Systems and methods for prospecting business insurance customers

• US 8,355,934 B2
• Filed: 01/25/2010
• Issued: 01/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hartford Fire Insurance Company (The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hartford Fire Insurance Company (The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Virdhagriswaran, Sankar
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jagdish
• Assistant Examiner(s): HAMILTON, SARA CHANDLER
• Application Number:
  US12/693,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20110184766A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,086 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4, 705/35, 705/7.29
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for identifying potential insurance prospects. The potential customers or prospects are identified by determining prospect underwriting affinity scores, prospect affinity scores, and prospect context scores with predictive models. The scores are then combined into a combined prospect score, which is used to adjust insurance underwriting, workflow, and premium determination processes for the prospects.

Claims

1. A system for an insurance company to adjust an insurance process, comprising:

a database; and

at least one processor in communication with the database and configured to;

receive identification of at least one prospect;

retrieve information associated with the at least one prospect from the database;

determine by a first predictive model executed on the processor a prospect underwriting affinity score representative of the likelihood that insurance will be offered to the at least one prospect, based on the retrieved information;

determine by a second predictive model executed on the processor a prospect affinity score representative of the likelihood that the prospect will accept an insurance offer, based on the retrieved information;

determine by a third predictive model executed on the processor a combined prospect score based at least partly on the prospect underwriting affinity score and the prospect affinity score; and

adjust an insurance workflow process based on the combined prospect score.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a context score based on the retrieved information, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the combined prospect score by determining the combined prospect score based at least partly on the prospect underwriting affinity score, the prospect affinity score, and the context score.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive identification of the at least one prospect by receiving a telephonic inquiry from the at least one prospect;

and

the at least one processor is configured to adjust the insurance workflow process by at least one of electronically outputting the combined prospect score and electronically outputting a recommended action to a customer service representative in contact with the at least one prospect.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive identification of the at least one prospect by receiving an online inquiry from the at least one prospect;

and

the at least one processor is configured to adjust an insurance workflow process by modifying an online interface being displayed to the at least one prospect.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive identification of the at least one prospect by receiving information about the at least one prospect from at least one third party agent.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate prospect rankings, wherein the rankings are based at least partly on the combined prospect score.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust the insurance workflow process by providing a list of prospects to a customer communication system.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the customer communication system comprises an outbound call system for making outbound calls to prospects based on the combined prospect score.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein

the at least one processor is located at a location associated with a third party agent and remote from the insurance company;

the third party agent stores at least a subset of the prospect parameters in the database;

the insurance company cannot directly access the subset of the prospect parameters; and

the third party agent cannot directly access at least one of the first, second, and third predictive models.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the prospect affinity score by determining the prospect affinity score based on quote flow information.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein at least two of the first, second, and third predictive model comprise parts of a combined predictive model.

12. A computerized method for an insurance company to adjust an insurance process, comprising:

receiving identification of at least one prospect;

retrieving information associated with the at least one prospect from a database;

determining, by a first predictive model executing on one or more processors, a prospect underwriting affinity score representative of the likelihood that insurance will be offered to the at least one prospect, based on the retrieved information;

determining, by a second predictive model executing on a the one or more processors, a prospect affinity score representative of the likelihood that the prospect will accept an insurance offer, based on the retrieved information;

determining, by a third predictive model executing on the one or more processors, a combined prospect score based at least partly on the prospect underwriting affinity score and the prospect affinity score; and

adjusting, by the one or more processors, an insurance workflow process based on the combined prospect score.

13. The method of claim 12, comprising determining a context score based on the retrieved information, and wherein determining the combined prospect score includes determining the combined prospect score based at least partly on the prospect underwriting affinity score, the prospect affinity score, and the context score.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein

receiving identification of the at least one prospect includes receiving a telephonic inquiry from the at least one prospect;

and

adjusting an insurance workflow process includes at least one of electronically outputting a score and electronically outputting a recommended action to a customer service representative in contact with the at least one prospect.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving identification of the at least one prospect includes receiving an online inquiry from the at least one prospect;

and

adjusting an insurance workflow process includes modifying an online interface being displayed to the at least one prospect.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving identification of the at least one prospect includes receiving information about the at least one prospect from at least one third party agent.

17. The method of claim 12, comprising generating prospect rankings, wherein the rankings are based at least partly on the combined prospect score.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein adjusting an insurance workflow process includes providing a list of prospects to a customer communication system.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein

at least one processor is located at a location associated with a third party agent and remote from the insurance company;

the third party agent stores at least a subset of the prospect parameters in the database;

the insurance company cannot directly access the subset of the prospect parameters; and

the third party agent cannot directly access at least one predictive model.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to carry out a method of adjusting an insurance method, the method comprising:

receiving identification of at least one prospect;

retrieving information associated with the at least one prospect from a database;

determining, by a first predictive model executing on the processor, a prospect underwriting affinity score representative of the likelihood that insurance will be offered to the at least one prospect, based on the retrieved information;

determining, by a second predictive model executing on the processor, a prospect affinity score representative of the likelihood that the prospect will accept an insurance offer, based on the retrieved information;

determining, by a third predictive model executing on the processor, a combined prospect score based at least partly on the prospect underwriting affinity score and the prospect affinity score; and

adjusting an insurance workflow process based on the combined prospect score.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the method comprises determining a context score based on the retrieved information, and wherein determining the combined prospect score includes determining the combined prospect score based at least partly on the prospect underwriting affinity score, the prospect affinity score, and the context score.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein

receiving identification of the at least one prospect includes receiving a telephonic inquiry from the at least one prospect;

and

adjusting an insurance workflow process includes at least one of electronically outputting a score and electronically outputting a recommended action to a customer service representative in contact with the at least one prospect.

23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein receiving identification of the at least one prospect includes receiving an online inquiry from the at least one prospect;

and

adjusting an insurance workflow process includes modifying an online interface being displayed to the at least one prospect.

24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein receiving identification of the at least one prospect includes receiving information about the at least one prospect from at least one third party agent.

25. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the method comprises generating prospect rankings, and wherein the rankings are based at least partly on the combined prospect score.