A quarter of brokers polled wish they could be more productive

Almost a quarter of insurance brokers polled in a survey say they wish they could be more productive in their role and 25% say profitability is one of their biggest challenges for the year ahead.

A growing proportion of brokers have realised unlocking productivity is one of the best weapons in their arsenal. These brokers know they need to do more with their finite amount of work hours each week.

These are some of the findings published in a report — titled “Brokering Change” — by intelligent insurance software company JAVLN that surveyed 500 insurance brokers at small and medium brokerages across Australia.

The responses indicate many brokers are aware that they need to streamline tasks and secure the time to concentrate on big-picture challenges and higher-value tasks that can help their businesses take the next step and remain competitive.

Several respondents say that administration— particularly claims admin and processing quotes — is just as big a challenge as functions such as sourcing terms from the market and reviewing clients’ insurance needs.

Priorities

Nearly two-thirds of brokers (70%) say they are spending over three hours each day on admin tasks like processing data. Worryingly,

that means many brokers are not spending as much time as they should be making their customers their number-one priority.

When asked what they’d spend their time on if they could save time on admin, 38% said bringing in new business, 36% said learning and development, 32% said diversifying their client portfolio and 32% said managing insurer relationships. These are all aspects of the modern brokerage that if neglected could see business left behind.

The table below shows the tasks undertaken daily and the percentage of respondents who say that they have to handle them:

Not all brokers have realised repetitive tasks (ones that are not highly productive) are holding them back.

But a growing number are becoming aware as 21% of brokers say that they see many inefficient processes within their brokerage sapping productivity across the board, and the same proportion felt significant pressure to work longer hours. Instead of adapting, these brokers are asked to pick up the slack by sacrificing time with friends and family. This is an unsustainable, band-aid solution.

Many respondents also indicate their brokerages have their heads in the sand when it comes to new productivity tools. For example, 22% are forbidden from using artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT to help them be more productive.