BackNine: Facilitating Life Insurance Sales through Technology

For example, we’ve heard from many P&C agents that they’ve felt selling life insurance was too cumbersome. We’re here to eliminate that barrier to entry, because it’s really an essential component of their client offering. We feel that it’s crucial for them to include the option for a life insurance policy in addition to what they’re already providing – doing so allows far better protection for their clients, and it’s just good business. At the end of the day, we’re here to change the existing bundling narrative, help with retention, plus add a second or third line of business for people, ultimately helping them to create a competitive advantage in a crowded space.

Could you please cite a case study on how you have enabled clients to overcome hurdles and attain desired outcomes with your innovative array of solutions?

We recently formed a partnership with iBindiQ LLC and EZLynx, which represents the perfect synergy of skillsets, technology, and marketing support, along with the depth of distribution. Mark Chibbaro, CEO of IbindiQ, along with Chris Cooke, a Brokerage Director with BackNine (who also serves as President of iBindiQ LLC) recognized that most independent P&C agents in the U.S. resist selling life insurance since the process presented too many interruptions in the agent’s organization. The integration of our mutual companies’ comparative life insurance rating and application systems eliminated the friction not only with the sales process but the case management flow––to get policies from submission to commission for a P&C agent––all while being able to go about their day without loss of focus on their core business of property and casualty. We also recently announced our partnership with Redtail, a leading CRM in the financial service space. With the integration of Quote & Apply into their existing platform, advisors can now quote and sell life insurance policies as a value proposition to their clients and in real-time. In the press release, Redtail’s CEO Brian McLaughlin shared that, “automating financial service professionals’ workflows and helping to scale their businesses will always be one of our goals at Redtail, and now we’re able to add yet another essential tool to our platform with Quote & Apply’s highly effective life insurance quoting and selling capabilities.”

There are a number of companies out there that are vying for the top position. What are the strategies employed by Quote & Apply to thwart the market competition, and what, according to you, are the distinct features of Quote & Apply that give it a competitive edge?

We’re currently the only multi-carrier e-application and quoting software in the wholesale life insurance industry that allows both agents and their clients to receive instant quotes and purchase policies from several carriers in real-time. With existing platforms in the space, both consumers and agents have a lag period in waiting for quotes, and on the consumer-side, people will become inundated with calls from brokers; this is a huge deterrent, and we eliminate this frustrating stopgap that people are tired of. And, the policy sellers are able to process applications without all the tedious paperwork. With Quote & Apply, everyone wins – the agent can provide better service, and the consumer has more control in terms of coverage selection, as our competitors also don’t give the option to calculate coverage and evaluate different policy options in real-time as our software does.

What does the future hold for your organization?

Our objective is to be the go-to resource for life insurance sales in the U.S., helping anyone selling life insurance, and those buying it, to secure their future. We’re currently privately funded but exploring the option of a seed raise to help scale and potentially grow into a SaaS model.