Insurance Networking has this interesting bit on Agent Attrition & its consequences.

Check out this Excerpt:

Insurers are embracing customer self-service options, particularly the Internet and call center channels.

Yet, the model is not agent-less. The firm has more than 100 agents operating in its call centers, and that number is expanding. The firm’s consumers can buy online or via an agent at the firm’s call center. Consumers seem to be using the Internet much more during the shopping process, but the majority of them still want to close after they talk to an agent.

But, agent attrition is also a problem. Now check this

“The independent agent is going the way of the independent drugstore and the independent hardware store,” says Chris Melton, sales director of ProfitStars Insurance Agency Solutions Group, a unit of the Monett, Mo.-based Jack Henry & Associates Inc. This is partly due to the repeal in 1999 of the Glass-Steagall Act that opened the floodgates for banks to enter the insurance field. “The ability to hire and grow organically young new agents is brutal-the attrition rate is usually more than 80% within the first three years of hiring them,” explains Melton.

Agent training & retention seem to be pressing concerns. But Insurers also need to be careful about not compromising their Service Levels.

This is one area that I have been talking about many times recently. One scalable, cost effective solution is to adopt a Business Rules approach to solve Knowledge Management issues.

Insurance Products come in a dizzying variety. Products are always the result of intense market research and customer segment identification.

Now, take this !

1. What if this all this knowledge is captured as business rules in a BRMS,
2. What if an agent can supply the customer information through a simple easy interface, then the rules engine can suggest whether this customer is eligible for this Product.

Now, lets do one better!!

1. Suppose all your products knowledge is loaded in up a Business Rules Management System as Business Rules.
2. And, additionally, you have a set of Product to Customer matching rules also created, and maintained by your in-house product experts in the BRMS.
3. And even further, if all this knowledge is available to your agents through a simple interface using which they can match a customer to a product. Wow !!

Now, would you not want something like that??

What this means for an Insurer is that

1. Product Knowledge & customer mapping is centralized and available to all your agents in a simple to use form
2. Because the knowledge is readily available, level of training for new agents will significantly come down. This will directly reduce you recruitment & hiring costs
3. Your normal agents will do a good job, while the better ones will only improve with the support that the system provides. On the whole, this will have a positive influence on your Service Levels

Food for thought ..

Knowledge Management, and Business Decision Automation leading to Decision Management, improvement, optimization are best achieved through the Business Rules approach.

BRMS allow you to manage your Business policies like the precious organizational assets they are, and at the same time, enable your IT systems to consume & utilize this knowledge to deliver the intended business result desired by the Enterprise