Enabling Agent-Assisted Applications for Ladder

Introduction

Agents remain central to how most people purchase life insurance, and are critical to Ladder's long-term growth strategy.

Ladder partnered with Prosperity, a life insurance carrier, to distribute Prosperity-backed term products through Ladder's platform, with Ladder serving as the front-facing application experience for both agents and clients.

I led the design of Ladder's agent-assisted experience, enabling IMO distribution through agent-led applications and pass-the-application flows that allow clients to review and submit with confidence.

This case study focuses on the agent-assisted application flow, the core unlock for scaling Ladder through the IMO channel.

The Problem

At the time, Ladder only supported referrals and quote sharing for agents.

Once a quote was shared:

• Agents had no control over what happened next
• No visibility into client progress
• No ability to guide, clarify, or close in the moment
• No way to ensure high intent or premium realization

For IMO agents, who are accustomed to closing policies live, this was a deal-breaker.

Phase 1 - Study & Research

Research & Discovery

To validate the opportunity, I spoke directly with multiple agents across the IMO spectrum.

What we learned

• Some agents appreciated the simplicity of sharing a link
• Many strongly preferred completing the application with their clients
• Agent-assisted flows:
  • Ensure higher intent
  • Increase confidence at decision points
  • Significantly improve bind rates
• Agents saw presence as the difference between a quote and a close

This confirmed that Ladder needed to support both autonomy and control, not just referrals.

Scoping the Opportunity

Rather than treating this as a feature, we framed it as a new distribution capability:

• Unlock IMO-scale growth without building a full agent portal
• Improve bind rates by supporting high-intent, guided applications
• Create a repeatable pattern for future agent partnerships
• Generate a sustainable, recurring revenue channel

The goal wasn't just to help agents. It was to materially improve conversion quality and premium realization.

Phase 2 - Create

Agent Handoff Flow

I designed a flexible model where agents complete the complex parts, then hand off to the client for review and final submission. This lets agents:

1. Start the application with their client
2. Complete high-friction or high-context questions together
3. Pass the application to the client for review
4. Allow the client to submit confidently, without rework

This balanced agent control with client ownership, reducing drop-off while preserving trust.

Key Design Principles

• Agent presence at high-stakes moments
  (health questions, coverage decisions, pricing clarity)
• No duplicate effort
  Clients never re-enter information already completed with an agent
• Clear handoff
  Clients understand what the agent completed vs. what they're confirming
• Fast time to value
  Designed to close policies in-session when possible

Phase 3 - Learn & Impact

Post-launch performance confirmed the strategy:

• 26.9% end-to-end conversion
  → Roughly 1 in 4 agent-assisted clients bind a policy
• 65% offer rate
  → With agent guidance, clients are far more likely to qualify successfully
• Strong month-over-month growth
  → The IMO channel became a regular, dependable revenue stream

This wasn't just additive volume. It was higher-quality conversion with stronger premium realization.

Reflection & Key Learnings

Early in this project, there was a strong pull toward adapting our existing D2C flow for agents. It was the path of least engineering lift and the most familiar frame. I pushed back. Agents don't use a product, they sell with it. Their success metric isn't completion rate. It's close rate. Applying a D2C mindset to an agent experience would have optimized for the wrong thing entirely, no matter how polished the execution.

That position got resistance, mostly around engineering scope. So I took the research directly to senior leadership and made the case: if we treat agents like D2C users, we cap the channel's potential before it has a chance to prove itself. When agents told me "if I can't walk my client through this, I lose the sale," that wasn't feedback on a feature. It was the clearest possible signal that we needed a fundamentally different approach. Leadership agreed, and we built it right.

What I carry forward: design conviction only matters if you can navigate the org to act on it. Having the research isn't enough. You need to know whose decision it is, what they care about, and how to make the case in those terms. The 26.9% conversion rate was the outcome, but the real work happened before a single screen was built.

Next Steps

I'm now extending agent-assisted applications to more products and partners, using this model as a standard for IMO distribution. We're bringing API-driven underwriting into agent flows to enable faster decisions and higher-quality conversion, while leveraging this success to onboard new IMO partners and scale distribution efficiently.

This work laid the foundation for a scalable, multi-partner agent strategy that supports long-term growth without added user friction. By positioning agent enablement as a core growth lever while preserving Ladder's simple D2C experience, we're building a distribution model that works for both agents and direct consumers.