Agile, forward-thinking data strategies for insurance carriers

Rich Levins

Principal Consultant

The insurance industry is at a pivotal moment. Challenges like regulatory compliance, technological disruption, and shifting customer expectations are transforming this highly competitive sector. For insurance carriers, data is the key to staying ahead. Yet, many carriers face obstacles such as inefficient claims management, evolving market conditions, and the growing demand for personalized experiences—all of which hinder their ability to fully leverage data.

A Hakkoda report reveals that while 75% of leaders struggle to use their existing data, organizations that invest in data strategies achieve a 126% return on investment. Forward-thinking carriers understand that data isn’t just an operational tool—it’s a competitive advantage.

To thrive in 2025, carriers must embrace modern, integrated, and agile data strategies.

What’s holding carriers back?

Today, insurance carriers face challenges that limit their ability to innovate, compete, and meet rising customer expectations. A key issue is that many carriers focus their CRM efforts on managing independent agencies rather than their end customers. This misalignment creates operational inefficiencies and prevents carriers from fully leveraging their data and technology.

One of the biggest bottlenecks is the reliance on disparate systems and reports, forcing Insurance Carrier Sales Managers to "swivel-chair" between multiple applications just to perform their daily tasks. This results in:

Time-consuming meeting preparation: Sales managers often spend a significant amount of time preparing for agency meetings.
Limited visibility into submissions: Carriers lack the ability to track submissions down to specific agents.
Inability to track pipeline effectively: Basic Salesforce functionality isn't being leveraged to provide full pipeline visibility.
Marketing dependency: Regional Sales Managers (RSMs) cannot run their own marketing campaigns and must rely on the marketing team for execution.

These challenges create inefficiencies that slow down growth and limit carriers' ability to deliver a seamless experience to both agencies and end customers.

Trends shaping data strategies for carriers

2025 marks a turning point for carrier data strategies. Those who harness emerging trends will outpace competitors and redefine customer relationships.

Customer Centricity
The industry is shifting from product-first strategies to customer-first approaches to build loyalty and drive growth. Tools like Salesforce Financial Services Cloud enable carriers to create a 360-degree view of customers, empowering them to tailor policies, enhance claims processes, and deliver exceptional service experiences.

Embedded Insurance
Embedded insurance integrates products seamlessly into customer purchasing experiences. Whether it's offering coverage at the point of sale for a car or adding travel insurance during booking, this model creates new partnership opportunities and improves convenience for customers.

AI and Automation
AI tools, such as Agentforce and Einstein GPT are revolutionizing key carrier operations, including fraud detection, claims management, and agent support. By automating repetitive tasks, carriers can improve accuracy, reduce costs, and provide actionable insights that empower agents to make smarter decisions.

Climate and Risk Adaptation
With natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, and floods becoming more frequent and severe, carriers are turning to predictive analytics and AI to better assess and price climate-related risks. These tools improve underwriting accuracy, enhance disaster preparedness, and help carriers navigate complex environmental challenges.

Personalization at Scale
Today’s customers expect highly personalized interactions at every touchpoint. AI-driven analytics allow carriers to develop tailored marketing campaigns, optimize pricing strategies, and offer proactive solutions that meet individual customer needs—building trust and fostering long-term loyalty.

Maximize CRM potential: Data strategies for insurance carriers in 2025

Insurance carriers must shift their CRM strategies to reduce inefficiencies, improve data visibility, and drive smarter decision-making. In 2025, four key areas will define success:

1. Agency 360: A Single Source of Truth

As mentioned above, customer centricity is a key trend for carriers this year. To stay competitive, carriers need a centralized view of their agencies, agents, and lines of business (Commercial, Personal, etc.). Aligning CRM data eliminates blind spots, making it easier to track relationships, monitor performance, identify growth opportunities, and deliver exceptional service experiences.

2. Streamlining Sales Manager Processes

Sales managers often spend too much time navigating disconnected systems, leading to inefficiencies in their daily operations. By centralizing pipeline visibility and submission tracking within Salesforce, carriers can simplify workflows and reduce the time spent preparing for meetings. This shift improves forecasting accuracy, enhances agent-level accountability, and ultimately allows sales teams to focus more on driving growth rather than managing fragmented data.

3. Enabling Sales-Driven Marketing

AI and automation are transforming carrier operations, and marketing is no exception. With Agentforce, sales managers no longer need to rely on marketing teams for every campaign. By leveraging AI-driven insights and automation, they can send targeted emails, launch campaigns directly from Salesforce, and engage with the right agents at the right time. This increases agility, strengthens relationships, and improves conversion rates—without unnecessary bottlenecks.

4. Leverage Predictive Analytics

Personalization at scale is a major trend for carriers in 2025. AI-driven predictive analytics enable carriers to anticipate policyholder needs, adjust pricing in real time, and forecast agency performance. By optimizing resources and improving efficiency, carriers can enhance customer engagement, stay competitive, and drive growth.

By prioritizing these areas, insurance carriers can eliminate operational roadblocks, improve sales and marketing effectiveness, and fully leverage CRM for growth.

Your data, your advantage

Zennify helps carriers transform data into a strategic advantage. With deep expertise and tools like Salesforce Data Cloud and Financial Services Cloud, we simplify processes, improve customer experiences, and drive growth. Ready to transform your data? Let’s talk.