The Power of Integrated Insurance Solutions a Key Theme at Guidewire Connections 2021

By: Ruth Fisk, VP Insurance Marketing at Smart Communications

Earlier this month, the Smart Communications team gathered with insurance industry leaders at Guidewire Connections 2021. It was great to be able to meet in person (with precautions in place, of course) and learn from the people driving innovation for the industry. We were especially thrilled to celebrate 100 mutual customers with Guidewire!

As consumers increasingly prefer more personalized interactions and insurers navigate keeping up with the pace of change, the power of integrated insurance solutions is clearer than ever. Feeling inspired to dive into this topic a bit more, in this post we gather our three biggest takeaways from our time at the event.

Takeaway #1: The insurance industry is evolving and innovating.
In an earlier post, we discussed that the insurance industry is at an inflection point, where insurers need to take a more proactive approach to risk management. The combined trends of increasing customer expectations for personalized, real-time interactions, growing access to data and sophisticated technology and rising competition from insurtechs are forcing insurers to rethink how they manage risk and engage with customers.

This was a core theme at the show, and Mike Rosenbaum, CEO of Guidewire, highlighted the power of integrated insurance solutions – like Smart Communications and Guidewire – to enable insurers to engage customers, innovate and grow efficiently in this new era.

Takeaway #2: Maintaining the status quo will hamper success.
Companies across industries are being forced to challenge the status quo in an effort to respond to increasing customer demands, competition and more. No action is simply not an option – those that fail to innovate and evolve will be left behind.

Adopting a strategic approach to innovation and technology investments is possible, however. One of the most motivating sessions came from Andy Taylor, CEO of Gore, where he highlighted how a digital-first strategy helped the 180-year-old company transform 80% of its business in under two years. Accelerating technology replacements enabled the business to scale operations and become a high-performing national insurer.

Takeaway #3: There is an urgency to commit to innovation now.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Guidewire Connections? It’s critical to commit to innovation now.

Together with Kurt Markus of Mountain West Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company, we presented how we are working together to exceed customer expectations through a digital-first policy and claims strategy. The integrated insurance solutions of SmartCOMM^TM and Guidewire Insurance Suite what used to take days and hours now only takes minutes.

Mountain West had decades-old processes and knew they needed to move to a digital-first approach and sophisticated technology. Previously, print was the only communication channel available, which led to challenges meeting consumer and agent expectations. With its new processes and technologies, however, Mountain West has scaled and automated personalized policy communications that also meet compliance requirements – without any heavy administration burdens.

The lesson? It’s important to commit to change now and with partners like Smart Communications and Guidewire, insurers will start realizing value.

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Interactions between insurers and their customers have never been more important and the best way for companies to succeed is to prioritize digital-first, omnichannel customer experiences. Powerful integrated insurance solutions empower insurers to deepen customer relationships, drive loyalty and build amazing customer experiences.

In his keynote, Mike Rosenbaum indicated that the Guidewire ecosystem will deliver 100x more value to the insurance industry over time. We are so proud to be a part of this and to continue delivering value to our mutual customers. Together, our innovative cloud solutions enable smarter policyholder conversations across multiple channels and allow for meaningful interactions that simply aren’t possible via legacy systems and outdated processes.

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To learn more about becoming a digital-first claims organization, check out our latest white paper where we discuss how to improve claims accuracy, reduce claims expenses and increase CSAT scores.