I recently came across a Forrester report on “The Insights-Driven Business,” which urges companies to join the leading-edge businesses who “harness and apply data and analytics at every opportunity to differentiate their products and customer experiences.” The report got me thinking about what risk, insurance, and safety teams can do to make their groups insights-driven—even if their company has yet to become fully data-driven, let alone insights-driven.
Being insights-driven applies to more than just products and customer experiences. According to “The Insights-Driven Business,” these companies see digital insights as assets in every business process. What’s more, they “make insights available so every employee can act with confidence. Insights-driven businesses are better at democratizing data and insights [emphasis added].”
It’s just as important for risk, insurance, and safety management teams to have ready access to data-based insights as it is for any other corporate function. The good news is, even if your company hasn’t yet put a big emphasis on being data- or insights-driven, you can get a head start and begin reaping the benefits of that strategy now. One of the best ways to do that is by deploying the new generation of advanced analytics tools like those in RiskConsole Advance.
What makes the insights-driven department stand out?
Just as insights-driven companies are different, I would argue that insights-driven risk, insurance, and safety teams distinguish themselves from their peers, too. They’re committed to continuously improving outcomes by combining their own expertise, the capabilities of their software systems, and, where applicable, the domain experience of their outside partners.
Consider the example of Ventiv Technology customer Coca-Cola Consolidated (based in Charlotte, NC), the nation's largest independent marketer, producer, and distributor of Coca-Cola Company products. According to Greg Dodson, Senior Manager, Operational Risk, Coca-Cola Consolidated has long been a data-centric organization that puts a priority on making decisions based on stringent analytics.
Coca-Cola Consolidated was among the first Ventiv clients to upgrade to our latest risk management software solution, RiskConsole Advance (RCA), and they did so in large part because of the greatly enhanced analytics and reporting capabilities in RCA. The company is currently implementing RCA, but according to Greg, it has big expectations for what advanced analytics and reporting will do:
Over the last three years, Coca-Cola Consolidated has tripled in size. That means more employees and the potential for more injuries, vehicle crashes, and other incidents. From an analytics perspective, it means a lot more data to mine and learn from. We expect the new analytics and reporting capabilities in RiskConsole Advance to give us a new level of clarity into trends—the whens, wheres, whys, and hows—around accidents and safety at the company. The new analytics and reporting tools are powerful but easy to use by everyone on our team as well as the safety managers at the location level. Powerful guided search, visualization, and drill-down capabilities mean we can quickly get the insights we need to drive optimal outcomes.
The power of today's advanced analytics and reporting tools
Greg’s comments go straight to the heart of what makes today’s analytics, risk reporting systems, and data-discovery tools so powerful: These tools empower users at all levels to make data-based decisions that generate optimal outcomes like reducing claim frequency and severity. These tools do it by making it easy for users to get the insights they need. First, users explore their data; then, they discover relationships; then, they test correlations; and finally, they develop the hypotheses that let them chart an informed course of action.
As another Forrester report puts it, insights-driven companies “embrace digital insights as the new currency of business.” Your company might still be on the road to becoming insights-driven, but that doesn’t mean teams at the department level need to wait to embrace the insights revolution. Today’s advanced analytics and risk reporting applications have the power to make risk, insurance, and safety teams insights-driven in an efficient, cost-effective manner.
Kristi McFarlin is Ventiv Technology's vice president of analytics. Contact Kristi at kristi.mcfarlin@ventivtech.com.
