Uncomfortable Questions about Underwriting and Sales

In a recent article titled, "The Underwriter of the Future", I explored the necessary skills underwriters will need as the occupation evolves. One individual posed an excellent question in the comments section of the post, "Would the underwriter of the future be paid commission?".

Pause for a moment and reflect on how that question makes you feel? Did you shudder? Grimace? Roll your eyes and say, "NO WAY!"

Perhaps like me you thought, "Well, why not?". Then immediately dove into a compliance soaked spiral of despair and fear thinking about how it could drive bad behaviors in underwriters.

Every single person (including myself) who has been asked the question has had a visceral reaction. It made me realize, these are the exact kind of uncomfortable conversations we need to be having.

Why is that? 

The insurance industry, as in many other industries, is nuanced, filled with history and regulation. The richness of the detail in what we do has led us to design elaborate processes and systems that protect us from risk. But they are also insulating us from innovation and change. It is time for us to challenge what we have built. To not just ask "How could we do this better?" but, "What if we didn't do it this way at all?".

To not just ask "How could we do this better?" but, "What if we didn't do it this way at all?".

We are so wrapped up in researching the latest and greatest data solution to solve our Customer Experience woes, that we aren't asking ourselves, "Could many of the fixes we seek lay right in our backyard?" While it is wise for us to continue our focus on the necessary people skills and pieces of technology needed for the future, it is equally as wise for us to explore the paradigms in which those people and machines exist. 

Let's go beyond pushing the boundaries of what we think is possible when we discuss the future. Instead, let's tear down the bounds of what we know as possible and start again in our conversations. Let's create space for the awkward, hard questions to breathe. I don't mean physically, I mean culturally. We need more open dialogue where everything is up to be challenged and there are far fewer sacred cows.  

As I believe in leading by example, I'll be exploring uncomfortable and worthy questions in future articles with my partner in crime, Carolyn McAvinn.

Until then, I leave you with a series of (potentially) cringeworthy questions:

• What IF underwriters made commission?
• What IF underwriters pay was tied to partially or entirely to time service?
• What IF underwriters were subject to clawbacks on lapses or early claims?
• What IF sales people didn't make commission?
• What IF sales people were paid commission, but not until the second or third policy renewal?
• What IF the agency was paid a kicker based on how close their field underwriting quote was to the actual offer?
• What IF agency/agents were only paid if their quoted offer came back the same as the approved policy?
•  What IF it was all different?

Opinions expressed herein our own and not necessarily those of MIB.