An insurtech sales tool kit for every independent agent

Technology is transforming the way independent agents handle insurance sales, in many ways leveling the playing field between what only larger agencies had the resources to accomplish previously and what the everyday sales agent can accomplish today.

According to Diane Delaney, executive director of the Private Risk Management Association, a lot of that comes down to the way agents use technology to their advantage, working in tandem with tools such as generative artificial intelligence instead of letting it overshadow them.

“When we look at AI, I think it’s going to be a big benefit. I know there has been this concern across the board of ‘Will it replace our roles as independent agents?’ I think it’s just the opposite,” Delaney said.

She believes technology works best when it complements insurance advisors’ roles and allows them to be “more consultative and build relationships better.”

And building client relationships is precisely the foundation of an effective insurance sales agent, according to Todd Villeneuve, managing partner, IFC National Marketing. 

In Villeneuve’s 35 years in insurance, he has seen that personal relationships make the difference between an agent who’s “just spitting out” automated quotes, failing to make a connection with the client and maybe just “having a transaction” versus the one who puts more effort into the relationship and builds a long-term client.

“Sometimes I think people believe AI and tech are going to take away roles, and I say it’s the exact opposite. I believe it creates a better connection, and if anybody wants to take a deep dive into sales, it doesn’t matter how much you know in any game — it’s how much you care about somebody. That’s where I think the biggest tool on this tech is,” he said.

Daniel Burrus, CEO, Burrus Research, agrees that it’s about finding the right balance between leveraging technology to one’s advantage and “overusing” it to the point of just generating “AI slop.” 

“A mistake that I’ve seen being made, not only by insurance agents but in every industry, is that we get good answers and we become addicted to it, and we stop interfacing and putting ourselves into it. … If you rely too much on AI, you will be replaced. We want sales agents to augment their thinking, not replace it,” Burrus said. 

Delaney, Villeneuve and Burrus said the biggest ways independent insurance advisors can leverage AI to their advantage is by using different tools available to:

1. Build relationships

2. Improve sales training

3. Gain deeper customer insights 

4. Find new opportunities

5. Boost productivity

All three experts shared tips on which types or which specific companies’  products agents may choose to consider trying in their quest to embrace technology and scale their businesses for the future.

Room to build relationships

By harnessing the power of AI, today’s sales agents can cut through administrative work and spend more time cultivating personal experiences with their clients, Delaney pointed out.

She said that in her experience, both large agencies and small agencies have begun leveraging AI tools for functions such as tailoring emails and other content to match individual clients’ personalities and preferences. 

“So, what they’ll do is they’ll take a lot of their emails that they’re going to send to the client and ask them to convert it for them to match with the client’s personality traits. A lot of them have found that helpful because they would spend a long time trying to change their emails and wordsmith them,” Delaney said.

AI-supported sales training

Advisors can also take advantage of AI tools that simulate real client conversations to create effective and practical training.

This is new technology PRMA is “very passionate about” and has been exploring, Delaney noted. She mentioned Brevity as one company that has rolled this out.

“There is a lot of new technology coming into this space that will allow an agent to practice their sales and service skills with essentially an avatar. It seems like a real person that is trained to respond to them, but it allows them to practice the sales process before ever speaking to a client. … It’s almost as if you’re responding to a ChatGPT, but it’s in voice form,” Delaney explained.

The AI program acts differently every time and can be set up to mimic specific “pain points” and different personalities like real customers have.

“It’s just practicing the sales skills with you, and it scores you at the end and it tells you where you could have been stronger. That type of tool, to me, especially in the insurtech space, is going to be something that will probably take off because it’s a no-brainer for agents or the entire brokerage to offer this to their team,” Delaney said.

Customer insights on the go 

New pre-fill tools that can automatically pull in responses to underwriting questions are also “fantastic for brokers and agents,” Delaney said.

She explained that when agents are so focused on ticking off underwriting questions, it can be a “time suck” that makes them miss the chance to “really get an insight into what’s keeping the client up at night.” Pre-fill tools such as those offered by Modern Metric are a good solution, in Delaney’s opinion.

“There are several tools that are coming into this space that have this pre-fill, where they can start to enter information on the home and it starts to pull how old something might be or the distance from the fire hydrant,” Delaney explained.

Additionally, Villeneuve noted that some tools can provide historical insights about current clients that will help agents quickly recall details and improve their strategy.

For instance, he said, if an agent is on the way to a client’s house, an AI tool can give a verbal summary of the clients, details about their policy, what happened the last time the agent spoke with them or whether they have policies due for renewal. 

Untapped business opportunities 

AI-powered insights can also lead agents to find new business opportunities that they may not have considered before, Villeneuve said.

He considers customer relationship management tools and quoting tools “table stakes” for exploring “large books of business that are really untapped.” Such tools can help when agents are walking customers through what he calls the “gold experience” — taking clients through the different types of coverages appropriate for various life stages.

Villeneuve said IFC National Marketing has released several tools, including some free options, that can help agents “tap into that revenue that they’re missing and maximize the potential of their contacts and their clients.”

The productivity revolution

What AI tools do is help independent insurance agents “join the productivity revolution” that many larger agencies already benefit from, Burrus said. 

He considers himself an expert consultant in AI, having written several books on the subject and published a free AI Strategy Report on the tools he believes can “revolutionize” agents’ workflows. 

In the past, he said, an agency’s IT team may simply have not had the time or resources to automate repetitive tasks for agents. 

“Now, thanks to these tools, you can actually get AI to help do those repetitive tasks for you so that you’re free now as a human to do the higher-level tasks, which are relationship building, establishing trust, making the sale, et cetera,” Burrus said. “A good part of it is about increasing your productivity — which, for a smaller agency, would have been impossible before. Now tools that can cost as little as $20 a month can help you to do that.”

Burrus reviews dozens of AI tools in his report, including popular ones such as ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity. However, he underscored that agents should consider investing in paid versions or custom solutions that can improve performance and security.

The PRMA is an American nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It provides resources, education and networking support to insurance professionals.

Burrus Research is a Wisconsin-based technology and consulting firm founded in 1983.

IFC National Marketing is an independent marketing organization founded in 1996 and based in Fairmont, Minn. It provides technology solutions, tools and resources to independent agents and financial advisors.

Rayne Morgan is a journalist, copywriter, and editor with over 10 years' combined experience in digital content and print media. You can reach her at [email protected].