The Readiness Gap: Why Claims Transformations Succeed or Fail Before the Technology Is Ever Deployed

After more than three decades in insurance spanning underwriting, IT, and claims innovation, I’ve learned that technology rarely fails on its own. More often, success and failure are determined by everything around the technology.

Some call it business readiness: an organization’s ability to successfully adopt and sustain a new way of working. It includes workflows, training, change management, metrics, communication, and perhaps most importantly, the things you don’t yet know.

It’s that last part that often matters more than most organizations realize. And I’ve seen it reinforced repeatedly as carriers embark on modernizing their claims operations.

The Biggest Risk Isn’t the Technology, It’s the Unknowns

One of the more interesting (and simple) questions I’ve heard from a carrier was: “What do you know that we don’t know?” It gets to the heart of business readiness.

When organizations deploy new technology, whether a customer communication platform, automation tool, or AI, they often focus on features and integrations. Those are important, but only part of the equation. The real complexity often lives in simple operational details. Let’s look at a few examples of small details that matter in P&C insurance communication.

• Where should automation lead vs. human interaction? What communications drive policyholder engagement, and what are the key metrics on day one vs. day 60?
• If you’re inviting a policyholder to use a new channel for communication, e.g., text, how quickly should you follow up if they don’t reply? How many reminders are too many? How many are not enough?
• What wording is proven to drive policyholder engagement?

These decisions sound small, but they have an outsized impact on adoption, customer experience, and ROI.

When you’ve implemented something hundreds of times like Hi Marley has, you develop pattern recognition; you know what works and what doesn’t, where resistance will occur. And you know which questions to ask before problems surface.

Behavior Change Is Still the Hardest Part

Claims professionals operate in an environment of constant change: new regulations, new systems, new workflows, new priorities. Adding another tool or technology can feel like just one more disruption.

That’s why successful transformation starts internally, with people, not platforms. 

Ultimately, policyholder experience is a reflection of employee experience. When adjusters feel confident, supported, and equipped with the right tools, customers feel the difference: engagement improves, cycle times shrink, and satisfaction rises.

So, if you want adjusters to adopt a new communication channel, for example, you have to make it easy for them to succeed. That includes:

• Simplifying scripts and workflows
• Reinforcing training over time (not just once)
• Providing coaching and feedback
• Setting realistic expectations for learning

When someone sees a new system for the first time, they may absorb only a handful of concepts. That’s normal. Repetition isn’t failure. It’s how humans learn. Organizations that embrace this reality tend to see stronger adoption and faster results.

Small Details Drive Big Outcomes

In my experience, claims management improvements depend on small operational details. For example, how and when an adjuster asks a policyholder for permission to text can significantly influence opt-in rates. A simple, conversational approach typically works better than a long, compliance-heavy script. Even little factors like message formatting and capitalization can move engagement metrics in meaningful ways.

These are not things most organizations would intuitively know, especially if they’re building capabilities internally for the first time. And if results fall short, those may not be the first areas teams look for answers. But over time, they add up. Organizations who partner with us skip the guesswork as millions of conversations within Hi Marley have already surfaced what works.

The ability to incorporate these insights and best practices from the start can avoid unnecessary friction later.

Technology, Workflow, and Outcomes Are Connected

Another common misconception is that technology decisions are independent from operational design. In reality, they are deeply intertwined.

When carriers map customer and adjuster journeys, they often discover that workflow choices affect how technology should be deployed, and vice versa. For example, when should communication begin after FNOL? Should customers initiate the conversations themselves? Which roles own which touchpoints? These decisions shape both the user experience and the technical configuration.

Effective business readiness creates alignment across people, process, and technology. so the organization moves forward cohesively instead of in silos.

Many organizations consider building new capabilities themselves. And sometimes they can. But the real question isn’t whether they can? It’s whether they understand everything required to make it successful?

Business readiness is about reducing uncertainty. It’s recognizing that what you don’t know can create risk. And that experience, partnership, and preparation combined with the right technology can dramatically increase your odds of success. Our relationships with over 100 carriers, along with the millions of policyholder interactions flowing through our platform, give us an advantage that benefits every one of our customer engagements.