The Re-Emerging Need for Speed

By Steve Discher
Executive Vice President

There is a consistent vocabulary re-emerging today from our discussions with executive clients; agility; flexibility; delivery of faster service; shorter cycle times; and the ever-popular speed to market. For the industries we serve, particularly insurance and financial services, this is not surprising, and it’s becoming more acute. The softening cycle in the P&C market, modest growth in life, the growth spike in annuities, the grab for the aging boomer market, and the intense competition and consolidation in healthcare are leading executives to a similar business imperative: the need for speed.

The speed of business has been an important and real issue for decades, but like many commercial concepts, speed to market comes and goes as a top priority for many. To be sure, it never falls off today’s agenda—it just advances and retreats. From what we see, speed is back at the top of the executive agenda, resulting in programs and investments to streamline product development, streamline core business processes, and steadily increase service. To illustrate, let me give three examples drawn from a few active clients.

The first example is a prestigious commercial lines P&C carrier who has had the foresight to streamline its underwriting process and improve new business and renewal cycle times by 60–70%. Call it luck or good planning, but this client anticipated today’s rate cycle and knew that doing nothing would result in giving up more on rate to keep customers and agents. This traditional pricing approach would certainly work, but both the top and bottom line would both suffer. Rather than play into the rate game, the client elected to radically improve the service standard for its market segment and differentiated itself by price, relationship, and service.

The second example is the carrier who is completely revamping its approach to product concept, development, design, and rollout. Investments in product redesign are a challenge, especially when margins are tightening. For this client, now is the best time to streamline its product life cycle process where new products are a considerable growth opportunity for this carrier. Improving speed to market for new products is positioning the client to dramatically improve top-line premium growth, especially as products are delivered and the eventual upturn in the market occurs.

The third example is a multi-line carrier whose P&C revenue growth is being challenged by today’s market cycle. Like many of their competitors chasing top-line growth, this client is pushing the limits of its life and annuity lines to make up for lost premium in other areas. And like many multi-line companies, life and annuities sometimes take a back seat to core P&C lines. This client has taken a different tack by investing heavily in their life and annuities, making these lines extremely attractive for agents to sell—especially from a speed-of-issue and service point of view. With help from the Nolan Company, this client is issuing new applications and servicing in-force business at—or better—than their competitors.

The list goes on…and in nearly every case, clients aren’t just looking for a vision, a strategy, new products and services, improved customer service, or operational improvements. They are looking for these and other opportunities at a faster pace than ever. We are pleased to be helping so many fine clients today in their pursuit of speed to market. Let us know if a conversation about the need for speed might be valuable to your organization.