Use Outlook's AI to Draft Client and Carrier Emails Faster
For Commercial Insurance Account Managers ·
What This Does
Outlook's AI writing feature drafts complete professional emails from your brief description — turning "tell client their renewal is ready, premium went up 12%, attached proposal, call me with questions" into a polished 5-sentence email. For account managers handling 60–100 emails per day, this can save 60–90 minutes daily.
Before You Start
- Microsoft Outlook open on your computer (desktop or web version)
- Signed in to your work or personal Microsoft account
- Microsoft 365 subscription that includes Copilot (check with agency IT — many agencies have M365 Business)
Steps
1. Start a new email or reply
Click New Email for outbound messages, or Reply to respond to an existing one.
2. Open Draft with Copilot
In the compose window, look for the Copilot icon (sparkle/star symbol) in the compose toolbar. Click it and select Draft with Copilot. A prompt box opens.
3. Describe the email in plain terms
Type your instructions — not the email itself:
"Tell a commercial client their workers comp renewal quote is ready. Premium increased 8% due to payroll growth. Attached is the comparison showing two carrier options. Ask them to call to review by end of week."
4. Generate and review
Click Generate. Read the draft carefully — verify all facts, dollar amounts, and action items before sending. Copilot gets the tone right; you verify the facts.
5. Use Coaching or Refine
If the draft is too long, click Refine → Shorten. If you want more formal tone, click Refine → More formal. Each regeneration takes 5 seconds.
Real Example
Scenario: An underwriter just emailed declining your restaurant submission due to the liquor liability exposure. You need to respond acknowledging the decline and asking if they'd consider a modified program.
What you type to Copilot: "Reply to underwriter declining our restaurant submission. The declination was due to liquor liability exposure. Ask if they would consider the account if we removed liquor liability and placed that with a specialty carrier. Keep tone professional and collaborative."
What you get: A 3-4 sentence professional response that acknowledges the decline gracefully and proposes a path forward — written in the tone underwriters appreciate.
Tips
- Use Copilot for every email that requires more than 3 sentences — let it do the drafting, you do the fact-checking
- For carrier emails specifically, tell Copilot "professional and respectful to an underwriter" to get the right register
- Smart Reply buttons appear at the bottom of received emails — for simple responses ("got it", "will do", "confirming receipt"), one click sends a professional reply
Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.