Evidence of Insurability
Insurance companies often struggle with inefficient, paper-based processes that lead to long cycle times, missed opportunities, and poor coordination, hindering overall business performance.
Facing 45-day cycle times and a lack of ownership in the EOI process, the organization struggled with inefficiencies, missed sales opportunities, and poor coordination, significantly impacting both customer experience and sales performance.
Transforming fintech by automating workflows, improving coordination, and reducing cycle times and enabling faster decision-making.
PROJECT TYPE
DATE
The Problem
A leading group life insurance provider relied heavily on paper-based submissions and manual reviews for its Evidence of Insurability (EOI) process, resulting in long cycle times and significant inefficiencies. Unlike competitors, whose decisions typically completed in under 15 days, this company averaged 45 days—causing delays, missed sales opportunities, and tension between sales and processing. The EOI process lacked a dedicated owner, which worsened coordination and accountability, leading to 40% of applications expiring and needing to be reissued.
The Strategy
To resolve the crisis, I partnered with sales leadership to establish a cross- functional initiative, map the value stream, and conduct targeted discovery across stakeholder groups. We applied a structured four-phase workshop model to validate pain points, quantify impact, uncover root causes, and co-develop an improvement.
The Result
Identified 12% monthly sales leakage attributable to manual process failure.
Reduced expiration rate of EOI applications by building a streamlined future-state workflow.
Designed an automation and integration roadmap to eliminate over-reliance on paper forms.
Positioned the company for competitive parity, with decision cycle times targeted to match market standards.
My Contribution
Discovery:
Conducted interviews with sales, processing, underwriting, and call center teams.
Mapped the EOI value stream, identifying 30 major steps and 11 decision points.
Identified 12% monthly sales leakage tied to delays and manual handoffs.
Pinpointed systemic issues including disconnected platforms, confusing UX, and misaligned incentives.
Design:
Led four focused virtual workshops.
Process validation and stakeholder alignment.
Quantified costs and bottlenecks.
Conducted root cause analysis.
Defined corrective actions and improvement plans.
Reframed EOI as a customer experience challenge, aligning teams around usability, automation, and transparency.
Mapped journey touchpoints and embedded improvements at the application, system, and communication levels
Delivery:
Built the foundation for a unified EOI experience with shared metrics across teams.
Defined technical recommendations to simplify online submissions and relax unnecessary validations.
Developed messaging protocols and incentive alignment to discourage paper submissions.
Proposed governance model and product ownership structure to ensure continuity.
