Case Study: Direct Commercial2 min read
About Direct Commercial
Direct Commercial (DCL) is a UK-based insurance underwriter specialising in vehicle fleet management. They work with insurance brokers, who sell policies to businesses operating fleets of vehicles, and these brokers become DCL ‘Agencies’ that act as the face of the business to the end client.
Broker relationship management was being handled entirely via spreadsheets. This led to operational inefficiencies across two core business functions at DCL.
The Challenge
The Business Development Management Team, who travel the UK identifying insurance brokers who could become new agencies, had no unified tool to manage these interactions. Activities were kept in disconnected tools like Outlook and SharePoint
The Agency Team, who perform due diligence checks and onboarding for new brokers, lacked a centralised system to manage the life cycle of brokers to Agencies.
DCL needed a way to:
- Track the broker onboarding process from application to approval
- Equip the Business Development Management Team with tools to manage visits and broker engagement
- Provide real time insights and reduce time spent compiling reports
The Solution
Cloud9 designed and built a custom Power Apps based solution tailored to how DCL works.
The key features included agency application management, custom workflows and business rules, visit tracking, and Power Platform compatibility.
Automations help to convert new Agency records into active Agencies or pause them for nurture marketing. These automations reduce the errors made in manual data entry.
Once an Agency is live, interactions are logged via customisations to appointment records. These appear in reports to support management visibility and activity tracking.
Users can now manually sync data between platforms where required, so data is no longer siloed.
The Outcome
The implementation of the custom Power Apps solution has transformed DCL’s agency management process, delivering a streamlined, integrated, and scalable system.
Automated workflows now manage incoming agency applications with greater accuracy and consistency, reducing manual errors and administrative effort. With built-in integration to Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint, the solution also enhances communication, collaboration, and data sharing across the organisation.
Hear it From Direct Commercial
"We recently partnered with Cloud9 to implement Dynamics 365 for Sales across our organisation, and the experience has been a very positive one.
We were looking for a partner who not only had a strong understanding of Dynamics 365, but also brought industry know-how, a solid track record, and a genuine commitment to customer service. Cloud9 delivered on all fronts.
They quickly earned our trust and confidence, showing that they not only understood our needs, but were also invested in helping us achieve the right outcomes. The team worked closely with us throughout the project, designing and implementing a tailored solution that truly fits the way we work.
We felt supported every step of the way. From the initial planning stages right through to after 'go live', the Cloud9 team have been reliable, responsive, and ready to help. It’s been a reassuring and collaborative experience, and we’re grateful for their continued support as we settle into our new system."