Unlock Hidden Profits in Simple Commercial Lines

Here’s a scenario that may sound familiar:

It’s an unusually quiet afternoon at the office, and you decide to take a moment to catch your breath and look over your numbers.

You’re pleased to see that business is significantly up over last year, and renewals are up, too! But there’s a troubling trend beneath these rosy figures: Your premiums and revenues are taking a dive. Digging deeper, you see that cancellations are on the rise, particularly in the small commercial segment.

Why Are Renewals Up and Premiums Are Down?

You have a number of these individual smaller accounts, and you just don’t have the bandwidth to chase them all down and give them the attention they require. Taken individually, these accounts are small. But, collectively, failing to follow up on these simple commercial lines renewals is impacting your bottom line in a big way.

And it’s not your fault. If you’re manually tackling these renewals, it’s a daunting process that looks something like this:

• Compile a list of all your upcoming small business renewals.

• Review each account individually.

• Reach out to each client via email or phone (or both).

• Wait to hear back.

• Reach out again.

• Connect with the client for a policy/risk update.

• Get the quote together and send it over.

• Wait a week or two for the client to review it, making a note so you don’t forget to loop back.

• Follow up as needed via phone, email, or both.

• Reach out again.

• And again…

It’s no wonder that it’s easier to let these accounts lapse — you just don’t have the tools at your disposal to manage these renewals efficiently. But what if you did?

4 Steps to Maximize Commercial Lines ROI

You don’t have to keep manually filling out applications or visiting multiple carrier portals. The newest tech creates streamlined, connected digital workflows that allow you to access your quotes and submissions right in your agency management system and maximize your commercial lines ROI. You can start seeing more ROI with your simple commercial lines business with these 4 simple steps:

1. Leverage quoting capability that connects to your AMS: Agents prefer to stay within their management system workflows, and why wouldn’t they? With today's AMS-integrated commercial raters, you can spend less time entering data: The system pre-fills customer and risk info so you don't have to.

2. Get expanded access to markets: The introduction of quoting applications has created new efficiencies, but commercial teams need access to a robust carrier panel to reap maximum benefits. Applied’s tools have got you covered.

3. Gain insights into appetite: With today’s digital appetite tools, you can get the most up-to-date appetite and submission requirements and easily connect from your existing systems when searching for markets.

4. Offer self-service quoting: With embedded quoting tools, your customers can get quotes right from your website. This creates a more connected commercial quoting experience and makes their lives easier.

Leveraging these four steps can save you a tremendous amount of time and hassle.

Reduce Friction from Your Simple Commercial Business

As you’ll see, small business renewals become much less burdensome when you tap into Applied’s extensive digital ecosystem. Once you get used to using all the tools at your disposal, you won’t remember what life was like without them. And you’ll have more free afternoons for doing what you want to do (rather than buried in your numbers). Want to learn more? Check out Applied’s new eBook, The Future of Commercial Lines: Harness Next-Gen Tech For Superior Growth.