When last year's global crisis triggered the 'pause' button for many organisations and their business projects due to financial and human risk, others saw an opportunity to prepare for whatever the future may bring.
DKG Insurance Brokers, a provider of insurance products and services, chose to embrace this change through two simple goals: to create exceptional customer experiences and employee opportunities; and to build a business that is more competitive and future-ready.
According to DKG director Luke Kelly, the company had no plans to automate its business in 2020, but the company was developing internal CRM systems built to manage underwriting and insurance claims.
It was only through an encounter with rapidMATION at a networking event that Kelly was introduced to the opportunities that automation provides.
Specifically, he was interested in learning how robotic process automation (RPA) could be used to improve its CRM systems and whether it could eliminate cumbersome manual business tasks.
At the time, brokers were spending 80% of their time on such manual tasks, giving them very little time to actually build an understanding of clients' risk exposure. DKG believes that brokers should be brokers, not bogged down by tasks that could be automated.
"We don't want our human resources performing mundane tasks. It's so much more powerful for our people to spend time with customers, understanding what they want and need, listening to them and solving problems for them," Kelly explains.
When rapidMATION first introduced Kelly to RPA software robots, he describes it as a lightbulb moment.
"It became clear that bots can go into whatever system you have and click through the process steps as effectively as a human, without the need to train a person up to do all that work. It seems like magic really," says Kelly.
rapidMATION worked with DKG to create three automation projects over a six-month period: debtor management; renewing retail motor policies; and managing claims emails.
Project 1: Debtor management
DKG already had a system to manage its accounting ledger, but the debtor management process wasn't up to scratch. Together, DKG and rapidMATION used RPA to create a solution that integrates with existing systems to generate invoices and statements and automate email communications to DKG's clients.
From this automation project alone, DKG reported time savings and improved cashflow because payments are more timely.
Project 2: Renewing retail motor policies
DKG's retail motor policies were previously time-consuming for its brokers to manage, and admittedly, they were not the most profitable business offerings. As such, they were a perfect fit for RPA.
rapidMATION and DKG built an RPA software robot that streamlined and automated key process components, with the end result of enabling brokers to focus on activities of higher value - yet still being able to service the best solutions for client needs.
Project 3: Managing claims emails
DKG's claims inbox never sleeps. The company receives several hundred claims emails every day, which previously meant that someone had to manually review and process these claims in an intensive and repetitive manner.
With the help of rapidMATION's automation and an RPA robot, DKG is now able to extract email data and automate the right course of action for each individual situation.
In three weeks, DKG categorised 50 email types and trained the RPA robot to manage each case. Now, the RPA robot works across Outlook, DKG's CRM system and Box to process emails accurately. In the first five months alone, the automation system and RPA robot helped to process more than 9,000 emails.
The success of these three projects gave DKG the confidence to use automation and RPA across other areas of its business.
The company has plans to embed AI and machine learning into its automation environment. What's more, the company plans to build a digital assistant for each of its brokers.
"We're looking to redesign the customer journey here in its entirety. We're also thinking about the staff who will be happier if they can do less back-office, heavily administrative work," says Kelly.
With the help of rapidMATION, DKG quickly progressed from having no automation solutions to three successful deployments.
DKG even has a bold goal to achieve hyperautomation by enabling employees to build their own automation solutions, further improving efficiency and speed.
While insurance can be a slow-moving sector, Kelly has one key piece of advice:
"I know there may be a tendency to hold back in a time of struggle. But the way to create competitive advantage and thrive into the future is to embrace automation. If you see an opportunity in front of you, you've really got to grab it by the horns and run with it.
Learn more about rapidMATION's automation solutions here.
