editor's choice
White Paper: Distribution Performance Management for Insurance
Distribution Performance Management (DPM) is about improving sales, retention and win-backs through all or any of your distribution channels. Review this white paper to learn how DPM can benefit your financial services firm. Read the white paper »
-
The Lowdown
White Paper: Distribution Performance Management Readiness Checklist
This white paper offers a checklist of the characteristics commonly associated with companies that generate the necessary business focus to implement a DPM project that results in good ROI. Review this checklist to see whether your organization is equipped to succeed in today's marketplace. Read the white paper »
-
Transamerica Case Study
Read this case study to learn how Transamerica Life Canada met its segregated fund asset retention challenges with BlueSun's Producer Portal. Read the case study »
Related Industry News from Insurance & Technology
-
Closing the Data Gap on Finance and Risk Management
-
Transamerica Life Canada Deploys BlueSun's Producer Portal to Enhance Distributor Performance
Web-based asset-retention system improves information access.
-
Insurance CIOs Say Growth Is Still on the Industry's Business Agenda
The four insurance company CIOs who spoke at Celent's 2009 CIO Roundtable rated facilitating distribution and leveraging customer information among their top priorities.
-
AIG American General's Carlson Makes Innovation a Core Competency
Jeff Carlson, EVP and CIO of AIG American General, strives for a balance in its core legacy applications.
-
Research Reveals Most Agents Are Using Real Time Functionality
Popular uses include inquiries, endorsement processing, rating, agency management; more carriers get on board.
-
Technology and the Science of Customer Retention
Data accessibility, analytics, rules-driven workflow and process visibility can supply the capabilities insurers need to retain profitable customers.
Additional Resources
-
Unity Case Study
Unity Life adopted BlueSun's Producer Portal, linked to the insurer's administration and underwriting systems. Read this case study to find out how Unity Life was able to optimize its customer service. Read the case study »
-
Interview: Why Sharing Data From Administration Systems Needn't Be Difficult
This interview between Jamie McGeachin, HUB Financial and CLIEDIS (the Canadian Life Insurance Data Standards Group), and Simon Tomlinson of BlueSun describes how sharing data between life insurance carriers and channel partners need not be an impossible business hurdle. Read the interview »
-
White Paper: DPM: Getting Started
Distribution Performance Management projects can deliver myriad benefits to life insurance firms. Learn how DPM can benefit your organization by reading this white paper. Read the white paper »
-
White Paper: How CRM Has Failed Insurance
View this white paper to learn why CRM has had such a low take-up in the life insurance industry — and why it often disappoints in terms of ROI and business impact. Read the white paper »
-
White Paper: Data Mining: Prospecting for Gold in your Customer Database
Data Mining is the process of applying computer-based techniques to sort through large amounts of data to identify relevant information and statistical patterns that can aid in decision making. Learn about how data mining techniques can help your organization succeed in today's increasingly competitive environment. Read the white paper »
-
White Paper: Using Technology to Increase Revenue, Part I: Producer Channel
Read this white paper to learn how to leverage technology to unleash the potential in the dominant channel in life insurance — the producer channel. Read the white paper »
About the Sponsor | BlueSun
BlueSun Distribution Performance Management software increases the sales performance of insurance carriers and large distributors in North America. For more information, please visit www.bluesunlife.com.
Ask the Expert
Q.
What is distribution performance management?
A.
Distribution performance management is simply making distribution work properly.
Life insurance firms have typically looked to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to help them meet their distribution challenges. However, this isn't what CRM was originally designed for, and there is more to distribution effectiveness than solely CRM.
Exemplary distribution performance management incorporates several technologies. For instance, distribution performance presents a data mining opportunity, passing the opportunity to the right channel — independent agents, career force agents or direct to the client. It also involves business intelligence (BI), to help you figure out what is and isn't working. Sales force automation and CRM also figure into a distribution performance management strategy.
Q.
Why is distribution performance management so misunderstood?
A.
Distribution performance management isn't just about understanding more about the customer, it's also about understanding the dynamics of your distribution channel. It's not just knowing more about the customer and trying to wrap your distribution channel around that; it's more about the distribution capabilities.
Carriers and big brokers don't necessarily have a direct relationship with the client. Therefore, their relationship needs to be with the sales channel, which has that personal relationship with customers. The problem is that often, agents don't have a customer relationship, either. It then becomes essential to help agents attract and retain customers as well.