AVON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Of the 32 insurance carriers surveyed in a recent Eastbridge study, most use a variety of sources, both internal and external, to derive their new product concepts. External distribution partners, such as brokers and GAs, were named as the top source by the majority surveyed, followed by internal marketing and product teams. In terms of the best source for new ideas, their producer community ranked first and competitors/competitive intelligence second.
Other key findings from the Voluntary Product Development Processes study include:
- New product development is most often driven in response to broker requests and as a means of increasing overall sales.
- Most carriers use a combination of internal and external resources in pricing their new products but internal resources to actually file the products.
- Over three-quarters of the carrier respondents use a formal product development process, and most of these have an extensive cross-functional team consisting of actuarial, underwriting, compliance, sales, product marketing and legal. Over half also involve a representative from the operations, IT and finance areas.
- The majority of carriers file one new product each year. For 2016, however, most plan to either file one product or to not file any products.
Voluntary Product Development Processes is an Eastbridge Frontline™ Report. Eastbridge Information Partners™ as well as survey participants receive the Frontline™ Reports free of charge. For more information regarding the Information Partner program or about Eastbridge reports, email the company at info@eastbridge.com or visit the website at www.eastbridge.com.
Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. is a marketing advisory firm serving insurance and financial services organizations in the United States and Canada.
