1. Anti-Trust statement
As a prologue to our meeting, please keep in mind that there are numerous state and federal laws that absolutely prohibit the exchange of information among competitors regarding price, refusals to deal, or agreements to proceed in certain anti-competitive respects, and that no such exchange of this information is either sanctioned by PIA, nor will be tolerated, during our meeting. This is a very serious consideration and no deviation from this policy will be allowed. Your cooperation in this matter will be appreciated. We ask you not to refer to any agency or company specific names in the example you may give as illustrations during your discussions. There will be no specific discussion concerning price, profits, commission or any other cost components and elements. Staff liaisons have been instructed to keep you within acceptable bounds.

2. The Buy Button AUGIE meeting update
An Industry Initiative
The Buy Button is the ability for agents to bind a policy in a once and done fashion, in their agency systems, regardless of the point of engagement and/or policy sale.”

3. f.e.a.r
False Evidence Appearing Real
Zig Ziglar

4. Meeting agenda
Presentation – Understanding The Buy Button Issue (Short Version)
Workgroup Discussions – Updates and Notes
Business Workgroup
Technical
Next Steps and Take Aways

5. Understanding tHE Buy Button issue
What it is not
It is not a campaign about selling insurance online
It is not a product
Although vendors will need to build, or improve current products
It does not cost Agents money to support or participate in the conversation
What it is
The ability for agents to get back the binding ability that existed before technology, and carrier unique sites.

6. In the 80’s and 90’s
Agents could rate a policy (manually, or through a rater)
Agents could bind the policy on the spot, and send client home with ID cards
The agent was in control.

7. What Changed
Carrier and 3rd party sites, created to make it easier have had an unintended consequence
The advent of predictive modeling = we’ve lost our ability to bind.
Must exit the agency platform, or rating tool to access each unique site
Unique workflows
One to One process, vs a One to Many process that we need

8. Challenges - Competing
Captive and Direct writers work within one system, and can end the conversation with the ability for the prospect to “Buy”.
Agents represent multiple carriers
Offer Premier Products, at varying price and premiums
Premiums change when bridged over to carriers
Often takes days to get an accurate “Bindable” quote
This is NOT just a Personal Lines challenge
Commercial lines lacks ease of submission, and direct writers and online options are entering the BOP arena
The IA channel is not prepared to compete in the digital age

9. Challenges – New Business Process
Listen (Monitor) your PL and CL staff on a new business process
Tribal Knowledge issues
Multiple Rating and Carrier Platforms
Lack of formal process, and scripts
We keep leaving OUR SYSTEMS.
How do we bring new hires into the agency and have them
Knowledgeable
Insurance
Carrier Products
Agency Acquisition Strategy
Performing and Profitable

10. Workgroups

11. Industry Workgroups
PIA / Industry has Created two of our three Workgroups
Participants are Carriers, Agents, Vendors and industry consultants
Business Workgroup (Co-Chairs Kitty and Keith)
Identify and Solve the Business challenges
Company Unique Questions
Reports
3rd Part Database needs
Technology Workgroup (Co-Chairs Joyce and Josh)
Solve the connectivity, and integration challenges
3rd Party database acquisition
Regulatory Workgroup – no calls yet
State Regulations
Agent and Carrier contracts
Contributory database
3rd Part Database - legal

12. Business Workgroup – The “What”

13. Three tiered approach Level 1 – Inside our Agencies
Get the Buttons from Yellow to Green
Level 2 – Client Rounding – inside Agency Client Portals
Extend to existing clients the ability to buy addition insurance products
Level 3 – Client Acquisition – inside Agency Website, or other acquisition process
Extend to new prospects the agency specific online acquisition strategy
Agency Rules and Guidelines
Coverage Profiles, limits etc.

14. Workgroup discussion Official Statement Review Open Discussion Issues
Ideas
Solutions

15. reviewed the 3 key tasks of this work group:

16. 1. Validate the original mission statement.
The Buy Button is the ability for agents to bind a policy in a once and done fashion, in their agency systems, regardless of the point of engagement and/or policy sale.”

17. 1. Validate the original mission statement.
bind a policy
in a once and done fashion
in their agency systems
regardless of the point of engagement and/or policy sale

18. NOTE: It’s important to understand that this is NOT just limited to Personal Lines.
Commercial Lines
Professional and Executive Lines
Surety
Farm and Agriculture

19. 2. Identify tasks that each stakeholder can do to move the business conversation inside their organization –
Agents
Carriers
Vendors

20. Agents We need to educate agents
eliminate the fear factor that the agent will be replaced by a process that empowers our binding ability
There is no impact
we are actually going back to the future and the ability to bind and sell coverage at the point of sale.

21. Carriers – Carriers are the key to making this happen.
We need to determine how best to convince carriers to support the initiative and adopt this notion, see the value, and implement.
Strong requests from Agents will drive carriers to adopt because agents are able to write more business, more efficiently and less expensively, with a carrier who has adopted the buy button concept.
We need a good use case and proof of concept to show success. 

22. Obstacles experienced by Carriers include:
Agents resisting changes to workflows. Some agents have come back and said that it’s easier to go to the company website.
Vendors not incorporating the capabilities into the management system. If there is no revenue attached to the functionality, is it an economic obstacle for the vendor. In addition, Vendors have limited resources devoted to helping with troubleshooting the process.
Carriers are resistant to adoption because they don’t like being spread sheeted.  

23. Obstacles experienced by Carriers include:
Buy Button needs to be made a priority by the industry to make it work. Startups are making this happen successfully, why can’t we get longtime industry players to adopt the concept? 
Can we improve / expand messaging?
This functionality provides the ability to increase and capture market share from captives.
The financial implications of gaining market share can be huge in both personal and commercial lines.

24. Obstacles experienced by Carriers include:
Agents aren’t the same.
Some agents have invested in implementing management systems
have the desire to begin and end transactions in their systems for efficiency and E & O Loss protection
These are the agents that should be catered to, not the agents who rely solely on carrier portals.
It is a shared challenge for both agents and carriers to compete against emerging tech.

25. The Buy Button is the ability for agents to bind a policy in a once and done fashion, in their agency systems, regardless of the point of engagement and/or policy sale.”

26. 3. What does business need the emerging tech and regulatory groups to work on?
This group should consider what Asks of the Technology Work Group they may have
the work flow challenge that reports create is something for the Regulatory Work Group to comment further on and help solve for:
Reports are run up front, but the agents don’t get the data
The carrier has to maintain, pay for as part of participating in the contributory database.
Carriers that don’t participate in the contributory database would not be “approved” to participate in the Buy Button initiative.
AFFILATES can help !!! Please join the regulatory group

27. 3. What does business need the emerging tech and regulatory groups to work on?
If agents could acquire reports and have them be trusted by carriers as part of the underwriting data, this would be a more streamlined opportunity for agents to write/bind coverage (MVRs, ADD)
Until Agents have the opportunity to have the prefill capability like direct writers have, along with claims history and proof of prior – it’s not a level playing field.
Currently part of contributory database(s): CLUE – auto, property, Proof of Prior Insurance, claims history.
AFFILATES can help !!! Please join the regulatory group

28. The Buy Button is the ability for agents to bind a policy in a once and done fashion, in their agency systems, regardless of the point of engagement and/or policy sale.”

29. Technical group Identify Key Technology Obstacles
Identify Key Technology Opportunities
Key Stakeholder processes
Initial Draft expected later this month.

30. Next steps and take aways
Agents must use the technology
Early adopters… may not be pretty out of the gate, but it needs the commitment to troubleshoot so carriers will continue to make investments.
Note: First carriers will benefit by increased sales, helping to drive their investment
Agents need to understand that this is a sales tool beyond the internet – it’s about increasing efficiencies, speeding up the sales process, and allowing them to regain market share from captives.
Agents will benefit by a more streamlined business process because of bridging into a single carrier system isolates the information to that carriers’ site. Access to reports up front allows for reduced expense and reduced touchpoints.

31. Next steps and take aways
Vendors of management systems must support the effort.
InsurTechs are going to replace the traditional management system by having this capability in place.
Management systems must make this a “core” competency, not an add on.
Similar to forms, download, or real time

32. Next steps and take aways
Carriers need to support to
keep the distribution channel healthy
realizing that it’s not comparative rating or spread sheeting.

33. Next steps and take aways
Agents, Carriers and Vendors need to understand
the concepts
the benefits of the buy button functionality.
Obstacles need to be highlighted, but benefits the solution can also be provided.

34. In Baseball… as in life
There are three types of baseball players. Those that make things happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens. Tommy Lasorda

35. So what is the “Buy Button” – Official Statement
… is the ability for agents to bind a policy in a once and done fashion, in their agency systems, regardless of the point of engagement and/or policy sale. The Buy Button is a business concept, and technology capability. Currently agents must leave their systems, or bridge to the carrier system to bind the policy. This will empower agents to bind coverage in real time for prospects or clients that call on the phone, walk into the agency, meet, or visit online.

36. So what is the “Buy Button” – Official Statement
This concept will apply to mobile technology for agents to use when meeting with prospects or clients offsite giving them the same real time binding ability when they are out of the office. Technology exists today to empower agencies. While not limited to a line or type of business, today this concept could be quickly adopted in personal lines in conjunction with an existing comparative rater or similar agency managed tool. This will allow agents to fully compete in a digital world.

37. Official Statement continued
This concept can also be extended by the agency to prospects and clients by empowering them to bind coverage on an agency website themselves, enabling agents to transact business however their prospect wants to transact business. Any policy that could be bound by a customer would be owned by the agency and subject to filtering of forms and limits, all set in advance and fully controlled by the agent. Technology does exist today to empower agencies.

39. Key FAQ’s
The PIA Buy Button is an industry initiative that includes the technology capability to bind coverage in real time without the need to bridge to the carrier system.  This initiative will require not only industry participation from technology vendors, it will require industry participation from carriers to support the business concept to pull the necessary underwriting reports during this real time transaction, as well as support of the standardization of payment options.
Currently, agents that desire real time information need to exit their agency platform and access multiple third party platforms, increasing the time it takes to collect accurate information. The PIA Buy Button would eliminate that need and create a more efficient workflow.
By empowering agents to operate and bind coverage in real time, agents will be able to bind coverage instantly when a prospect calls on the phone, walks into the agency, or even when the agent is offsite at a client's physical location.

40. Key FAQ’s
By enabling customers to bind coverage on an agent's website, this creates an opportunity for agents to reach a segment of business that independent agents currently don't maximize.
Any policy that could be bound by a customer would be owned by the agency, and subject to filtering of forms and limits, all set in advance by the agent.
Follow-up contact from the agency to customers who have bound a policy on the agency's website will enable upselling and cross-selling within hours.

41. Key FAQ’s
Agencies can cross sell, offer coverage enhancements, and create account rounding opportunities to existing clients through their agency website, and client portals.
While not limited to a type or line of business, this concept could be used in personal lines in conjunction with a comparative rater or similar agency-managed tool.

42. Questions