As a result, he adds, program administrators face challenges of growing revenue and achieving targeted margins. “It takes real expertise and business acumen for successful program administrators to differentiate their programs in today’s marketplace, while still controlling expenses and delivering satisfactory underwriting results to the insurance carriers,” First observes. “The program insurance company can either be a positive or negative force in addressing these challenges.”

Program administrators are best served by insurers that view programs as partnerships, offer long-term commitment and flexibility, and ultimately provide the most “franchise value” for the administrator and the insureds, he adds. Craig Fundum, president of Programs & Direct Markets for Zurich North America’s Commercial Business division, concurs. “Carriers that truly understand the program space dedicate people to it,” Fundum says. “They know what it takes to be good at programs and they deliver on it. They’re in it for the long haul.”

Such carriers work together with program administrators in a number of ways. At Zurich, for instance, marketing staff—including some from outside the insurance arena who have heavy consumer marketing experience—collaborate on developing marketing plans. “As part of our business plan discussions with program administrators, we’re asked for support in certain areas, including marketing,” Fundum explains. “So we bring our people together with theirs and develop a very detailed marketing plan with actionable, measurable items.”

Included in Zurich’s marketing collaboration is the carrier’s ZProgramsMatch.com Web site, which helps drive agents and insurance buyers to the company’s program partners. “There are thousands of agents appointed by Zurich and tens of thousands of agents not appointed by Zurich who have business that falls within the appetite of our programs,” Fundum says. “We provide a landing site on the Web for any agent to click on a particular industry segment, find out more about it, and then link to our program administrator partners.”

Data collaboration is another important area where carriers can bolster program administrator relationships. ‘“The long-term winners in the program marketplace are the program administrators and insurers that acquire, share, and evaluate detailed program data together on an ongoing basis,” First says.

For example, SPARTA offers a real-time, Internet-based policy processing system supported by a program administrator portal. “This offers transparency and access to highly refined policy and claims data,” First explains. “This saves program administrators from the considerable expense of duplicating systems infrastructure on their end. Plus, it leads to faster, better decision making as we regularly and jointly monitor program results.

“Program profitability now becomes an ongoing discussion instead of a quarterly or annual topic,” First says. “This leads to more rapid implementation of actions to protect or enhance program results.”

Such collaboration contributes to the ongoing viability of the program, which benefits the program administrator, the carrier, and the insured.