As we move past the first quarter of 2022 and look ahead to the next several months, the world of technology in our industry continues to rapidly evolve and expand before our eyes. In early March 2022, my company InsurTech Express exhibited at the iPipeline Connections Conference in Las Vegas where insurance technologies took center stage. Companies like Bestow, Ethos, and Covr Financial have grown rapidly with investor funding to offer robust life insurance-focused solutions to their consumers.

Technology is being used more than ever to make it easier for advisors to complete insurance transactions with their clients without the cumbersome pain points present in a currently antiquated process. Gone are the days of 45-page applications, two-month underwriting timelines, and intrusive health examinations for coverage. The industry is full of thriving start-ups and established companies helping insurance consumers buy coverage in minutes, not weeks. Like many industries driven by technology, there continues to be development and investment from well know firms in the market. 

Join us on January 11, 2022, at 1 pm eastern for "Financial Technology that Builds Long-Term Relationships for Long-Term Care", a special webinar presented by Carefull co-founder Todd Rovak and product strategy lead Michael Rubel.

Rovak and Rubel will discuss the challenge of client engagement and how Carefull's technology can help overcome it. The webinar will also feature a Q&A with NAIFA-National President-Elect Bryon Holz speaking on his own experience with long-term care insurance and how it has affected his family.

NAIFA's Limited and Extended Care Planning Center (LECP) Impact Week, November 1-5, was a unique virtual event including a one-hour session covering a different type of topic each day by speakers who are industry experts and industry leaders. On Thursday, November 4, the topic was “Technology Shark Tank: Taking the Robot Out of the Advisor/Agent.” You’ve got questions and these presenters have answers! How do I take the busy “robotic” tasks out of my practice to make it more profitable? How do I stay in contact with current clients while seeking new clients? Which technology fits my practice and budget? At what point do I invest in my practice so that I can expand my outreach and professionalism? This “shark tank” style session offers four rapid-fire presentations!

NAIFA LECP Impact Week will feature industry leaders for a panel discussion on "Technology Shark Tank: Taking the Robot out of the Advisor/Agent.”

The panel will address how to use the right technology to increase your profit, outreach, and professionalism. Ken Leibow, Founder and CEO of InsurTech Express, will moderate the discussion.

There are countless horror stories where people have had their identity stolen and their bank accounts wiped out. 80% of victims will continue to use the Internet despite the risks because that’s the world we live in today. I want to focus on giving you tips to protect your privacy and help you function every day securely for both personal and business.

Small and midsize businesses have many challenges in common when it comes to HR technology. In most cases, these challenges can be overcome by using a single human resource management system – sometimes called human capital management (HCM) system – that can:

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of “Client Relationship Management Systems” CRMs in the marketplace. I am selectively going to talk about some of the more popular or industry CRMs, yet not purposely excluding any specific vendor or CRM product. You can identify CRMs in 1 of 3 categories: Generic, Industry Specific, or Home Grown. The CRM companies that are Generic like the big names: SalesForce, Microsoft, and Oracle for example are powerful products. These Fortune 500 companies have figuratively unlimited resources to setup their software to fit your practice. Typically this can be a little more on the expensive side, but makes sense with a larger agency that has many advisors. I would be wary about a generic CRM solution from a small vendor because even though you can license it at a lower cost, you may find them to be problematic for a many reasons like incompatibility for integrating data and limited functionality. There are some new popular generic CRMs from middle size companies like like Zoho and HubSpot that are really easy to use and setup with a lot of functionality. It is easy to gravitate to Industry specific CRMs because they are practically ready to use right out of the box. See information on some industry specific CRMs below.

Selling Life Insurance using a digital platform on your website for consumer direct insurance tools is now the hottest trend! Now more than ever, consumers want to shop, compare, and apply for coverage online and on their terms. The goal is to make the experience of protecting loved ones with life insurance as simple and stress-free as possible. Here are some key reasons why digital life insurance sales has gained momentum: COVID requiring remote sales; 72 million Millennials (25–40-year olds) who would rather shop on their own; massive use of mobile devices averaging 3.8 hours per day; and social media usage 2.5 hours per day for adults in the USA.

NAIFA’s Performance + Purpose virtual conference, Oct. 6-8, will offer a Technology learning track with breakout workshops on ways insurance and financial professionals and their practices can leverage technology to improve their marketing and client communications. In addition to Technology, P+P learning tracks will cover Practice Management, Sales & Prospecting and Advance Practices.

Please help NAIFA and InsuranceNewsNet magazine by taking this brief, 5-minute survey on technology and COVID-19. Has a CRM system or video conferencing platformed helped you serve clients better over the past six months? We'd love to hear from you. Answer a few quick questions at www.surveymonkey.com/r/NAIFA-INN.