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Social Business and Insurance – A Natural Fit?

IBM is marshaling significant resource to articulate a vision of ‘Social Business’.  While this is intended to span different industries,  the approach seems well-suited to address the many demands being made on the traditional insurance business model (and the tools and techniques associated with it).  We will break this out in a several posts over time, and would really like to get your thoughts.

So what does IBM mean by ‘Social Business’?  Simply put, the underlying premise is this:  ‘This approach shifts the focus from static content and other temporary artifacts to the source of the energy, creativity, and decision making that moves the business forward: people. As a result, people not only find what they need, but also discover valuable expertise and information they weren’t even looking for that might solve a problem in a new way.’  IBM cites a number of studies which suggest that business users are already moving to Social networking tools to do work in a better, more productive, and more personally rewarding manner.

IBM believes that this is already benefiting businesses.  While a number of organizations are positioning social networking strategies as sales and marketing tools, the real gold comes in enabling all facets of the organization:  ‘ Rather than a way to gain fans or followers, a Social Business uses software and hardware tools to create new pathways centered on people and the relationships between them―helping to solve the persistent problem of searching for the information needed to accomplish tasks, make decisions, and inspire new ideas.’

What types of organizations relies more on the relationships between people than insurance?  And who spends more time and energy looking for information to accomplish tasks than insurance professionals?

IBM offers a wealth of resources on its website to understand Social Business and suggests approaches for different enterprises.  We will use this space to offer our views on how this relates to specific segments of the Canadian insurance industry.  And we will be looking for your thoughts as we go.

Are you using social media technologies for either internal or external business communications/transactions?  Do you think social business is a model for insurance?

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