In the highly complex world of insuring small commercial fleets, speed isn’t just a competitive advantage – it’s a matter of survival. A broker or insurer who moves fastest frequently secures the deal most efficiently, as clients expect swift, decisive action and no hassle.
But here’s a paradox: the intense pressure for speed can trigger the opposite result. In the rush to be first, critical initial data is often missing or inaccurate, leading to incomplete or inaccurate submissions. This results in a cycle of back-and-forth for more information, ultimately slowing down the entire process and frustrating everyone involved.
The speed strategy for commercial fleet insurance
Smaller high-performing fleets – boasting strong risk profiles, a demonstrable commitment to safety, and excellent operational practices – don’t just sit and wait for an offer; multiple brokers and insurers pursue them simultaneously. Fleet managers operate in a fast-moving environment and expect their insurance partners to match that pace.
That’s why when two similar quotes land on a fleet manager's desk, timing can be the deciding factor. In this context, speed is about getting a quick & reliable indication first and facilitating faster quoting afterwards. This efficiency boosts brokers’ and insurers’ ability to win and retain top-tier clients.
Then why is quoting often slow?
Despite the desire for speed, existing quoting processes are often stuck in the slow lane, especially for smaller fleets. And there are several reasons for that:
- Manual operations, slow and error-prone: Brokers and their fleet customers spend days manually collecting data from disparate sources, cleaning, consolidating, and organizing it for submissions.
- Submission quality issues: Rush often means incomplete submissions, resulting in endless back-and-forth with underwriters and negating any initial speed advantage.
- Overloaded underwriters: Their inboxes are flooded with submissions, often outside their specific risk appetite or lacking the information needed for a quick decision. This triggers more data requests and further delays.
In short, everyone is trying to move fast, but the lack of structure and tools slows the entire process down.
The cost of slow quoting
Speed isn't just about responsiveness or customer service. Delays directly impact business results for everyone in the commercial fleet insurance ecosystem:
- For brokers: Lost clients who opt for faster competitors, damaged reputation from customer dissatisfaction, and hours of wasted effort on deals that never close.
- For insurers: Failure to bind the best risks and adverse selection when only less desirable risks remain.
- For fleets: Frustration from delays while still being unable to secure the coverage they need because some information is missing.
This combination of lower productivity, reduced profitability, and reputational risks affects more than individual businesses – it shows the industry as slow, outdated, and difficult to work with.
Over time, clients start seeing insurance as a painful necessity rather than a vital partnership. It forces conversations about the lowest price instead of the best protection or service, which makes it difficult to compete on value. All this slows down innovation and makes it harder for all players to grow and differentiate.
EZ Quote: Speed and precision, combined
Draivn developed EZ Quote to solve this core problem, making the initial data collection faster, especially for brokers, and enabling efficient triage for insurers. In particular, the solution:
- Accelerates critical data collection: EZ Quote automatically collects, validates, and prepares the foundational data for submission, significantly reducing the manual effort for brokers and their fleet customers to get the process started.
- Enables fast appetite alignment and triage: Brokers can quickly match submissions to insurers whose risk appetite aligns with the fleet's risk profile. For insurers, this means they receive relevant, triaged opportunities, allowing them to streamline their initial response and decision-making.
- Delivers decision-ready data: EZ Quote provides complete, standardized, and verified information in an underwriter-friendly format, cutting down on the initial risk assessment and triage time.
The EZ Quote advantage: Winning the desired fleets
EZ Quote doesn’t just make you faster. Accelerating and improving key aspects of the quoting workflow helps you become the first to present the right offer, whether you are a broker or insurer.
How brokers win:
- Secure more deals by being the first to get an accurate, indicative quote for your clients.
- Enhance client satisfaction with distinct efficiency and responsiveness.
- Free up time to focus on advisory services and relationship building, not administrative burdens.
How insurers win:
- Gain access to a consistent flow of in-appetite, triaged submissions in line with your portfolio strategy. This improves the submission-to-quote ratio as you only focus on the opportunities that are more likely to convert.
- Improve quote turnaround times on the risks you want to write, enhancing your competitive position.
- Boost underwriter productivity as they can focus on assessment and quoting, not chasing missing data.
Conclusion
The ability to deliver quotes with both speed and precision is rapidly evolving from a competitive advantage to a critical requirement for success.
EZ Quote makes that possible by accelerating the data collection and triage steps – the key bottlenecks in the quoting process. This enables brokers and insurers to secure high-quality business and enhance the experience for everyone in the fleet insurance ecosystem.
Want to see how fast and effective quoting can be? Request a demo at draivn.com.
