Mapping the Journey of Submitting New Business

Introduction

The commercial lines leadership of a property and casualty insurance company wanted to develop more systematic knowledge of how the commercial agents experience the whole process of quoting and binding new policies with the company, including weaknesses in the process. I was asked to help them understand how agents experience the process.

Methods

To achieve this, I worked closely with the Commercial Lines team to conduct a customer journey mapping exercise. Customer journey mapping is a technique that allows companies to visualize and understand the end-to-end experience of their customers as they navigate a process. I followed process guidance from Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) to ensure a comprehensive approach.

The project consisted of two key phases

1. Internal Interviews & Assumption-Based Map

I began by interviewing four commercial lines underwriters to gather internal insights into how the quoting and binding process works from their perspective. This helped us create an initial "assumption-based" customer journey map, which represented our internal understanding of the process and identified initial assumptions and potential areas for improvement.

2. External Interviews & Research-Based Map

Next, I conducted 12 interviews with external participants—commercial agents who interact directly with the company's systems and processes. These interviews provided real-world feedback, which allowed me to develop a research-based customer journey map that reflected the actual experience of agents when quoting and binding new business.

Results

The research-based customer journey map revealed several key insights into the agents' experiences. Overall, agents had a positive view of the application process and the underwriters they worked with, but the journey also highlighted numerous opportunities for improvement:

• Increase Opportunities to Quote Online: Agents wanted more self-service options for quoting online, reducing the need for back-and-forth with underwriters.
• Improve Speed of Data Entry: Agents identified that the speed and ease of data input were major pain points, especially when entering customer and policy information.
• Quick Quotes for More Lines of Business: There was a clear demand for faster quotes across a broader range of lines of business, enabling agents to serve their clients more efficiently.
• Comprehensive Multiline Proposals: Agents desired multiline proposals that were clear and easy to understand, including line-specific details in simple language.
• Faster Access to Policy Numbers and ID Cards: Agents requested quicker access to essential policy details, including policy numbers and ID cards.
• Ability to Bind All Policies with One Action: Currently, agents had to bind policies separately, which was time-consuming. A single action to bind all policies was highly desired.
• Option to Bill for the Down Payment: Providing an option to bill customers directly for their down payments would streamline the payment process for agents.

Discussion

The customer journey mapping exercise provided invaluable insights for the Commercial Lines leadership team, highlighting not only where the process works well but also where there are significant opportunities to enhance the experience for agents. By understanding the pain points across the journey, the company now has a roadmap for making improvements that will benefit both agents and customers alike.

This customer journey mapping project was an important step in improving the quoting and binding process for commercial agents. By capturing and visualizing the agents' experiences, I was able to identify actionable insights that will inform future design and process improvements. Ultimately, the goal is to create a more seamless, efficient, and user-friendly experience for commercial agents, which will ultimately benefit the company’s bottom line by increasing agent satisfaction and retention.

This project is another example of how I implemented structured processes to enhance the company's UX capabilities, helping to mature the UX function within the organization. Through tools like customer journey mapping, I was able to bridge the gap between internal teams and external users, driving improvements that are aligned with the needs of both the business and its customers.