In the highly competitive employee benefits industry, carriers spend more time with spreadsheets and data entry than differentiating themselves in the market. In a previous post, we discussed interoperability's potential to inform more intelligent business decisions. In this post, we dive deeper into one solution that can make this a reality: ThreeFlow Connect.
Prioritizing IT investments
Investing in IT solutions like ThreeFlow Connect requires careful consideration of time, money, and resources. Carriers are often faced with a long list of software solutions to implement, making it challenging to identify which ones truly warrant the investment.
Rather than simply queuing up potential IT solutions, carriers should start by identifying the specific pain points they aim to address and envisioning what success looks like. Success metrics—such as cost savings, improved accuracy, or enhanced market competitiveness—can guide this process. This approach clarifies which IT solutions are worth pursuing and may reveal that one solution can address multiple pain points, potentially eliminating the need for other tools.
When introducing ThreeFlow Connect to carriers, we begin by asking three questions:
- Do implementation errors lead to lost premium dollars?
- Are your teams spending too much time on manual workflows instead of their relationships with brokers?
- Are redundant workflows wasting time and resources?
If these challenges resonate with carriers, we explore how ThreeFlow Connect can unlock significant benefits. If not, we encourage them to look for other solutions that better fit their needs.
ThreeFlow Connect: Streamlining operations with automated workflows
ThreeFlow Connect enables carriers to seamlessly transfer renewal and new business opportunity data directly from our platform to their rating and quoting systems. By automatically sending and receiving data between systems, ThreeFlow Connect reduces the time required to generate quotes, improves accuracy, and accelerates policy implementation.
Guardian, our first ancillary connected carrier
Our collaboration with Guardian, our first ancillary connected carrier, has been instrumental in showcasing the value of ThreeFlow Connect. Guardian, a leader in building market-leading APIs with benefit administration systems, has provided valuable insights into why this IT investment is worthwhile.
At Guardian, we’re focused on improving internal and external processes with technology to deliver a modern experience, further advancing our purpose to inspire well-being and transform the industry. Brokers have historically built RFPs manually and sent them to carriers via email. Thanks to software like ThereFlow, we can work with brokers to receive and respond to renewals and new business quotes with speed, automation, and analytics. As a ThreeFlow connected carrier, we’re proud of our investment in ThreeFlow to create an easy, quick, and accurate quoting and renewal process.”
From day one, ThreeFlow and Guardian were transparent about the IT commitment required from both teams.
We have a lot of experience developing API Integrations. However, this was our first time using APIs to streamline our end-to-end quoting process. We partnered with Threeflow to understand data requirements, future state workflows, and the ideal customer journey. As a result, we’ve built a first-of-its-kind RFP, rating & quoting, and renewal API integration. The technology allows for real-time data transfer, CRM updates, document management, and the auto-population of quote and renewal documents back into Threeflow.”
With automated systems handling more of the manual work, carriers and brokers can focus on providing valuable insights and consultation to clients. Guardian anticipates the following benefits in their partnerships with brokers:
- User Friendly: ThreeFlow makes creating and sending out RFPs quick and easy
- Operationally Streamlined: Our APIs improve speed and efficiency with real-time data transfer, improve accuracy with consistent data feeds, and instantly load quotes into ThreeFlow once they’re generated
- End-to-End Automation: With renewal documents automatically uploaded into ThreeFlow, brokers will no longer need to manually search and download each renewal package in our carrier portal
- Structure: Our APIs make structured data exchange possible resulting in time-savings, scalability, and better benefits placement processes
Long-term gains are worth short-term investments
While delaying change may be a natural instinct, accepting the status quo carries its own risks. Interoperability through solutions like ThreeFlow Connect is the path forward for faster quotes, improved accuracy, and ultimately, winning more business.
Learn more about how ThreeFlow Connect can transform your operations.
2024-180349 (08-26) ThreeFlow is not an affiliate or subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. GUARDIAN® is a registered service mark of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® ©Copyright 2024 The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America New York, NY guardianlife.com
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