Integrated Incentive Compensation Management for Insurance
Run an effective ICM program that meets short-term and long-term needs.
Gain confidence to solve any distribution management challenge.
A sound insurance distribution management strategy encompasses a wide range of core functional requirements that goes beyond other industries. Baseline requirements include producer onboarding, ongoing compliance validation, commission and performance-based payouts, hierarchy management and producer communication/education. The underlying products supporting these requirements must function seamlessly to deliver a friction-free, transparent producer experience that instills confidence and drives loyalty.
Looking back as recently the early 2000’s, distribution management would not have been described as friction-free. Fax-based onboarding was the norm and compensation focus was limited to producing timely and accurate payments. Advances in technology have changed the game, producers expect a simplified, paperless onboarding experience, portal-based delivery of concise statements/reports and complete transparency on key performance metrics (persistency, growth, new/renewal premium contribution…) and payouts. Additionally, carriers have recognized the importance of increasing producer service levels while also focusing on innovation and strategic plan design, goals that will be very challenging to align without the right technology partners. To summarize, producer expectations are higher than ever, and carriers must choregraph a complex landscape of solutions and vendors to continually improve the producer experience.
Technologies We Implement and Support
Varicent ICM & AgentSync
Varicent ICM is an all-industry incentive compensation solution with a proven track record in insurance. Varicent’s flexible data model, advanced tools and integrated workflow engine provides virtually unlimited flexibility in plan design, producer/hierarchy management and reporting and analytics. Varicent’s core platform includes the full administration suite, as well as producer facing portal that delivers clear and concise views of producer payments, analytics and overall performance.
Varicent’s partnership with AgentSync further enhances their position in insurance by providing a fully integrated onboarding and distribution channel management platform. Through integration and daily syncs with NIPR, the AgentSync partnership delivers a complete, compliant and fully integrated producer management module.
Varicent also offers additional components which add value to their ICM solution including revenue intelligence/forecasting, sales planning and a powerful integration toolset.
SAP APME / Agent Connection
APME is SAP’s flagship platform for incentive compensation in the insurance market. APME is purpose built for insurance and incorporates producer onboarding, producer management and incentive compensation in one integrated solution. APME’s insurance focused data model provides very flexible out of the box configuration tools for plan design, producer and hierarchy management (and much more) while also delivering very strong retroactive processing capabilities.
SAP also offers additional components that add value to the platform including AgentConnection (producer portal and integration gateway), SAP Analytics Cloud and BTP (Business Technology Platform).
How We Help
OpenSymmetry is an independent advisory with over 18 years of experience helping carriers to optimize distribution/compensation management performance. We offer a full range of services including performance audits of legacy systems, build/buy analysis, RFP and vendor selection, strategy, implementation and managed services.
Often, insurance companies recognize the need to upgrade their capabilities but they are unsure where they should even start. Knowing which solution will help an organization reach its end goal, most efficiently and effectively, takes careful planning and preparation. That’s what makes OpenSymmetry the right partner.
OpenSymmetry is made up of compensation technology experts across all the industry leading SPM solutions available. Since the devil is in the details, it is our goal to help you navigate through this process so that your investment has the highest possible return. We help organizations optimize their sales compensation programs through automation and process.
More specifically, OpenSymmetry will help your organization understand how to leverage software solutions to automate and operationalize some of the more common challenges:
Recruiting and Onboarding
Producer Management & Compliance
Integration with Policy Admin Solutions
Hierarchy Management
Retroactive Processing and Chargebacks
Reporting & Analytics
Producer Education and Training
Producer Portal
In addition to the processes identified above, OpenSymmetry will leverage a holistic approach to ensure you receive the appropriate level of guidance to confidently invest in the appropriate solution and realize the desired return on investment.
Stop searching. We have your answers.
Resources for Insurance
The Challenge of Legacy Platforms for Distribution Management
and Incentive Compensation in Insurance
Blog
Status Quo Must Go
The Revenue Centric Business Case
Blog
Business Case Simplified: Producer Lifecycle Management (PLCM)
Blog
About Us
OpenSymmetry enables clients to achieve greater operational efficiency and get better sales results. We are a global consulting company specializing in the planning, implementation, and optimization of industry leading technology suppliers of sales performance management solutions.
CONSIDERATIONS WHEN REPLACING YOUR SPM TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION
Understanding the challenges companies face when migrating Sales Performance Management (SPM) technology solutions can be a significant undertaking. This paper is designed to provide high-level guidance to stakeholders who carry this responsibility. As OpenSymmetry has helped many companies evaluate and effectively migrate to new technology solutions, we are sharing seven key areas that we find critical to completing this kind of effort.
1. CURRENT STATE ASSESSMENT & FUTURE STATE PLANNING
A critical initial step before migrating to a new SPM solution is understanding how well your current program is performing across people, processes, and technology. From there you can devise a future state vision for how your SPM program should operate. By understanding both current state gaps and what your future state needs look like, you can effectively begin defining requirements while also clearly articulating success criteria. It’s important to recognize that your previous or initial SPM implementation may not have gathered all necessary processes/requirements, so it’s vital to take a fresh, holistic view in this first step.
2. DATA INTEGRATION
One of the most complex and time-consuming requirements is determining how to best leverage current source data feeds to support the new platform. Within the context of your current state assessment and future state planning, the team should review what their reporting, analytics, and any future state compensation elements needs are to ensure a meaningful inventory of data requirements are defined. SPM solutions vary in terms of how data is gathered, translated, and uploaded into the system. Some solution applications may have a standardized format requiring additional configuration, whereas others may have the ability of data field mapping, which provides additional flexibility. The ability to own the data translation from your source systems to the SPM platform is key. Another focus point is to ensure that you evaluate all manual feeds to incorporate automation, as well as any additional error validation processes.
3. HISTORICAL DATA
Migrating historical data is an often-overlooked requirement when moving from one SPM platform to another. To keep costs down and minimize complexity, clients may want to ID only the data that is needed to ensure ongoing management of comp (e.g. payment history) and then transfer detail-level data into data storage to be referenced at a future date. It is important to consider what historical data is needed for the new system for reference on future payments
4. PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
Each SPM solution may require users to interact with the system in different ways. This area may need additional attention, especially as it has the potential to improve processes currently employed to manage sales compensation. Understanding the impact a new system will have on current processes, as well as those who manage the processes, is critical to ensuring a successful launch and ongoing management of core processes. As an example, two of the leading solutions in the market have very different expectations regarding the skills users need to possess to effectively maintain compensation plans and reports and, in some cases, execute the day-to-day activities. Defining expectations of your staff related to the new technology, prior to the project, will ideally give your organization the necessary time to introduce training that ensures effective ongoing management of the program.
5. WORKFLOW
SPM solutions vary widely in their ability to support automated workflow. As a result, there are significant challenges for sales compensation teams related to an SPM migration. Capabilities can range from templates to existing documentation, levels of routing, and even implementation of a stopgap for a payee to accept plan documentation prior to payout. Within the context of your future state definition, capturing and defining areas where automated workflows can be leveraged is a necessary part of the core requirements. Before a new system is deployed, it is important to map these processes out to drive user adoption, leverage the SPM system as an auditable repository, and minimize email management.
6. REPORTING & ANALYTICS
It is critical to develop a holistic vision of information distribution to the various stakeholders and tools used to deliver this content (i.e. static pages vs. dashboards). Similar to workflows, different vendors have various capabilities related to reporting for the end users. Assessing these capabilities against your business requirements is imperative to the success of the roll-out. For example, some vendors require more robust configurations in the system (e.g. crediting logic) to enable specific analytics capabilities, while some solutions, architected specifically for reporting and analytics, have much more robust capabilities. Another area for consideration is the use of the vendor’s reporting solution against your in-house technology stack. Some solutions make it easy to port data into new environments, which could be a consideration in helping to keep the number of reporting tools requiring management to a minimum.
7. DEPLOYMENT
The implementation of a new solution should be designed to minimize the impact on payees and managers. One of the most critical aspects of your effort is assessing how all stakeholders will be impacted and how to mitigate any disruption. It is important to identify upcoming changes for your sales organization, administrators, and other internal partners with a plan in place to offer the steps needed to ensure the best chances for solution adoption.
The first step when considering a new SPM platform is an assessment of your current program and the development of a future state vision. OpenSymmetry offers a no-cost workshop to help you gain an understanding of how your current SPM program performs against your needs and industry best practices, as well as a readout on current solutions in the market.
Leveraging the OpenSymmetry assessment methodology and knowledge of the leading SPM providers, you will be equipped with:
• A current state analysis scorecard
• The framework for a business case to support change
• Contemporary intel on the SPM market and SPM vendor capabilities
• High-level deployment and license cost estimates