The insurance industry is welcoming digitalization with open arms to help financial advisors work more efficiently. According to a global survey by KPMG International on Insurance CEOs, COVID-19 was a clear indicator for the industry to accelerate its digital processes. In fact, 85% of insurance CEOs stated that the pandemic resulted in them having to transform their operations and develop the next generation of operating models. Bringing this close to home, the insurance industry in Malaysia has adopted digital tools to streamline communication with clients and improve work efficiency. Malaysian MDRT members share three main impacts digitalization has had on the profession. 

Maximizing client interaction with minimal costs 

The past few years have made long travel time, face-to-face appointments and growing expenses, a thing in the past. Although digitalization was already taking place in the industry before the pandemic, 79% of insurance CEOs highlighted that the pandemic created the urgency for insurers to create new business models and revenue streams. This shift not only changed the way financial advisors worked, but also brought the advantage of bringing commuting costs down and more time for client interaction.  

Esther Hu, a 12-year MDRT member, said, “Before I started fully working online, I would have a maximum of four client appointments per day. But now that I don’t have to travel for work, I’m conducting up to 12 meetings a day.” 

Furthermore, financial advisors no longer have to worry about the hassle of and locating and renting a venue when conducting huge scale client presentations. Through virtual platforms, financial advisors can carry out these events with minimal costs, while allowing time efficiency.  

Edmund Chaw, a six-year MDRT member, shared, ”Through the shift of digitalization, it has prevented me from investing my efforts and money spent on renting a venue. I can solely focus on how to engage with each client and avoid matters that will not benefit them. The digital resources available to me have ensured the same quality of client engagement but added control.”  

Easing client processes 

Without a doubt, digitalization has allowed financial advisors to be more efficient in their processes through prediction and speed. Technologies such as predictive analysis and machine learning have provided opportunities to address the needs of clients, anytime anywhere.  

Seeing this, some have taken the initiative to set up notification systems allowing them to stay connected with their clients. These types of digital tools help track client activity so that financial advisors can be updated on their client’s concerns and queries such as policy changes, claims processes  or general enquiries.   

Chaw shared his how he has incorporated these digital systems. “When our clients call customer service, we’ll be notified through a call. We then follow up with the client to see how we can help,” he explained. 

Another digital tool that has become useful is remote signing, which sends a text message with a step-by-step guide on how to complete the process. With this, clients can easily register for a policy or plan through the link provided.   

“Remote signing has helped with managing our clients throughout the market including those from Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia. Previously, we would have to fly there just to take a picture of their identity card. Now our clients no longer have to leave their homes to get insurance,” Chaw said.  

Identify precise client needs  

Today, clients not only require services wherever and whenever, but they also want the services to be personalized and accurate. Emerging technologies like big data have paved the way for financial advisors to do just that. Esther Hu shared her experiences utilizing big data to personalize her clients’ experience.  

“The insurance industry is using big data to identify new financial needs of our existing clients. From this, we have a set of potential lists of protection needs our clients may be interested in rather than going down a random list,” she said.   

Big data can also be used for the purpose of segmentation and filtering to help with cross selling.  

“For example, if we have a policy that is most suitable for married couples, we can filter other policies married couples would be interested based off big data. As a result, financial advisors can sell policies they would actually want,” Hu said. 

The insurance industry needs to continuously adopt digital technology in the short and long term as it helps the market’s insurance firms stay ahead of the curve. It is crucial for financial advisors to be onboard this to ensure they’ll be able to respond to the needs of their clients in the time to come.  

Contact: MDRTeditorial@teamlewis.com