Start Here: Your Filing Snapshot

• Roughly how many active rate filings do you have across all states right now? Options: 0–10, 11–25, 26–50, 51–100, 100+
• Which lines of business are generating those filings today? Options: Personal Auto, Homeowners, Commercial Auto, Commercial Property, Workers' Comp, Other
• What is your typical filing cadence for those lines (annual, ad-hoc, multiple times/year)? Options: Annual, Bi-annual, Quarterly, Ad-hoc / as needed, Rolling multi-state program
• Who in your organization is the primary point of contact for filing logistics and who signs off on submissions? Options: Chief Actuary, Head of Regulatory Affairs, VP of Product, Filing Manager, General Counsel, Other
• Tell us about a recent filing that took far longer than you expected—what happened and where did time leak?
• Which handful of states tend to require the most tailoring or cause the most delay for your filings?

Are We Just Living With It?

• When a filing slips or stalls, what is the single biggest downstream consequence for your business? Options: Delayed rate change implementation, Revenue loss, Competitive disadvantage, Operational overload, Stakeholder frustration, Other
• How often do you receive substantive DOI objections that require actuarial rework? Options: Almost every filing, Frequently (25–50%), Occasionally (10–25%), Rarely (<10%)
• What are the top three recurring causes of objections or slow reviews you see (process, content, presentation, examiner preference, data issues)? Options: Insufficient actuarial support, Incomplete state narrative, Formatting/SERFF errors, Missing exhibits or supporting data, Examiner requests for additional analysis, Cross-state inconsistency
• How do these delays affect the mood and workload of your actuarial and regulatory teams?
• What workaround or shortcuts have you accepted as normal that you’d rather not have to rely on?
• How much time (on average) does your internal team spend responding to back-and-forth per objection? Options: <2 hours, 2–8 hours, 8–24 hours, 24–72 hours, 72+ hours

Who Holds the Keys?

• If approvals become a political or operational bottleneck, who in your org truly drives the decision to proceed with or pause a filing? Options: Chief Actuary, Head of Regulatory Affairs, VP of Product, CFO, CEO/President, Filing Committee
• What does 'acceptable timing' look like to each of those decision-makers (target days-to-approval or tolerance for delay)? Options: <30 days, 30–60 days, 60–90 days, 90+ days, Varies by state/line
• How do you currently capture and communicate decision rights and sign-off expectations across actuarial, regulatory, and product teams? Options: Formal RACI, Weekly governance meetings, Email approvals, No formal documentation, Other
• For actuarial, regulatory, and product stakeholders respectively—what would a successful filing program do that would make each group say, 'This is working'?
• How often do stakeholders expect status updates, and in what format (dashboard, email, meeting)? Options: Daily, Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Ad-hoc/on request
• When disagreements arise between actuarial and product/regulatory priorities, how are they typically resolved today?

What’s Hidden in Your Process?

• Where do the most stubborn bottlenecks live in your filing pipeline—actuarial analysis, SERFF assembly, internal review, or DOI negotiation? Options: Actuarial indications & modeling, SERFF assembly and formatting, Internal review & approvals, DOI examiner interactions, Production deployment
• Who owns your SERFF account(s) and who is responsible for assembly and submission today? Options: Internal regulatory team, Internal actuarial team, Shared internal responsibility, External consultant/partner, No single owner
• What is your current internal capacity for preparing filings (how many FTEs or contractor-hours per month for actuarial and regulatory work)? Options: <1 FTE, 1–2 FTEs, 3–5 FTEs, 6–10 FTEs, 10+ FTEs
• Do you have documented templates, state narratives, and standardized exhibits you reuse? If so, briefly describe their completeness. Options: Comprehensive and current, Partially documented, Mostly ad-hoc, No standardized templates
• How do you track examiner preferences and historical interactions by state (tooling, notes, or memory)? Options: Central CRM/Tracker, Spreadsheet, Email threads, Memory/no formal tracking, Vendor-maintained tracker
• Give a concrete example of a cross-state inconsistency that forced extra work—what was the gap?

If We Could Wave a Wand...

• Imagine every state approved your filings within your target timeline—what would that free you to do that you can’t do today?
• Which success metrics matter most to you—speed, lower objection rate, fewer iterations, or predictability—and rank them if possible. Options: Time-to-approval, Objection rate, Number of iterations, Forecast accuracy, Throughput per period, Cost per filing
• What is an acceptable objection rate and average approval time for a multi-state program in your view? Options: Objection rate <5%, 5–15%, 15–30%, Approval time <30 days, 30–60 days, 60+ days
• What constraints must any solution respect (budget limits, audit/compliance requirements, speed-to-market, internal headcount limits)?
• If we achieved your top outcome, what would stakeholders celebrate internally—what would they say changed?

How Would a Better Partner Change Things?

• If a partner could eliminate one recurring pain—rework, examiner back-and-forth, or state-by-state inconsistency—which would you choose and why? Options: Eliminate actuarial rework, Reduce examiner back-and-forth, Standardize state narratives, Improve SERFF accuracy, Faster approvals
• Which artifacts would you be willing to share for a pilot (sample filings, examiner correspondence, model outputs) to demonstrate impact? Options: Sample filings, Examiner Q&A threads, Actuarial exhibits/models, State narratives, None / prefer not to share yet
• What SLA or turnaround expectations would you expect from an external filing partner (per objection, per submission, per state)? Options: 24–48 hours, 3–5 business days, 1–2 weeks, Depends on complexity
• What reporting and dashboard views would help you sleep at night (real-time examiner activity, time-in-stage, approval projection)? Options: Real-time examiner activity, Time-in-stage analytics, Approval probability/forecast, Cost per filing, Custom executive summary
• Which parts of the filing lifecycle would you prefer to keep in-house versus outsource (actuarial sign-off, SERFF upload, examiner negotiation)? Options: Actuarial indications (in-house), Actuarial indications (outsourced), SERFF assembly (in-house), SERFF assembly (outsourced), Objection response (in-house), Objection response (outsourced)
• What would make you trust a partner quickly—examples, references, a pilot, shared KPIs, or something else? Options: Client references, A short pilot, Case studies, Publisher of state guidance, Shared KPIs and SLAs

What Would Make You Say Yes?

• When has a vendor arrangement felt like more work than help, and what concrete change would have prevented that?
• Which pricing structure do you prefer for multi-state filing management? Options: Per-filing flat fee, Monthly program fee, Hourly / time-and-materials, Hybrid (retainer + per-filing)
• What contract flexibility or modules matter most (pilot scope, termination clauses, audit access, data ownership)? Options: Pilot module, Scalable scope add-ons, Clear termination terms, Audit & compliance access, Data ownership clarity
• Describe the minimal governance cadence you’d accept to feel comfortable (who meets, how often, what gets reported). Options: Weekly tactical, Bi-weekly, Monthly executive, Quarterly strategic
• What objective acceptance criteria would you use to judge a pilot program successful? Options: Approval speed improvement, Reduced objection rate, Positive examiner feedback, Accurate forecasting, Cost reduction
• What compliance, security, or vendor risk questions would block you from starting immediately?

Ready for Lift-off?

• If everything had to be ready to run a pilot next month, what is most likely to be missing or delayed? Options: SERFF access, Complete templates, Examiner contact list, Internal sign-offs, Budget approval
• What is the current status of SERFF access and permissions for your team and any external partners? Options: Full access for internal team, Limited access for partners, No external access allowed, Access pending
• Are the data feeds and exhibits used for filings (loss triangles, trend fits, exposure data) production-ready or would they need grooming? Options: Production-ready, Minor grooming required, Major cleanup required, Not available
• Do you have primary examiner contacts for priority states and can you share preferred communication style (email, portal, phone)? Options: Yes – contacts & email, Yes – contacts but prefer portal, No – need help identifying, Partial list
• Who would you designate as the internal lead(s) for a pilot—name roles and availability?
• What timeline would you prefer for scheduling the first submissions if pilot readiness is confirmed? Options: Immediate (2–4 weeks), Near-term (1–2 months), Q3–Q4 planning, Longer than 3 months

Getting Comfortable: Tell Us About Your Filing Rhythm

• How many active filings do you typically have across all states at a given time? Options: 1–10, 11–25, 26–50, 51–100, 100+
• Which lines of business make up most of that volume? Options: Personal Auto, Homeowners, Commercial Property, Workers' Compensation, Commercial Auto, Other
• How predictable is your filing cadence (for example: annual windows, seasonal, or ad-hoc)? Options: Highly predictable (annual windows), Mostly predictable with exceptions, Largely ad-hoc, Unpredictable/chaotic
• Describe a typical filing’s lifecycle in your organization — from initial indication through SERFF submission — highlighting major handoffs and timelines.
• Who are the decision-makers and approvers you involve before a filing goes live (roles, not names)? Options: Chief Actuary, Head of Regulatory Affairs, VP of Product, General Counsel, Pricing/Product Managers, Other

Why Do So Many Filings Stall?

• When filings stall repeatedly, what single pattern do you observe and why do you think it keeps repeating?
• Where in the review pipeline do you most often see delays (select all that apply)? Options: Pre-submission internal approvals, SERFF processing/assembly, Initial DOI examiner review, Formal DOI objections, Internal rework after feedback, Other
• In your experience, how often do DOI objections trigger material actuarial rework versus primarily narrative clarifications? Options: Mostly actuarial rework, Mostly narrative/clarification, Even split, Rarely require either
• How long does a typical stall add to overall approval time on average? Options: <1 week, 1–4 weeks, 1–3 months, 3+ months, Varies widely
• Tell us about one recent filing that stalled — what happened, how did your teams feel and react, and what did you learn?

Who’s Carrying the Load — and What’s Breaking Under It?

• If you had to name the resource gap that causes the most late nights and missed deadlines, what would it be?
• Which teams or roles are regularly involved in preparing and approving filings (select all that apply)? Options: Legal/compliance, Actuarial analysts, Senior actuaries, Regulatory specialists, Product managers, IT/data engineers, External consultants/vendors
• Approximately how many full-time equivalents (FTEs) do you allocate to filing work during peak season? Options: 0–2, 3–5, 6–10, 11–20, 20+
• Do you augment internal capacity with external vendors? If yes, which parts of the filing lifecycle do you outsource? Options: Actuarial analysis, SERFF assembly, Regulatory narrative, Objection response, Full program management, We don't use external help
• How does capacity strain show up among your people — what are the emotional or behavioral signs (e.g., firefighting, missed reviews, avoided DOI conversations)?

How Standardized — or Wildly Different — Are Your State Stories?

• How much of each filing is standardized versus tailored across states, and what would it cost or risk you to standardize more?
• Do you maintain state-specific templates and narratives, regional templates with tweaks, or adapt filings case-by-case? Options: State-specific templates for most states, Regional templates with state tweaks, Mostly case-by-case adaptations, No formal templates
• Which states consistently require unique treatment or create the most rework for your team?
• How do you capture and share examiner preferences, past objections, and unofficial state 'rules of thumb' across your teams? Options: Centralized knowledge base, Shared spreadsheet/tracker, Email and memory-based, External vendor intelligence, None
• Give one example of a state requirement or examiner preference that forced you to change methodology, exhibits, or narrative unexpectedly.
• Roughly what percentage of your filings use the same actuarial support package versus custom analyses per state? Options: Nearly all standardized, Majority standardized, Even split, Majority customized, Almost all customized

Show Me Your SERFF Playbook

• If SERFF assembly were a relay race, where do most handoffs fumble the baton — and why?
• Who currently owns SERFF credentials and who is typically responsible for uploading submissions? Options: Internal regulatory team, Actuarial team, Legal, IT, Third-party vendor, Broker/partner
• Do you use formal checklists and QA for SERFF packages before submission? Options: Robust checklists and QA, Basic checklist, Ad-hoc review, No formal QA
• How do you manage version control and ensure the DOI examiner gets the correct, current iteration of exhibits and narratives?
• Which tools or integrations are part of your current workflow (document mgmt, trackers, SERFF, automations)? Options: SERFF, In-house tracker (Excel/Sheets), Commercial filing tracker, Document management (SharePoint/Drive), No integrated tools, Other
• How quickly can you assemble a complete SERFF package for a routine filing today? Options: <1 day, 1–3 days, 4–7 days, >1 week, Varies by line/state

Where DOI Objections Tend to Hit Hard

• Which type of DOI objection, if eliminated, would shorten your cycle time the most?
• Select the top objection categories you receive from DOIs (choose all that apply). Options: Insufficient actuarial support, Methodology concerns, Data quality/aggregation issues, Calculation/math errors, Inconsistent exhibits, Consumer impact/public interest concerns, Filing form/language issues, Other
• Who typically drafts and signs off on objection responses within your organization? Options: Senior actuary, Actuarial analyst, Regulatory specialist, External consultant, Legal, Product lead, Other
• How long does it usually take to draft, internally approve, and submit a substantive objection response? Options: <3 days, 3–7 days, 1–2 weeks, 2+ weeks
• Describe a high-friction objection you handled recently — what was the root cause, how did you resolve it, and what changed afterward?
• Do you perform root-cause analysis (RCA) on objections to prevent recurrence, and if so, how is that documented and acted upon? Options: Yes — formal RCA and prevention plan, Some tracking but informal, No systematic tracking

If We Could Reimagine Your Pipeline — What Would Change Tomorrow?

• Imagine we cut your average approval time by half — what immediate business outcomes would that unlock for you?
• Which KPIs would you prioritize in a redesigned filing program (select up to 4)? Options: Average approval time, Objection rate, Time to first response, Throughput (filings/month), Regulatory cost per filing, Quality/Error rate, Examiner satisfaction
• What target approval timeline would you set today as realistic for routine filings if processes were optimized? Options: <2 weeks, 2–4 weeks, 4–8 weeks, 8+ weeks
• How much cross-state variation are you willing to accept in exchange for faster average throughput? Options: Accept large variation (state-specific outcomes), Accept moderate variation, Accept minimal variation, Require near-uniform treatment
• What dashboard views or reports (examples: live SERFF status, examiner activity, expected approval dates) would make you feel fully in control?
• What would be your biggest concern about moving parts of this program to an external manager? Options: Loss of control, Cost, Data security/privacy, Quality concerns, Internal stakeholder resistance, Integration complexity, Other

Quick Reality Check: What Would It Take to Start Fixing This?

• If we asked for three concrete things tomorrow to begin a small discovery pilot, what would they be and why?
• Which sample materials could you share to help map your current state most effectively (select all that apply)? Options: Recently approved filings, Recently objected filings, Pending SERFF submissions, Template narratives, Actuarial exhibits/datasets, We cannot share samples
• Do you currently have SERFF access we can use for review, or would credentials and permissions need to be provisioned? Options: We have direct access and can grant it, We have access but limited, We require DOI assistance, No access — needs setup
• Who would be the internal point(s) of contact for a discovery pilot and how much dedicated time could they commit per week?
• How soon could you be ready to run a small-state pilot if we agreed on scope and access? Options: Immediate (within 2 weeks), In a month, 2–3 months, Longer than 3 months, Unsure
• Are there legal, contractual, or regulatory constraints (e.g., confidentiality, vendor approvals) that would limit our ability to work together on a pilot? Options: No known constraints, Minor restrictions but workable, Significant contractual/regulatory constraints, Unsure — need to check

Quick Introductions — where we start so we don't spin our wheels

• Which best describes your primary role and decision authority for multi-state filing programs? Options: Chief Actuary, Head of State Regulatory Affairs, VP of Product, Director of Filings/Compliance, Other (please specify)
• Briefly describe your current filing cadence and the typical number of active filings you carry at any one time.
• Which lines of business will be in scope for this program? Options: Personal Auto, Homeowners, Commercial Lines, Workers Compensation, Other
• Who on your team will be the day-to-day contact for operational coordination (name, role, preferred contact method)?
• Do you currently work with external filing partners? If so, what are the main gaps you experience with them? Options: No external partner, Yes — inconsistent quality, Yes — slow objection handling, Yes — poor state-specific narratives, Yes — inadequate tracking/reporting, Other

If We Laid Your Process Bare — what would surprise us?

• What is one thing about your current filing process that you suspect is tolerated rather than fixed?
• Walk us through a recent filing that was delayed: what happened, who was involved, and what forced the delay?
• How often do DOI objections result in actuarial rework versus narrative clarification versus administrative fixes? Options: Mostly actuarial rework, Mostly narrative clarifications, Mostly administrative/formatting, Even mix across types, Not sure
• Where do handoffs most often fail between actuarial, regulatory, and product teams?
• How do these failures feel to your team—frustrating, demoralizing, just a cost of doing business, or something else? Options: Frustrating, Demoralizing, Acceptable cost, Energetic to improve, Other

What's Costing You More Than You Realize?

• Estimate the average business impact when a filing is delayed (days to market, revenue disruption, product timing).
• Roughly how much internal FTE time (hours) is spent per filing from preparation through objection resolution? Options: < 20 hours, 20–50 hours, 50–100 hours, 100–200 hours, > 200 hours, Unknown
• Are there recurring objection themes that keep reappearing across states? If yes, please list the top two.
• Which KPIs do you currently track for your filing program (select all that apply)? Options: Time-to-approval, Objection rate, Number of submissions by state, Time-to-first-response from DOI, Internal FTE hours per filing, Cost per filing, Other
• How do missed approval timelines affect downstream product or pricing decisions in your organization?

Where Technology Helps — and Where It Lets You Down

• If your systems could speak to SERFF and magically fix one friction point, what would you have them do first?
• Do you currently have direct multi-user SERFF access and the ability to submit on behalf of multiple states/carrier codes? Options: Yes — full access, Yes — limited access, No — single user only, No — we rely on the DOI portal, Not sure
• Are there automated data feeds from your actuarial/pricing system into filing assembly or are templates populated manually? Options: Automated feeds exist, Partial automation, Fully manual, Planned but not implemented, Not applicable
• Which systems house your rate tables, loss development, and actuarial backup (select all that apply)? Options: Proprietary actuarial tool, Excel with shared drives, Policy administration system, Data warehouse/BI, Third-party actuarial software, Other
• Do you maintain state-specific templates and narratives today, and how many are actively version-managed? Options: Yes — all states versioned, Partial (major states only), No central templates, Templates exist but not versioned, Not sure
• Which integration options are feasible for your team during onboarding (API, SFTP, manual upload, secure email)? Options: API, SFTP, Manual upload via UI, Secure email, Other

Who Would We Lean On When The Clock Starts Ticking?

• If a filing needed an urgent actuarial tweak during a DOI review, who is the single point we call and how fast can they respond?
• Please list the internal owners (name + role) for these functions: actuarial lead, state regulatory lead, product owner, legal/compliance, and IT support.
• Which of these stakeholders is authorized to sign off on a pilot or SLA: actuarial, regulatory, product, finance, legal? Options: Actuarial, Regulatory, Product, Finance, Legal, Other
• What governance cadence do you prefer for program oversight (weekly operational, biweekly steering, monthly executive)? Options: Weekly operational, Biweekly steering, Monthly executive, Quarterly only, Ad hoc
• How quickly can you provide examiner contacts and introductions for the states we plan to pilot? Options: Immediately, Within 1 week, Within 2–4 weeks, Longer than 1 month, Unable to provide

What Would 'Deployment-Ready' Truly Look Like?

• Name three non-negotiable conditions that must be met before you consider us ready to execute filings on your behalf.
• What acceptance criteria should we use for a single-state pilot (select all that apply)? Options: Successful SERFF submission, No major DOI objections, Objection response within SLA, Accurate reporting/dashboard data, Stakeholder sign-off within timeframe, Other
• Do you have sample filings or 'gold-standard' approvals we can use as templates or tests during readiness validation? Options: Yes — many, Yes — a few key examples, No — we'd need to provide, Not sure
• What day-1 reporting and dashboard elements are essential (e.g., examiner activity, state status, projected approval dates)? Options: Examiner activity log, State-by-state status, Projected approval dates, Objection tracking, FTE/time reporting, Other
• How will you know in the first 90 days that the program is on the right track? What are the leading signals?

Objections and Examiner Signals — can we be predictive instead of reactive?

• When examiners push back, what is the immediate operational impact inside your organization (e.g., scrambling, deprioritizing other work, escalation to leaders)?
• Which states or types of filings historically produce the highest rate of substantive objections? Options: Large states (e.g., CA, NY, TX), Smaller states with unique rules, Lines with complex rating (commercial, WC), All states equally, Not sure
• Do you prefer rapid, iterative objection responses or a consolidated, fully-vetted response strategy? Why? Options: Rapid iterations, Consolidated vetted responses, Hybrid by state/type, Undecided
• How would you like our team to involve your internal actuaries during an objection — read-only, consult, co-author, or hand-off? Options: Read-only, Consult, Co-author, Hand-off to us, Other
• Are there specific examiner behaviors or phrases that have historically signaled a likely approval versus extended negotiation?

Commitments, Timelines, and Next Small Bets

• If we had to run a single-state pilot tomorrow, which state would best prove value quickly and why?
• What realistic timeline do you expect from readiness kickoff to the first submission (select one)? Options: < 1 week, 1–2 weeks, 2–4 weeks, 1–3 months, Longer than 3 months
• Which documents and accesses are non-negotiable to receive in week 1 (select all that apply)? Options: SERFF access credentials, Sample filings and approvals, Actuarial data extracts, State templates and narratives, Examiner contact list, Other
• Who will approve pilot pricing and contractual terms and how long does that approval typically take? Options: Actuarial/Finance (quick), Legal (moderate), Executive/Board (slow), Multi-party requiring 2+ weeks, Other
• What communication channel makes your team most responsive for day-to-day coordination and urgent questions? Options: Email, Phone, Slack/Teams, CustomerNode platform, Other
• After the pilot, how would you like learnings captured and prioritized for the next phase? Options: Joint retrospective workshop, Written learnings and action plan, Prioritized backlog in platform, Executive summary only, Other

Quick Check: How You Handle Filings Today

• Tell us briefly how many active filings your team manages on a rolling basis (last 12 months)? Options: 0–10, 11–25, 26–50, 51–100, 100+
• Who on your team owns the end-to-end filing process day-to-day? Options: Chief Actuary, Head of Regulatory Affairs, VP Product, Program Manager, Shared across teams, Other
• Which product lines are included in your regular multi-state filing program? Options: Personal Auto, Homeowners, Commercial Lines, Workers' Compensation, Other
• Roughly what percentage of your filings require state-by-state customization versus a single national narrative? Options: 0–10%, 11–25%, 26–50%, 51–75%, 76–100%
• Describe a recent filing that felt 'typical' for your team—what went smoothly and what didn’t?
• How do you currently track filing status and examiner interactions? Options: Internal spreadsheet, SERFF only, Commercial tracking tool, Vendor dashboard, Combination, Other

Are You Settling for Slow Approvals?

• When a filing is delayed, do you view it as an inevitable regulatory friction or a process failure we could fix? Options: Mostly inevitable, Mostly fixable, Depends on the state, Unsure
• Which of these best describes your typical approval timeline versus target? Options: Faster than target, Meeting target, 1–3 months behind target, 3–6 months behind target, 6+ months behind target
• How often do DOI objections materially change your actuarial indication or product rollout timing? Options: Rarely, Quarterly, Multiple times per quarter, Most filings
• Which types of DOI responses tend to create the most back-and-forth? Options: Request for additional data, Methodology questions, Credibility/weighting challenges, Form/coverage questions, Procedural (SERFF errors), Other
• Share an example where a filing delay had measurable business impact (lost premium, delayed pricing, compliance risk). What happened?
• If you could shave X days from your average approval time, how many days would create noticeable business benefit? Options: <15 days, 15–30 days, 31–60 days, 61–90 days, 90+ days

Who's Really Driving the Decision?

• Which internal decision roles are required sign-offs before a filing is submitted? Options: Chief Actuary, Head of Regulatory, VP Product, Legal, Finance, CEO/President, Other
• How clear are decision timelines and escalation paths when competing priorities push filings? Options: Very clear, Somewhat clear, Vague, Nonexistent
• Who typically owns objection responses—internal actuarial, regulatory, a combined team, or an external vendor? Options: Internal actuarial, Internal regulatory, Combined internal team, External vendor, Depends on the filing
• Tell us about a time when stakeholder misalignment delayed a filing—what decisions were missing or contested?
• What decision cadence would reduce friction—weekly steering, biweekly touchpoints, monthly reporting, or event-driven escalations? Options: Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Event-driven, Other
• Which sign-off is most commonly the final gating item before submission? Options: Actuarial approval, Regulatory sign-off, Legal review, Product approval, Other

Where the Work Actually Bottlenecks

• What part of the filing lifecycle most frequently bottlenecks progress? Options: Actuarial analysis, SERFF assembly/submission, Regulatory narrative prep, Examiner Q&A, Legal/compliance review, IT/data prep
• When bottlenecks occur, are they usually due to capacity, clarity of requirements, or quality of the submission? Options: Capacity, Unclear requirements, Submission quality, External DOI delays, Other
• How predictable is examiner behavior across the states you file in—consistent, somewhat variable, or highly unpredictable? Options: Consistent, Somewhat variable, Highly unpredictable
• Which states consistently generate the most objections or rework for you? Please list and say why (if known).
• Do you maintain standardized templates and state narratives—or is each filing created from scratch? Options: Standardized templates, Partially standardized, Mostly from scratch, No formal templates
• How long does it typically take to respond fully to an examiner’s objection once the team is working on it? Options: <7 days, 7–14 days, 15–30 days, 30–60 days, 60+ days

How Do You Measure Success — and Does It Match Reality?

• Which KPIs do you currently track for the filing program? Options: Approval time, Objection rate, Throughput (# filings/month), Time-to-response, Post-approval implementation accuracy, None
• Are your reported metrics reconciled against a single source of truth or assembled from multiple spreadsheets/tools? Options: Single source of truth, Multiple sources reconciled, Multiple sources not reconciled, We don't report metrics
• When metrics paint a negative picture, do you trace the root cause to people, process, data, or regulatory nuance? Options: People, Process, Data, Regulatory nuance, Combination
• Tell us about any KPI you wish you tracked but don’t—what prevents you from tracking it today?
• How confident are you that your current reporting would hold up in an executive review or board meeting? Options: Somewhat confident, Very confident, Not confident, Would need verification
• If we were to validate reporting accuracy, which dataset would you want us to audit first? Options: Approval timelines, Objection logs, SERFF submissions, Examiner response times, Throughput metrics, Other

What Would a Clean, Repeatable Filing Rhythm Look Like?

• Imagine filings ran like clockwork—what would that free your team to do instead?
• What cadence do you ideally want for multi-state filings—seasonal annual waves, rolling monthly, quarterly bursts, or event-driven? Options: Annual waves, Monthly rolling, Quarterly bursts, Event-driven, Mixed
• Which elements must be guaranteed in an SLA to make you feel comfortable outsourcing parts of the program? Options: Response time to examiner, State-specific SLA, Quality reviews, Reporting cadence, Penalties/credits, Other
• How would you prioritize: speed of approval, consistency across states, or minimizing objection frequency? Rank in order of importance. Options: Speed of approval, Consistency across states, Minimize objections
• Describe a single ‘non-negotiable’ outcome you need from a filing program (e.g., max X days to approval, <Y% objections).

What's Worth Automating vs. Keeping Human?

• If you had to choose one automated capability that would save the most time, would it be SERFF assembly, narrative templating, objection triage, examiner tracking, or analytics? Options: Narrative templating, Objection triage, Examiner tracking, Analytics, Other, SERFF assembly
• Which parts of the process do you feel must remain human-led because of judgment or nuance? Options: Actuarial judgment, Regulatory narrative crafting, Critical objection responses, Final sign-offs, Stakeholder communication
• How mature are your data feeds for actuarial analysis and SERFF assembly—well-integrated, partly manual, or manual/paper-based? Options: Well-integrated, Partly manual, Mostly manual, Paper-based
• Have you used any automation or template libraries for state narratives before? What worked and what didn’t?
• Which integrations would be required for automation to work smoothly (policy system, loss data warehouse, BI tool, other)? Options: Policy system, Loss data warehouse, BI/analytics, Document repository, None

If We Could Fix One Thing by Next Filing, What Would It Be?

• If you had to pick one priority to improve immediately, would it be reducing approval time, cutting objection rates, increasing throughput, or improving reporting accuracy? Options: Reduce approval time, Cut objection rates, Increase throughput, Improve reporting accuracy, Other
• Why is that the single most important change right now? What business outcome does it unlock?
• What small, testable change could we implement for the next filing to validate that improvement?
• Who would need to be committed internally to run that pilot and how much time could they realistically allocate? Options: Actuarial lead (part-time), Regulatory lead (part-time), Dedicated program manager, Cross-functional team, Other
• What would success look like for that pilot—specific KPIs or qualitative signals?

Commitments, Risks, and Red Flags

• What internal constraints are most likely to block progress (budget, headcount, executive buy-in, legacy systems)? Options: Budget, Headcount, Executive buy-in, Legacy systems, Vendor contracts, Other
• Have you had prior engagements with external filing partners? If so, what caused those relationships to succeed or fail?
• Which regulatory or political risks should we be sensitive to in your states (high-profile DOI scrutiny, recent rule changes, rate caps)? Options: High DOI scrutiny, Recent rule changes, Rate caps, Legislative risk, None
• Are there confidentiality, data governance, or access constraints we should know before validating sample filings? Options: SERFF access restrictions, Data sharing limits, Legal NDAs required, No constraints, Other
• What would be the immediate red flag that would make you pause a vendor-run validation (examples: inconsistent documentation, missed deadlines, poor exam response quality)?

Ready to Validate: Practical Next Steps

• If we proposed a short validation engagement, which of these scopes would you prioritize first? Options: Initial submission audit, Objection response workflow test, Reporting reconciliation, SERFF access/assembly test, State narrative review
• How quickly could you provide sample filings, examiner logs, and access to your tracking data for a two-week validation sprint? Options: Immediately, Within 1 week, Within 2–4 weeks, More than 4 weeks, Unsure
• Who should be on our core validation working group from your side (names or roles)?
• What level of reporting cadence would you want during validation—daily touchpoint, twice-weekly updates, weekly summary, or ad-hoc? Options: Daily, Twice-weekly, Weekly, Ad-hoc
• Would you be open to a short, shared channel (Slack/MS Teams) for real-time issue capture and handoffs during the validation? Options: Yes, Maybe, No