Signority’s Take on Lemonade Insurance: What’s the Big deal?

Lemonade insurance new P2P app

It’s only been a couple months since the ground-breaking launch of Lemonade— and no, I’m not talking about Beyonce’s new album. But if you ask me, the company Lemonade is the Beyonce of the Insurance world.
As Shai Wininger, the co-owner, and co-founder, says: the user’s entire experience with insurance using Lemonade is entirely automated. Everything from submitting a claim to accepting an offer is mobile, simple, and fast.
Just like the best song on Beyonce’s album, you may be thinking “Hold up, how did they manage to get this going?”.  

1. What is Lemonade?

After coining the term “Peer-to-peer Insurance” and taking a very innovative approach to doing business, Lemonade plans to take on deeply rooted players in the industry. They aim to flip the traditional insurance model on its head by not taking ownership of the premiums paid by their customers— whatever their customers pay is still treated as if it’s their money! Their philosophy is to break free from the negative connotations people have with insurance, and instead, inspire trust. They do so by giving their customers more transparency and taking a flat rate— donating whatever money is left over!
We recently wrote about the ramifications P2P insurance will have on the insurance industry long-term in our article “The 4 Biggest Emerging Insurance Trends and Its Implications”.

2. Their Innovative Platform

Lemonade’s innovative online platform goes without the need of brokers. While dealing with a broker can be reassuring for some, others have issues with the self-preservation and greediness in a zero-sum game that is sometimes associated with insurance. Due to the nature of commissions and the payment structure involved in the industry, consumers are wary of brokers who are looking out for their own bottom line. With Lemonade, these worries are mitigated with an online process. Keeping overhead down, they’re able to be more transparent with their revenue model— using a simple flat fee!

3. Their Unique Offerings

Lemonade aims to solve the key intrinsic and structural problems that plague the insurance industry.  Traditional insurance companies have a conflict of interest at the core of every sector. As Lemonades CEO and co-founder Daniel Schreiber explains, “most Americans view insurance as a necessary evil rather than a social good, and that’s something we’d like to change”. Lemonade focuses on improving the overall user experience by making their buying process easier and less expensive. As mentioned, technology plays a huge role in their capabilities of providing a unique service. This has allowed them to exponentially speed up the entire process while making it more convenient and decreasing production costs. Through this, they have the ability to reduce premiums, build trusting customer relationships, and use algorithms for underwriting. Unsurprisingly, 80% of their customers are first-time insurance buyers who previously would rather have gone without insurance than purchase from a traditional company.

4. Their Social Responsibility

As previously mentioned, Lemonade doesn’t make a profit on non-payment claims. So where does the money go? Charity, of course! They are a Public Benefit Corporation and certified B-Corp. Unlike other companies, their social impact is not a marketing tool, but an integral part of their legal mission and business model. Lemonade only pockets their customer’s flat fees, and the rest goes to a charity of their choice. Customers are grouped by the claims they support, while the company will pay claims for either the customers or the charity of their choosing. For customers, this is a huge incentive and helps improve the company-client relationship. Customers feel reassured and more trusting towards their insurance providers, which will continue to build long-lasting and meaningful relationships in the future.

5. Their Revolutionary Technology

Lemonade is entirely supported by and built upon revolutionary artificial intelligence technology. Customers can send their quotes to Maya, an artificial intelligence bot, who will craft personalized insurance almost instantaneously. She removes the long and complicated process, and makes it almost enjoyable!

6. Their Reinsurance

Since the basis of Peer 2 Peer insurance relies on a common pool of money, start-ups like Lemonade may be seen as a risk— what if the money pooled is not enough to cover certain expenses? Lemonade has mitigated this worry by reinsuring itself with some of the biggest reinsurers in the industry, such as Lloyds of London, XL Catlin, Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity and much more. As Schreiber explains, through this Lemonade will be both “willing and able to pay your claims”.

7. Their Public Perception

Lemonade took a big gamble with their launch, as is the case with any start-up that tries to re-write the status quo. But without a doubt, the launch was a tremendous success. Within the first 48 hours 36,000 people visited their site, and more importantly, Lemonade had a conversion rate of over 15%— which totaled over 140 policies sold and raked in $14,300 in gross written premiums. This initial success doesn’t seem to be slowing down, as customers from all over the world have sparked interest. The company has even begun looking into expanding their operations across the United States. More surprising is the wide demographic of customers they attracted. With expectations of a higher ratio of young tech-savvy users, Lemonade was shocked to see that a large number of customers were over 55 years of age. Lemonades “switching” feature helped entice these older customers by allowing them to cancel existing insurance contracts, obtain a refund, and then sign a new digital contract with Lemonade— all with the click of a button!

8. The Future of Insurance Brokers

Brokers, don’t panic! Considering the complexity of insurance products, humans won’t be completely replaced by AI just yet. Lemonade can act as a bridge between automation and human, as certain types of insurance need different selling techniques, and the welcoming comfort of a machine doesn’t quite equate to that of a human. Insurance brokers biggest differentiator will be their ability to create, nurture and maintain relationships— a vital part of successful insurance.
Lemonade has succeeded in disrupting the age-old insurance industry. They have definitely opened the door for further development, and started a very promising future!
Schreiber and Wininger noticed the lemons of the insurance world and made Lemonade.

Green Revolution: Why You Should Go Paperless

Go Paperless and join the Green Revolution

Paper may seem harmless, but in reality, it causes severe environmental damage and has far reaching effects. It has become more important than ever for businesses to go paperless.
The pulp and paper industry is the third largest industrial polluter to air, water, and land. With this in mind, Canada and the United States are the world’s largest producers of paper and pulp products.

If we don’t smarten up soon our window of opportunity may quickly shut.

What’s the Damage?

 

Source Process

Right from the start, the paper and pulp industry causes severe damage to the environment, including our air, water, and soil.  As you probably know, the paper comes from trees— in fact, 35% of all harvested trees, and 40% of all industrial wood is used for paper manufacturing. The United States alone cuts down more than 68 million trees each year, just for the production of pulp and paper products. These numbers are staggering when you consider the immense importance trees have in regulating our planet’s health. Since trees absorb CO2 and release oxygen, they mitigate the harmful effects of greenhouse gas. Moreover, a single 100-year-old tree can only produce 17 reams of paper, but when it’s cut down it will release 110 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere. As such, this deforestation directly increases climate change. Not only does the removal of trees speed up the global warming process, but it also makes it more severe. Deforestation accounts for more global carbon emissions than trucks and cars combined. With this in mind, there is a strong link between high levels of atmospheric gas, and increased deaths and respiratory illnesses.

The removal of trees also severely damages the quality of our soil. Through transpiration, trees control the level of water in our atmosphere and directly help regulate the water cycle. When there are fewer trees, there’s less water! Through this, our soils become drier, negatively affecting its ability to sustain life— for both plants, and organisms. Moreover, soil and smaller plants use trees for shade. When they are removed, more UV rays are able to penetrate the ground, further drying out the soil. The removal of trees also increases surface runoff, which causes soil erosion. As such, our soil can become barren, further harming our environment.
Deforestation also threatens our planet’s biodiversity and contributes to species endangerment. Approximately 80% of the world’s land animals and plants live in forests. The removal of trees also means the destruction of their habitats and the introduction of pesticides into their ecosystem. In fact, upwards of 30 million acres of forest are lost each year. Moreover, trees help regulate a forest’s internal temperature through their canopy. The removal of the canopy fluctuates internal temperatures, which is extremely harmful to both plants and animals.

Removing trees also negatively affects neighboring and indigenous communities. More than 1.5 billion people rely on forests for the necessities, such as food, water, clothing, and shelter. Taking away their important resources causes social conflict, and threatens their livelihood.

Manufacture Process

The production of paper in of itself is also extremely harmful to the environment, neighboring communities and even their own employees. Each year, the world manufactures more than 300 million tons of paper, with 1 million tons of paper used each day. Unfortunately, paper mills emit significant levels of pollution. They release upwards of 220 million lbs of toxins each year, which affects our air, water, and soil. A measly 1 ton of paper creates 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide. This pollution has adverse effects on neighboring communities, and nearby ecosystems. They are also the largest industrial consumer of water, as the pulp and paper industry uses more water to produce 1 ton of product than any other industry. To better put this in perspective, 1.5 cups of water are needed to make one single sheet of paper, and approximately 300,000 litres are needed for 1 ton. Moreover, they are the second largest consumer of energy. To produce one ton of paper, 253 gallons of petrol are used. The production of secondary and supporting products are also incredibly harmful. For example, the production of ink relies on fossil fuels and harmful chemicals.

Even their own workers are not spared from the negative effects of paper production, as paper mill employees are subject to poor working conditions. In order to reduce wood pulp and bleach paper, employees are exposed to a toxic cocktail of chemicals. As such, they have an increased risk for dangerous health problems, like malignant lymphomas.
With all this in mind, by 2020 paper mills are expected to produce 500,000,000 tons of paper products annually.

Disposal Process

Let’s be honest, most of us do not recycle every single sheet of paper that we come in contact with— and even if we did, paper cannot be recycled indefinitely. Of the total waste in the United States of America, a staggering 40% is paper products. To hit home a bit more, 45% of paper printed in offices is thrown out by the end of the day. Unsurprisingly, 50% of the waste businesses create is paper. Even the supporting products are wasteful, as 400 million ink and 100 million toner cartridges end up in landfills each year. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, at the end of its destructive life, paper either rots or is burned. The burning of paper emits CO2, while the rotting releases methane gas— a gas that is 25 times more toxic than CO2.

Through its entire lifecycle paper causes significant, and sometimes irreparable, damage.  

Want to Help? Go Paperless

 

Benefits

The only way to protect the environment from paper waste is to go paperless. In a paperless world, each year the average worker can save:

  • 938 gallons of water
  • 2.5 trees
  • 56 gallons of oil
  • 595 KW (kilowatts of energy)
  • 12.15 cubic feet of landfill space

Greenhouse gas emissions would also decrease by 3.9 billion lbs annually— which is equivalent to removing 355,000 cars from the road! These benefits aren’t just environmental. By going paperless, your organization can save a ton of money! In fact, a company with only 8 employees can save $10,000 a year just by ditching paper. You would also save on ink and toner costs, which add up to $3,230 and $5,600 respectively. Even more so, businesses lose 15% of their important documents, which costs around $120 in labour to find, and $220 to finally replace. Your annual cost benefit can be upwards of $20,000!
Want to learn more about how you can go paperless? Check our blog on 5 ways to create a paperless business.

eSignatures

One of the best ways to help is to simply switch to electronic and digital signatures. This simple step really has a huge positive impact, just think of how many times a day you rely on paper documents! Companies, like Signority, help you automate and digitize your document signing process with their electronic signature solutions. This leaves you with a lot less paper, and extra time to do more important things— like save time on costly internal operations and the planet!
We need to reduce, not recycle. The paper industry is out-dated, unnecessary, and extremely harmful. If we don’t change our ways soon and go paperless, we may lose our chance. If you don’t believe me, just click here to see how much paper we have produced this year alone.
Join the revolution go paperless!

Switch to digital, and switch to a more environmentally friendly business…  one small step for the office, one huge step for mankind!
Feel free to share this post with your colleagues and friends, but please try and fight the urge to print it!

 

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10 Business Mistakes You Don’t Need to Make—Because These Businesses Already Made Them

Top 10 Business Mistakes to Avoid

One sentence horror story: You find out you have made irreparable business mistakes. Now take a deep breath, that was only a warning.
Mistakes are the learning blocks of life, but also the roadblocks to your businesses success.

Take a look at the following common business mistakes, and be sure to take notes:

Social Media

1. Offensive Humour

The only thing better than saying an offensive joke is not saying an offensive joke. Might seem counter-intuitive for me to recommend you not to offend your customers, but some big name companies made this exact mistake. Pancake giant, IHOP, recently tweeted a picture of a pancake with the tagline “Flat but has a GREAT personality”. This double entendre offended their followers, and the company received a lot of backlash. Even though they deleted their tweet and apologized, the damage was done. The media and their followers were not forgiving of IHOP’s business mistakes and continued to call the company sexist and inappropriate.

2. Misused Hashtags

Might be common sense, but before you use a hashtag make sure you know the meaning behind it. Pizza company DiGirono unknowingly used a trending hashtag for domestic violence for self-promotion: #WhyIStayed You had pizza. Understandably, twitter users were outraged, and the company’s reputation was called into question. 

3. Controversial AI Bots  

Completely automating your social media may sound like a good idea in theory, but in practice, it may not be such a good thing. Last year, Microsoft introduced “Tay”, an AI-powered Twitter robot. She was designed to talk like a teenage girl, and pick up on social cues as more people interacted with her. Like a toddler at the adults’ table, she quickly picked up on inappropriate conversations and started posting incredibly offensive tweets. If you want to see chatbots done right, click here.

Public Relations

4. Not Following Current Events

With the instant connection that social media brings, companies must always be aware of current issues. Uber fell victim to this when they unintentionally walked into a political firestorm. During Trump’s recent travel ban, many taxi and car sharing services decided to temporarily halt their services in solidarity. Uber, on the other hand, decided to provide discounts and emphasize the fact their drivers were still on the road. Many of their customers were unhappy, and the #DeleteUber hashtag was started. The company lost thousands of customers and severely damaged their brand’s reputation. Whether you agree with Uber or not, they got themselves caught up in a fight they did not belong in.

5. Down Playing Product Fails

When something bad happens, own it. Customer trust is an extremely valuable, and fragile, asset. When Samsung phones started exploding, the company tried to sweep everything under the rug. Instead of immediately recalling their phones and sending out mass alerts, they created an unnoticeable tab on their website and waited days until posting on social media. They lost billions, damaged their brand’s reputation, and destroyed customers trust. As a result, their mobile division’s bottom line plummeted a jaw-dropping 96%. 

6. Not Being Transparent

Similar to #5, be as transparent as possible. As you have probably heard, Yahoo was recently involved in a public relations nightmare. The company was hacked twice, which comprised more than one billion accounts. Even though the company was aware of the hack since 2014, they only disclosed the security breach this past September — two months after agreeing to sell to Verizon for 4.8 billion. Obviously, their customer trust was broken, and their entire reputation was questioned. Moral of these business mistakes, be as honest and transparent as possible.

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7. Overly Edited Photos

There is a fine line between cleaning up a photo and overly editing it. Especially with today’s body positive movement, companies that project unrealistic beauty standards face the negative backlash. Victoria’s Secret is a habitual offender, by promoting images like these. This creates a disconnect with their customer base and allows competitors to capitalize on their mistakes. Aerie has taken the opposite route, by emphasizing body positivity and unedited photos — an initiative that has been well received by their customer base.

8. Insensitivity

When your company acknowledges tragic events, make sure your efforts are tasteful and thoughtful. When the beloved singer Prince passed, Cheerios decided to pay their respects by posting a photo of “Rest in Peace” behind a purple background, with the hashtag #Prince. This seems innocent enough, but they decided to dot their “i” with a cheerio. This gave the impression they were capitalizing off the singer’s death, and their customers were not happy.

9. Political Ignorance

When you’re creating an ad for a specific region, make sure to do your homework. Unfortunately for Coca-Cola, their 2016 New Year’s greeting backfired, when they managed to offend both Russians and Ukrainians. They shared a festive map of Russia on a Russian social media site, excluding the region of Crimea — an area of Ukraine-Russia annexed in 2014. Russian patriots were immediately angered by the image and posted pictures pouring the soft drink down the toilet, with the hashtag #BanCocaCola. In an attempt to remedy the situation, Coca-Cola deleted the original image and re-uploaded a version that included Crimea- only to upset their Ukrainian users. Soon after, Ukrainian customers started boycotting the brand. Even the Ukrainian embassy chimed in, stating their disapproval of the ad.

10. Incorrect International Translations

Before you enter a foreign market, the least you could do is translate your messages properly. Your customers want to feel appreciated and understood, so it is probably a good idea to ensure your international translations are on par. Unfortunately, there are countless examples to choose from. But, my personal favourite boils down to two: the American Dairy Association, and Coors. The American Dairy Association’s milk campaign was soured when they entered Spain. As it turned out, the American Dairy Association’s “Got Milk” slogan literally translated to “Are you lactating?”— probably not the message they were trying to get across. Even worse, Coors lights “turn it loose” campaign translated to “Suffer from diarrhea”.
Skip the whole “learn from your mistakes” thing, and instead learn from theirs. Save yourself the embarrassment and damaging consequences, and use this as an example of business mistakes to avoid!
Want more tips on how not to fail? Click here to learn from the experts.