1、ze what the Customer wants. Upon further investigation, we found that the underwriting area actually saw the independent agent as the customer since they are the decision makers in terms of which carriers proposals are presented to the end consumer. They also represent over 80% of the revenue base f
2、or the company.After conducting a survey and focus sessions with these independent agents, this insurance carrier embarked on a major process reengineering effort to streamline the underwriting process for its mainstream insurance products with the goal of making it easier for independent agents to
3、process their clients applications.Benefits of the approach include:-Anticipating trends and changes in industry structure-Clarifying relationships and roles in complex industries (e.g. multi-step distribution, decision-influencers, third-party payers, etc.)-Identifying how products & services suppo
4、rt value added activities of customers and new ways to enhance product value contributionAn approach to analyzing the industry value system would include:-Forming a team of cross-company representatives and AA industry experts to participate in the value system analysis-Conducting a workshop with th
5、e team to identify industry players (end users, suppliers, intermediaries, influencers, etc.)-Determining the role each industry participant plays in influencing customer behavior and/or affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty-Developing a working deliverable that depicts the industry participan
6、ts, identifies the factors contributing to each participants success, points to the direct and indirect influence of participants who can affect customer satisfaction and behaviors, and identifies potential scenarios that could change the basis of competition for the industry and companyQuestionsStr
7、etch the teams thinking by asking questions such as:1.How would industry dynamics change if customers began to outsource some of their functions?2.How would the companys ability to compete change if sales intermediaries were eliminated by integrating directly with the customer?3.How would customer s
8、atisfaction be improved if we made our suppliers or sales intermediaries partners in our drive to become more customer focused?4.Would our competitors view the industry in the same way? If not, what would be different?Hints-Avoid getting bogged down in details of each industry participants value cha
9、in activities. Keep things at a high level until you discover the “hot spots” for further discovery.-Dont limit the analysis to wholesale or OEM customers. If you dont understand whats happening at the end user or other levels once removed from you, you run the risk of getting blind-sided-If you do foresee and act on shifts in end users/ suppliers, you have a chance to make major gains vs. competitors-Back up the analysis with hard data which may be derived from industry
