Our Company
Back when the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, the healthcare and insurance systems were somewhat fragmented. They only had so much capacity to connect Consumers with Brokers who could then help them sign up for the plan that fit their needs. Many consumers were left with little help, confused and carriers were unable to handle the volume of leads.
Back when the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, the healthcare and insurance systems were somewhat fragmented. They only had so much capacity to connect Consumers with Brokers who could then help them sign up for the plan that fit their needs. Many consumers were left with little help, confused and carriers were unable to handle the volume of leads.
The Vision
John Kurath, Big Wave Systems President, saw the rigors of the first two open enrollment periods and knew there had to be a better way. From the very beginning, the vision was to create a system that would connect people faster to the broker or sales agents who could provide them the information they needed to buy their policy.
Help On Demand was originally developed and launched for healthcare exchanges, the industry in which John and his team had decades of combined experience. Yet, the technology truly transcends to companies in all professional service industries that need intelligent lead distribution which will increase customer satisfaction and improve ROI.
Our Management & Sales Team
John Kurath
President
Mike Ashamalla
Sr. VP of Business Development
Aaron Lanahan
Sr. VP of Product Strategy and Operations
John Neumeier
Vice President National Sales
John Kurath
John is the visionary and CEO of Big Wave systems and its leading product Help On Demand. His entrepreneurial mindset has led to his success of empowering teams to achieve their greatest potential. For over 25 years, John has been in the health insurance space using creativity and innovation to strategically grow both sales and services divisions. He has held top leadership positions at Warner Pacific, Anthem and BenefitMall. John hails from the University of Colorado, Boulder, is a licensed health and life insurance agent as well as serving on many health association boards. The outdoor lifestyle is in his blood and John loves anything in the mountains; hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, fly fishing and kayaking.
Mike Ashamalla
Mike has served as our Sr. VP of Business Development and IT since 2022. Mike has been a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and VP of IT at multiple insurance-related companies for the past 20+ years. He was the VP of IT Operations at Warner Pacific, our sister company, when Big Wave was founded and led the team that developed the technology we now call Synapse. His past roles have included starting and incubating new companies, building first-class technology teams, and the development of disruptive technologies in support of dozens of strategic partners including large insurance carriers and government agencies. Mike holds a BS in Computer Science and a CEBS designation from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and has previously held both property & casualty and life & health licenses. Mike lives in California and enjoys big game fishing and spending time with family.
Aaron Lanahan
Aaron joined the team in 2018 as an IT Project Manager. He now serves as the Sr. VP of Product Strategy and Operations. Aaron’s background is in product strategy and development, program management, project management, and business system analysis. His current role is to manage all relationships with the companies clients and to develop and implement the product roadmap for the organization. Aaron holds a BS in Health Science and is a certified PMP, CSM, and CSPO. Aaron lives in Colorado and enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, golfing, and working out at his local CrossFit gym.
John Neumeier
John has over 30 years of successful experience within sales, sales and marketing, and executive leadership positions for overall sales operations. His experience background is within insurance, financial services, construction and architectural products, healthcare, mortgage (traditional and reverse), and technology. John has worked with several startup companies regionally and nationally and is very familiar with multiple sales distribution channels, sales systems and sales training. He has built and managed several national sales call centers in addition to implementing other sales strategies. He has professional training and sales management education through counselor selling and other sales management courses. John has lived in Colorado for over 31 years and in his free time he enjoys, skiing, golf, sports, and is also a professional artist.
Maha Roberts
Maha is an accomplished sales professional with over 29 year of experience in the health insurance industry at prominent companies such as Humana, BenefitMall and Warner Pacific. Her expertise lies in leveraging in-depth product knowledge and strong communication skills. Every person who works with Maha knows she is committed to making sure her product sales provide growth, revenue and value for all stakeholders and her relationships are ongoing. She has led many start up divisions and teams and knows the struggles that many companies face in the fast paced world of insurance. Maha resides in Colorado. She enjoys music and has a passion for the ocean, getting every chance she can to dip her feet in the salt water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Synapse is a technology that distributes leads. The Synapse algorithm quickly and logically uses data points to deliver the leads you generate from your website or marketing campaigns to your brokers or sales reps.
You set the criteria and response times to maximize your speed to lead.
The faster a potential customer gets answers, the more likely they are to convert to a sale. Many companies have a manual clunky way to deliver leads via email or text with no visibility.
With both products no lead is ignored – if it’s not accepted it goes to the next person. You set the parameters and criteria and let the algorithm do the work. There are also accountability features that ensure you have the transparency to see the contact rate of your prospects. Some of our customers have seen a 5%-26% increase in conversion.
No. Our expertise is technology and lead distribution.
No, both Help On Demand and Lead Distribution On Demand work with your CRM and increase its efficiency. It adds speed and intelligence to the lead delivery. It also allows you to ensure no leads “drop on the floor”. Our products can also stand-alone if you do not want integrate with a CRM.
It can take as little as 30 days or as long as 120 days depending on the size and complexity of your organization’s needs. Our technology team does most of the heavy lifting but will need some internal IT collaboration to ensure a seamless integration.
We would be happy to schedule a discovery call with you to give you an estimate based on gathering some data and information about your needs.
Included in your implementation will be a one-time training session and unlimited access to training materials.
The great news is our customers very rarely incur the need to contact us for issues. In the rare occasion you need assistance or there is a problem we are available to help ensure you are up and running efficiently. Our up time is 99.9%.
Every company is different and so are your needs. We customize the software and the cost depending on your configuration.