WebCE Weekly Wrap-Up: March 21, 2025
WebCE Staff
By
March 21, 2025
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Signs of recovery are emerging in the insurance industry, with recent gains pointing to renewed financial stability. But resilience requires vigilance. This week’s headlines reveal not only economic improvement but also rising threats—from emerging fraud tactics to newfound liability gaps in AI decision-making.
This week's Wrap-Up offers timely stories from insurance, finance, and real estate to help you stay informed and prepared. Explore key industry shifts, insights on leadership and communication, and practical tools for staying focused in a distracted world.
Let’s dive in.
Top News Stories of the Week
WebCE Wins 2025 Silver Stevie® Award for Contact Center of the Year (WebCE)
"We are all excited to share that WebCE has earned a Silver Stevie Award for Contact Center of the Year (Up to 100 Seats) in the 19th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. This marks the fourth year in a row that WebCE has received a Stevie Award, following back-to-back Bronze wins in 2022 and 2023 and now consecutive Silver wins in 2024 and 2025.”
U.S. Insurance Industry Shows Signs of Resilience Despite Continued Headwinds in 2024 (Verisk Analytics)
“According to key financial indicators for private U.S. property/casualty insurers, an underwriting gain of $24.8 billion in 2024 showed significant improvement compared to the underwriting loss of $21.8 billion recorded in 2023. This is the first full-year underwriting gain reported in four years. These improvements can be attributed to premium increases to better match levels of risk.”
Crooks Are Using Life and Annuity Products to Launder Money, Fraud Tracker Says (Think Advisor)
“While banks and other financial institutions are typically bound by 'know your customer' regulations, criminals have recognized the insurance industry has fewer regulatory requirements for vetting customers and their sources of funds, making life and annuity products the perfect tool to wash illegal funds.”
5 Techniques to Build a More Powerful Speaking Voice (Harvard Business Review)
“In an era where the human elements of leadership matter more than ever, mastering your “vocal presence” isn’t just an enhancement to executive capability—it’s an essential dimension of how you inspire, connect with, and mobilize others toward shared goals. Through conscious practice of breath coordination and vocal techniques, you can develop a more commanding, authentic, and engaging presence that will resonate deeply with your audience. The article outlines five simple, functional exercises to improve vocal presence.”
How To Reach the Rising Generations of Insurance Professionals (PropertyCasualty360)
“We as an industry need to do more to show the potential a career in insurance has to offer. These tech-savvy generations have a lot to offer. If they see the value our industry provides its customers, we can attract talent that will no doubt transform the way we work, making our businesses more efficient so that we can continue our mission of protecting customers.”
The ROI of Generative AI: It’s Growing Rapidly, CFOs Say (Journal of Accountancy)
“Positivity around generative artificial intelligence (AI) has exponentially risen among CFOs at large companies over the last year, but reliance on human involvement remains crucial to success, according to a recent survey. Nearly 90% of CFOs surveyed in December reported a very positive ROI on generative AI, nine months after just 27% said the same.”
After the Flames: Preparing for the Growing Fraud Threat in Los Angeles (Claims Journal)
“Fraud can take many forms, from contractor scams to insurance fraud, making it essential for insurance agents and claims personnel to stay vigilant and informed. By recognizing potential fraud risks, you can help protect your company and community from these crimes.”
Gen AI Is Shaking Up Underwriting, but Can it Replace Human Judgment? (Insurance Journal)
AI brings with it an interesting and as yet unresolved complication to insurance and risk: What happens to liability if companies hand off decision-making responsibilities to AI?
The 6 Best Virtual Staging Software & Virtual Staging Guide in 2025 (The Close)
A topical list of available tools for a variety of virtual staging needs to transform a space into a stylish place with listing insights sprinkled throughout.
The Power of Single-Tasking (Psychology Today)
“When you try to multitask, your brain just queues the cognitive phases of the different tasks, never managing to engage in more than one at a time...If you try to work on two cognitive tasks at the same time, your brain just switches back and forth between them, never really concentrating on either one and making mistakes. The meeting ends, you have missed half of what the speaker said, and there are mistakes in every email you sent.”
Top Podcast of the Week
Are You an Inspirational Leader? (HBR IdeaCast)
28 minutes
“What does it take to really energize people and motivate them toward a goal? Inspirational leadership might seem idiosyncratic and hard to quantify, but, according to Adam Galinsky, professor at Columbia Business School, it involves three key elements: having a vision, setting an example, and mentoring. His research shows this is true across industries and geographies, and he offers advice on how to improve in each area.”
Weekend Wind-Down
Piggybacking on viral social media posts can often lead to a bump in traffic. This week, Thon Hotels, a Norwegian hotel, who went viral with their distinctly direct messaging.
Their approach can be adapted to a variety of industries if you’re looking for a fun way to promote your business. For example, real estate agents can use this quirky approach to promote a listing or an insurance professional highlighting types of coverage.
This is an example:
This is the end of the Wrap-Up.