What's Wrong with Insurance IT Sales Practice, and How to Fix it

New York, NY, USA March 11, 2005

What's Wrong with Insurance IT Sales Practice, and How to Fix it

Not getting the information you need from IT vendors during the sales process? You are not alone. Celents latest report, Whats Wrong with Insurance IT Sales Practice, and How to Fix It, examines the disconnect between what buyers want from the sales process and what they are getting. It discusses the results of a survey of insurer business and IT executives.

"There is a tremendous amount of frustration with the vendor community among insurance IT and business executives," says

Matthew Josefowicz, manager of Celents insurance group and author of the report. "Although insurers are continuing to buy vendor solutions and components, there is a general feeling that its too hard to find and evaluate a solution that might fit ones needs. This is hurting productivity for insurers and sales volume for vendors."

The report reveals several important disconnects between what buyers value in the sales process and what their general experiences are. For final decisionmakers, the areas of greatest disconnect were knowledge-related. Knowledge-related issues topped the list for lower-level decision makers as well, but nearly as important were two key communications areas: willingness to discuss pricing and ability to assist in internal communication.

The survey also examined the effectiveness of marketing channels, and included an open question about respondents best sales experience with a vendor. The report includes brief profiles of the sales practices and philosophies of ImageRight and CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation), the only vendors mentioned more than twice by respondents.

Celent believes that insurers can take positive steps to improve their vendor sales experiences by clearly explaining their business needs and technical environment to prospective solution providers, as well as outlining what kind of information they expect from the vendor before wasting time in an unproductive meeting. The report includes concludes with important points for both vendors and insurers.

The 26-page report contains seven figures and one table. A table of contents is available here.

of Celent Communications' Life/Health Insurance and Property/Casualty Insurance research services can download the report electronically by clicking on the icon to the left. Non-members should contact info@celent.com for more information.