ING takes the lead in making commercial lines data easy to upload, and now download.
by Peter Weightman, Senior Vice President, Commercial Lines
In 1967 the movie Cool Hand Luke gave the world the memorable expression "What we have here, is a failure to communicate". They could have been talking about one of the central challenges of 21st century workflow technology.
Truth is, effective communication in business, is the key to success. It's why setting the pace in providing innovative solutions for commercial lines data exchange is so important to us at ING, and why we've become the market leader in this field.
Our approach to providing commercial lines data exchange solutions is guided by a very simple philosophy: we want to make it easy for brokers to do business with us. If an innovation makes it easier for a broker to interact with us, then it's a good thing. If it merely complicates things, it was never an innovation in the first place.
Over the last few years our partnership with Policy Works has allowed us to lead the charge in the world of commercial lines data exchange. Our learning and experience in this area is both deep and up-to-the-minute. But just as important, our energy and commitment to leading this mission continue. In fact it's growing.
What have ING data exchange innovations meant in practical terms?
Brokers can now upload quote requests to ING electronically with minimal information double entry. For brokers this means faster turnaround on quotes, improved customer service, improved protection against E&O exposure and an improved bottom line.
ING was the first to use CSIO standards for upload. But we haven't stopped there.
In the spring of this year ING will again be first to move data exchanges to the next level with the introduction of commercial quote downloads from the ING website. In conjunction with ING SaversCL, which allows brokers to request a commercial quote on-line, or save as a pdf application and print to send to ING or other providers, this new capability will further reduce our turnaround times and improve service levels.
Of course setting the pace for innovation sets a positive expectation for further innovation. Which begs the question: what type of functionality can brokers expect to see in future data exchange projects? The opportunities are many: general inquiry, billing, endorsements, renewals and cancellations, and more.
We are currently in discussions with Policy Works to determine the next phase for data-exchange and will be paying close attention to important broker feedback to help us in this decision making process. Based on our long-standing experience in implementing different technologies, we know to expect the unexpected. The key, of course, is to stay the course and keep our long-term objective in mind: making things easy for brokers.
At ING we're excited about the future. We see commercial data exchange continuing to improve and grow over the next few years, and our business strategies reflect this fact. But because making it easy for brokers to do business with us remains our primary focus, we will also continue to ensure that brokers can chose whichever mode of doing business best suits their workflow needs - click, call or fax. Because, to paraphrase Cool Hand Luke, at ING failure to communicate is not an option.
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January 2008
