“It's clear that our customers appreciate us leveraging this technology”—Taruja Deshmukh, Conner Strong & Buckelew InsurTech Solutions Manager, Vice President, Account Executive
With the consolidation of independent agencies into large national brands, there is fierce competition for every company’s insurance business amongst both leading players and up and coming agencies. The agencies that win know that competing on price only makes them look cheap and there are better ways to differentiate.
Conner Strong & Buckelew is just one of the enlightened agents using Broker Buddha to improve their clients’ experiences while also attracting and retaining clientele. After running into their InsurTech Solutions Manager, Taruja Deshmukh, at a conference, I was intrigued to hear Taruja talk about industry competition and why they chose Broker Budhha to give them an edge. She was kind enough to agree to talk with me a little more about it.
Broker Buddha (BB): What were some of the challenges you faced before adopting Broker Buddha?
Taruja Deshmukh (TD): Collecting renewal information could be a very time consuming process for all parties. Our customers would fill out the same information on applications every year and have to navigate through many different documents, pdfs, attachments, emails, etc. It also took a lot of time for our teams to review all of the renewal information each year and, inevitably, spend even more time chasing down information on incomplete applications and correcting errors.
BB: How has Broker Buddha helped you overcome the challenges you were facing?
TD: The Broker Buddha platform is a significantly more efficient way of handling the renewal information collection and review process. It's a better experience for our customers. It minimizes their time spent answering the same questions multiple times, year after year, and allows us to create a tailored experience for them outlining what information is required, what needs to be updated, and guidance where we know they'll have some questions. The platform also helps our team save time in reviewing information, reducing inaccuracies and reliance on manual effort.
BB: What drew you to Broker Buddha?
TD: The platform is modern, user-friendly and intuitive, both for our teams and customers. From the beginning, the Broker Buddha team has been responsive, collaborative and forward-thinking—the answer to any of our requests is rarely, if ever, "we can't do that" but rather "we are working on the solution." The fact that Broker Buddha was accepted into the first cohort of the BrokerTech Ventures accelerator program also spoke volumes to us about the team's commitment to the industry and, more specifically, the large commercial brokerage space.
BB: What effect has Broker Buddha had on your overall customer experience?
TD: There's no better feeling than getting a call or email from a client expressing how impressed they are with the Broker Buddha platform and how easy it made the whole process. While we have a few clients that are hesitant to try a new technology, the overall feedback has been extremely positive. It's clear that our customers appreciate us leveraging this technology to improve what has historically been a time-consuming and dreaded process for them.
BB: To what extent do you feel Broker Buddha has enabled you to be competitive in the insurance market?
In today's world, digital tools are a must, especially as we look towards the next generation moving up in the workforce. Technology and innovation are top of mind for our customers. Having tools like Broker Buddha to showcase our dedication to technology and enhancing the customer experience has definitely been an advantage. We know we need to keep improving and keep innovating to maintain that advantage as these types of solutions soon become the new status quo.
Interested in becoming an enlightened agent? Book a demo today to learn more about how Broker Buddha can ensure your agency stays competitive.
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