A new Chicago-based insurance agency is changing the way insurance works for the commercial trucking industry. They pull together the power of telematics to provide their clients with fluid pricing based on the safety of their drivers. Think Allstate’s safe driving bonus but on steroids for long-haul trucking.
What do telematics devices track when you’re driving?
- Where you’re driving
- How fast you drive
- How fast you brake
- The distance you drive
- The number of breaks you take driving
- How many breaks you take
To read about the different types of telematics devices, read Metromile’s blog.
The Challenge
Collecting Safe Driving Information
Telematic devices collect a lot of information, and the insurance agency’s Fleet Service team adds even more information to this data pool. The additional information they collect from their potential clients includes:
- Onsite inspections
- Interview with customer execs and drivers
- Drug testing results
- Formal disciplinary program(s)
- Routes
- States
- Safety protocols
All this information goes into a 30-page report that goes to underwriters to review and identify red flags, using their innovative algorithm to produce the initial quote for the client.
Once a quote is accepted and a contract is signed, the opps team steps in to onboard the client, installing their own telematics devices, and training the client on how to upload the data into their system in order to get the benefit of their fluid pricing structure.
The Approach
How to keep information organized while collaborating with different departments?
There are a lot of people involved in collecting a lot of metrics; much needs to be done before the contract for potential clients can be moved along the onboarding process.
Since this insurance agency is a young company, less than a year old when Root16 started working with them, they managed the process using Word Docs and emails for a few months. But as the team grew and their quote requests increased, this process became more and more cumbersome and more difficult to manage.
They needed an easy-to-use workflow that allowed their employees to collect and organize data, analyze and discuss, and itemize tasks that still needed to be done. And they needed a workflow that was scalable, able to allow more and more people to work within that workflow and to copy that workflow for multiple clients.
Solutions
Process management with Microsoft Dynamics 365
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is the canvas upon which Root16 created the process management workflow for this client. The initial focus was on remaining native, low code with the build so the insurance agency would not have to strain its internal staff with its maintenance.
The process Root16 built helped pass data and process benchmarks along from one department and team member to another.
Using a form and folder system, their employees can easily insert information in a way that is easier to cross-reference and visualize making trends and red flags easier to spot. The process includes:
- Capturing initial data in a standardized format
- Passing details to underwriting in a way they can easily assess
- Preparing contract documents by prepopulating relevant details
- Starting the onboarding process
- Continuing data collection
A progress bar shows the state of that client’s quote as it moves from discovery to underwriting to onboarding.
Results
Understand the process to make the process flow
The client knew that their initial process of sharing Word Docs via email was not a long-term solution, but they had no idea what they wanted that process to look like for a larger team. Root16 was invited into the process, slowly learning the interests and responsibilities of individual teams so their work had the proper space and place within the process.
Using Microsoft Dynamic 365 to build internal process management:
- Saved time
- Allowed many processes to happen instinctively without the need for too much communication
- Resulted in less miscommunication
- Created consistency in data
- Decreased the need to search for data
- Made trends (and errors) visual and easier to spot
- Gave underwriting a more holistic scope
- Makes clear who owns what part of the process
The client is very happy with the process. Everyone has been with the company for less than a year, but most come from an insurance background, so they know how convoluted their processes can be from discovery to underwriting to onboarding.
Best of all, the process is scalable, able to take on more and more applications at a time, and allowing more and more team members to work within the workflows, no longer siloed in their activities. A growing company needed an internal process that was noble and flexible enough to grow with them.
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