Woodmen of the World automates new business acquisition with IBM Lotus Forms solution

With more than 800,000 members holding nearly one million life insurance and annuity certificates, Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society (Woodmen) wrote US$650 million in annual premiums in 2004 and has more than US$33 billion of in-force business.

Despite these robust numbers, however, Woodmen took a hard look at what insurance companies were doing to remain competitive, and it decided it needed to make changes. Woodmen required a new business process to modernize and automate how its field representatives around the country conducted business. Representatives needed an easy-to-use process that improved efficiencies of core customer-facing activities, such as filling out policy applications, updating forms and providing quotes. In addition, the forms it used and its solution for streamlining forms handling would have to comply with regulations.

Regulation complexity
For a nationwide company such as Woodmen of the World, dealing with forms is exceedingly complex. The company has to provide 51 variations of its insurance forms to satisfy regulatory requirements specific to the states in which it does business. In addition, multiple variables involved in individual life insurance applications result in a multitude of forms and thousands of business rules.

For instance, a typical set of life insurance forms can amount to more than 20 pages, depending on the specific applications and applicant’s answers. An individual may need to complete additional questions—and more forms—according to predetermined factors, such as whether the applicant is a smoker or recreational pilot, for example, or a juvenile who would require the authorized signature of a parent or guardian.

For Woodmen of the World, the answer to streamlining business processes for its field representatives came from IBM. IBM Lotus Forms (formerly known as IBM Workplace Forms) provides an industry-proven, cost-effective solution for automating new business acquisition processes for the insurance industry. For Woodmen, the Lotus Forms solution has helped to increase productivity, reduce costs and meet regulatory requirements, while leveraging existing corporate and line-of-business applications and data. In short, IBM Lotus Forms has helped Workmen of the World modernize and automate its field operations to achieve ROI.

Making better use of precious time
Woodmen’s field representatives need to make every minute count. Time spent searching for correct forms, sifting through duplicate data and checking into the minutia of business rules and regulations takes money out of their pockets.

IBM Lotus Forms provides a comprehensive solution that avoids this tedious paper trail. The solution creates the latest state-regulated forms by managing the thousands of business rules involved throughout the application process.

IBM Lotus Forms enables Woodmen to manage business rules in a spreadsheet-style framework. The company’s business analysts and customer representatives can enter, update and access data in forms and easily complete and submit the forms without having to worry about data synchronization issues or compliance.

Better customer experience
With IBM Lotus Forms, Woodmen insurance representatives can now seamlessly guide their clients through the insurance application process, leading to better customer relationships. The highly efficient electronic forms software automatically populates relevant fields with predefined data to help reduce data-entry errors and ensure accuracy. IBM Lotus Forms increases the insurance agent’s capability to sign—and keep—new business.

Woodmen’s IBM Lotus Forms solution includes:

• Integration with an IBM Lotus Notes® database
• Enablement of laptops for online or offline capabilities
• E-signature pad integration to conduct business electronically, reducing the policy application issuance process from weeks to days
• Business intelligence and process automation for streamlining the management of thousands of business rules and multiple variables for numerous forms
• Precise layout of industry standard forms

Life without the paper chase
The IBM Lotus Forms solution reduces the need to re-enter data, and helps field representatives minimize data entry errors, achieve significant cost savings and decrease cycle times. With laptops enabled for online or offline capabilities, Woodmen insurance representatives can conduct business electronically and speed policy application completion and issuance from weeks to days.

Additional benefits of the Woodmen e-forms implementation include:

• Simplified application process
• Improved data integrity, resulting in fewer incomplete and abandoned applications
• Reduced time for application processing
• Streamlined workflows for field representatives
• Improved worker productivity, leading to increased competitiveness

IBM Lotus Forms eliminates the hassles of filling out forms the old way, enabling representatives to focus their time on developing customer relationships and selling more insurance.


For more information
To learn more, contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner or visit: ibm.com/software/lotus/forms

For more information on Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society, visit: www.woodmen.org

Key Components
Software

• IBM Lotus Forms