How can you simplify the negotiation process with insurance carriers?

There is one aspect that I always found as very important-understanding the real beneficiary identity and market perspective from eventual other group interests.

I can't agree more.It is important for Insuretech companies to understand the actual pain points of the Insurers and propose solutions that align to their actual needs.You need to request them to provide a walk through of their current process and identify the opportunities in those process to propose better solutions.

Knowing your audience was a critical factor in the industry in my region for many years but there have been significant changes to how the insurers are contacted and how they are organized. Getting to know your underwritter and other key roles in the insurers organization mirrored client relationships in that regular contact and calls built up a reputation with the insurers team and typically you had the same point of contact for each line of business. Now we are better served to reach out with probing questions to the underwritting team. Starting with high level ideas and sorting through the needs of the insurer and their appetite for a specific type of risk or strategy has become ciruitious at best.

Understand insurance carrier’s big picture and where they are heading ! If negotiation is on price for a product and / or service , please support your pitch with data , show them ROI Quarter to Quarter. Map your solution to their pain point in terms to technology and business. The level of data may be at a ratio level - Underwriting Ratio , expense ratio etc.

I am not a bit fan of powerpoint presentations.As much as possible give the Insurers carriers actual demo of any solutions.Data is critical for any organization.Give them the confidence that their data will be safe and secure with your solutions.

Beyond showing how my data can solve their problems I would also show how my data can bring added value for their CSR policies.

Show carriers that your product / services has considered the real world scenarios. Also , data security aspect is key. You may talk that PII aspect is taken care jn the product , show them the product supports encryption wherever required.

Following your high level investigation with the insurers underwritters you should be able to understand the critical factors to be considered outside of the typical application needs for a specific line. Listen carefully when discussing with underwritters the ideas and strategies that are being evaluated. Reach out to your clients and probe their business model and operations for other critical data that will answer the conditions of the insurer and highlighting any items that will support the concerns of the insurer in an effort to reduce the risks associated with your strategy.

I would mention that negotiation means also finding solutions for avoiding deal-breakers. I would prefer a positive approach by all means.

Having discussions rather than a negotiation will result in a more advantagous outcome for both the insurer and the client. Ultimately our clients want to protect themselves and the insurer wants to manage their risk, when thinking about your clients and insurers in this way it becomes a discussion about methods and strategies that could be applied to align the risk profile with the cariere needs and ensure the client is supporting the risk management activities in order to protect their interests.

Yes, a positive and colaborative attitude is needed but it works only if it is mutual. For this mutual attitude the building trust ?s not just an idea on to do list but it should be well defined by a code of conduct mutually agreed.