2023 Executive Outlook | Shelley Willick, Sandbox Mutual

Shelley Willick, president, CEO, Sandbox Mutual Insurance

Continued investment in technology and more diverse product offerings will be critical to meeting consumers’ shifting expectations.

The pandemic changed the way people choose to spend their time. Consequently, policyholders are demanding simple, seamless and positive interactions with their insurers. This means insurers will be concentrating on the customer experience, with a renewed focus on customer loyalty and retention.

Focusing on a consumer-centric approach will help simplify the insurance process. For example, using technology to allow policy and claim information to flow quickly and accurately streamlines the communications between policyholders, brokers and carriers. Also, this allows underwriters and brokers to focus their efforts on underwriting the risk and providing advice.

Robotic automation is another way to simplify insurance delivery. Automating processes will help us to:

Reduce data entry
Increase connectivity with brokers to allow for real-time data exchange
Support the development of consumer portals across many platforms, allowing consumers easy access to their own information

Insurance customers are looking to obtain information when they want it, on the platform they choose, and technology and automation can help with this. But they’re also seeking to purchase coverage based on their individual needs.

This is why insurance products need to evolve. Cyber, climate change, the sharing economy and cannabis are just a few examples of recent changes in insurance that aligned with the consumer experience. In the coming year, we’ll be working to fully understand consumer expectations and needs so that products can be developed to meet this demand. Speed and flexibility in development are necessary and will require data and infrastructure updates.