Mastering the Approach Shot

The March/April edition of Claims Magazine included an article entitled, “The Top 10 Risks for P&C Insurers in 2023“. If our golf game were better, we might think about it more. But it isn’t. So, we don’t. Nevertheless, key risk factor #1 was digital exhaustion. That made us think about why our golf game isn’t better than it is. The answer, like answer to digital exhaustion, is the approach shot.

Let’s start with the article, which says this about digital exhaustion:

Digital transformation in the industry has been underway for many years. The pandemic and changing customer expectations have further elevated the journey to the digital enterprise. Most in the industry have graduated from thinking that digital is only about customers to recognizing it spans the whole internal and external ecosystem. In practice, this results in dozens or even hundreds of projects to address the process, technology, data and organizational aspects of transformation … Managing the transformation has become a challenge at best and a nightmare at worst. Recent roles such as chief transformation officer, chief digital officer and others are providing strategy, governance, and senior-level accountability for digital initiatives. However, there is a sense of exhaustion among many at the pace of change and implementation challenges.

That’s what led us to wonder: What if insurers had made better approach shots to digital transformation?

Let’s Hit the Links

Simply put, the approach shot in golf is any shot intended to put the ball on the green, typically from a distance of at least 100 yards, and ideally in a position from which you can putt the ball into the hole. Unless you’re Bryson DeChambeau — or you have a Howitzer in your bag — that definition of approach shot typically excludes tee shots on par 4 or par 5 holes. In other words, if you’re expecting to get from the tee into the cup on anything other than a par 3 hole, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.

To extend the analogy, if you approach digital transformation recognizing you won’t be able to get from Point A to Point Z in one shot, the incremental steps comprising Points B through Step Y will be easier, far less frustrating, and much more likely to succeed. That’s why it makes sense to start with a suite that’s already fully digitized, from which you can then digitalize everything from your distribution channels to your customer experiences.

Bruce Crampton, a PGA Tour pro from 1961 to 1975, once said, “Golf is a compromise between what your ego wants you to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.” The same can be said for digital transformation in insurance.

If you balance your ego and your nerves, we’ll bring the experience and help you master the approach shot.