2011 PIA System & Transaction Agency Research Survey
PIA STAR Survey: some key results
The charts below present some key findings of PIA’s System & Transaction Agency Research survey, conducted in May-June of 2011 by the Professional Insurance Agents associations in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. More results can be viewed in the STAR Survey report published in the October 2011 issue of PIA Magazine. An analysis of STAR survey comments can be viewed here.
This research was conducted as part of PIA’s ongoing Company Performance Survey project. Project goals include: To gather and publish information on agent-company trends, provide carriers feedback from their agents, inform PIA members about company performance and recognize excellence in meeting agents’ business needs.
Why STAR? PIA finds that “Easy, intuitive technology” ranks among the top 10 factors on which agents judge an agency-company relationship—out of 35 different criteria PIA measured of importance to agents. PIA decided to study agency-company interface in greater depth, along with other related technologies that agents use. PIA’s 2011 STAR survey collected a massive amount of quantitative data, plus agents’ specific likes and recommendations for each carrier. Charts shown here represent aggregate results and survey averages.
Method. The survey was administered solely via a questionnaire completed by 677 agents at the PIA website. To rate systems and transactions, agents entered MBN (“meets business needs”) scores, using a 10-point scale. They were invited to score up to five different companies, as well as the agency management system and premium-comparison solutions they use.
Real Time transactions
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About two-thirds of agents use Real Time. |
Real Time transactions by line of business
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Real Time users estimated the share of transactions they do using Real Time. Fifty-three percent said they use Real Time for over 40 percent of all personal-lines transactions. |
Real Time usage by agency premium size
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Real Time use tends to increase with agency premium volume—except for the highest-volume agencies. |
Carrier website transactions personal vs. commercial lines of business
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Real Time users and nonusers, combined, estimated the share of transactions they start at carrier websites. Altogether about 7-in-10 said they start over 40 percent at carrier websites. This holds true for both personal and commercial lines. |
Agency management systems profile
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The average score (on a 10-point scale) for all agency management systems studied is 6.6 (solid line). |
Comparative rater profile—
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Agents rated premium-comparison systems separately for personal-lines and commercial-lines rating. (Fewer than a quarter of users responded for commercial lines). Fifty-seven percent of respondents use this technology. |
Agent-company automated transactions profile—by line of business
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Agents scored transaction-types separately for various personal and commercial lines. |
Carrier automated transactions profile—by transaction
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Download scores best for the major personal lines. |
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Rate/quote technology also scores best for the major personal lines. This technology scores lowest overall. |
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Endorsement transactions also meet agents’ needs best for the major personal lines. |
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Make-payment technology meets agents’ needs best for commercial lines. |
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Policy-detail inquiries meet agents’ needs about equally well for most policy types. |
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Billing-inquiry transactions score high overall—especially in commercial lines. |
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Claims-related inquiries meet agents’ needs pretty evenly across the board. |
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Website-initiated transactions meet agents’ needs somewhat better for personal lines. |
