Blog

APEXA is the Canadian digital life insurance industry platform which provides smart contracting and compliance. Our third post in our Faces of APEXA series will give you the inside scoop on Sarah Sheppard, one of APEXA's newest Client Implementation Leads.

Every single company begins with an idea. An idea that evolves into a plan, and hopefully comes to fruition. The journey from “idea” to “viable business” is a long and difficult one. There are countless factors to take into consideration. As a growing insurtech company, APEXA has experienced firsthand some of the challenges that startups often face. In order to best understand and prepare for those potential challenges early on, we spoke to our peers and sought advice from industry veterans and seasoned entrepreneurs. What we learned from these valuable conversations, we’d like to pass on.

“If it were easy, everyone would do it.” We’ve heard this saying time and time again, applied to every difficult scenario under the sun… But the truth is, it’s not easy to accurately assess your clients’ needs through an objective lens. Sincere. Genuine. Honest. All of these adjectives carry a positive connotation. They are the qualities that we collectively strive to be perceived as by our clients. But, what even the most skilled Advisors can struggle to suppress is inherent BIAS.

Our clients and industry peers often commend us on the contracting capabilities APEXA offers. Our team worked tirelessly to develop this functionality, and we strive to enhance it every day. But, what can sometimes be overlooked are the compliance benefits of APEXA. Before we delve deeper into our compliance capabilities, let's explore the role of compliance in the life insurance industry. 

As many of our clients begin to approach the day they go live on APEXA, they often ask us what they can do to maximize Advisor registration. There are certain tactics your organization can adopt that will help to pique the interest of your Advisor base and help ensure registration levels are high, right off the bat. We spoke to our clients who had the highest Advisor registration rates and conducted our own research on which tactics work best and based on that, here are our top five suggestions to boost Advisor registration on APEXA.

The story of APEXA is not unlike that of other successful industry-changing businesses: it started with a vision, which turned into an idea, and then, with some invaluable support and an all-star team, that vision came to fruition. That really is just the first part of the APEXA story, as this platform is becoming an industry staple. The group of MGAs and Carriers that played a key role in the development of APEXA can appreciate how a single digital solution that connects an industry and standardizes Advisor contracting and compliance oversight is the right solution and the path forward. We are excited to share that those MGAs and Carriers have announced that APEXA will soon be the sole avenue to process new distribution contracts.

In this time of rapid technological progression, many companies have had to alter or reinvent their operational processes in some way. This fact is not new. But, what we often don’t realize is that in order to successfully integrate operational changes, those in charge of doing so must proceed with care. What I mean by this is, it is crucial that company-wide transitions must consider all aspects of how they will affect the business. This is why having a comprehensive change management strategy is essential.

Before you roll your eyes and yawn, let me assure you – this is not another repetitive blog that is going to tell you social media is important. WE GET IT.

But the key difference between knowing that having an online presence is important and knowing how to actually use it to your advantage is critical. Online marketing is important when it comes to generating new leads and growing your business.

This year, we’ve seen a recurring theme across conversations, panels, and regulatory bodies in the insurance and financial services industries: Fairness to consumers. You may read this and think that treating consumers in a fair and reasonable manner is common sense, but earlier this year the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) took an extra step in ensuring consumer protection by drafting The Treating Financial Services Consumers Fairly Guideline. This topic proceeded to garner attention on a national scale, and was discussed at impactful conferences including the Canadian Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (CAILBA) 2018 National Conference as well as the 2018 Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) Compliance and Consumer Complaints Conference.