Ed Meiering, Vice President - Business Development, Aviva Canada
– Leen Meyer, Managing Partner, EasyInsure
– Bill Redford, Vice President - Product Development, Keal

Although brokers and companies have always collaborated to some degree on marketing, computerization enabled the collection of increasing quantities of data over time. The more recent digital transformation is producing seemingly endless amounts of data. Marketing too is adapting to a digital approach. Combined with the experience and relationships of brokers and their insurance partners, the opportunities abound. The panel members – all passionate about the opportunities – will explore and discuss today's leading approaches.

"Brokers + Insurers + Tech: Coming Together"

– Moderator: Doug Grant, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca
– Colin Simpson, CEO, Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario
– Adam Hare, COO, Insurance Jack
– Sean Duggan, Partner & Vice President, HUB International
– Bryan Bedford, Manager - Strategic Initiatives, Peel Mutual Insurance Company

The greater sense of urgency that permeates insurance today has sparked a renewed desire for an industry strategy to become more efficient when dealing with the end consumer. Colin and a group of talented thought leaders will agree – or disagree – about the path forward. Has a collaborative win ever been more obtainable?

"The Battle For Mindshare"

– Jeff Roy, CEO, Excalibur Insurance Group

What are you willing to do to become a ‘PURPLE COW’ in your category?

This was the question posed to Jeff and his Excalibur partners a little less than four years ago.

Almost 1,343 days later they have clarified why they exist as a brand (which surprisingly has nothing to do with insurance), defined their non-negotiables as a team, and implemented a multi-faceted strategy designed to evoke emotion from existing customers as well as people they've never met.

Their goal? Become top of mind whenever someone thinks or hears the word insurance.

Jeff calls it ‘EMOTIONAL RELEVANCE’ – and it's the filter through which every touch point of their customer expereince is validated. From technology to human; from living their story (culture) to delivering on their promise (experience), nothing happens by chance.

Join Jeff as he pulls back the curtain to share lessons learned, victories and next steps in his teams' never ending quest to go above and beyond.