This slogan became the catch phrase for “As Seen on TV” guru Ron Popeil’s Ronco electric oven. The phrase tapped into the customer’s common need: more time. It provided the ability to multitask, without the burden of actually thinking about two things at one time. It set the stage for our modern-day surge in automation.
Such automated systems and processes are an essential part of your agency management system best practices. If it can be automated, it should. Self-operating systems take fewer resources, saving money and time. And, they free up space for “back burner” projects like tackling prospecting and marketing initiatives, which eventually lead to a larger bottom line.
When it comes to automation, your agency needs to invest in these essential pieces.
Carrier Downloads
Whether its commercial, personal, or both, setting up carrier downloads is a must. Carrier downloads promise up-to-date policy information and client records 24/7. No more calling carriers multiple times a day, tying up lines and sucking productivity. This streamlines system allows staff to focus on more important things, like your customers.
Find out how to get started with carrier downloads here
Email Integration
Integrating your agency management system with your email system allows you to automate prospect and client tracking. With email integration, every email you send is linked to a client or prospect profile automatically. You’ll never forget to tag this important piece of relationship-building information again.
Integrated Accounting
Similar to email integration, integrated accounting within your management system saves you from forgetting essential steps. With integrated accounting, you only need to enter financial information once. And, your system can automatically create reports based on what you’re already recording in your system. The effects on your business are dramatic.
Customer Portals
The automation effects of customer portals may not seem obvious, but giving clients access to their policy information is a real time-saver. Synching your policy information with a secure customer portal on your website can help you automate things like policy inquiries, address changes, and claims filing.
Defined Workflows
To benefit these time-saving elements, all the above pieces must be part of your agency workflows. Once you know the functionality of each automated system, it can only do its job if it’s integrated into your agency’s current systems and processes. Make an effort to define your systems and make automation a part of them.
Learn more about updating and improving agency processes here
As you look into these automation wonders, check in with your management system provider to ensure they can integrate these elements. If your system isn’t able to add these technologies, you’ll be back at square one.
Look for a system like SIS’s Partner XE, which is built to grow with your agency, through semi-annual updates based on client needs. We focus on training, too, ensuring our enhancements are not just “bells and whistles” that no one knows how to use.
When you think essential agency tools, your management system is likely first on your mind. Though this system does a lot (okay, almost everything) for your agency, it alone is not enough to compete with the fast-paced insurance industry.
To stay on top of progress, you need to add other tools to improve insurance agency workflows, creating an adaptable management system. With these tools, you will boost your system’s agility and better serve both customers and prospects alike.
Integrating comparative raters into your agency management system allows for quick, easy policy comparisons. As Kayak or Priceline does for travel, raters do for insurance. With an imbedded comparative rater in your agency management system, you can get back to prospects and clients faster with the best policy options and premiums to fit their needs.
Customer Portals
Creating a space where your customers can view and update their information not only streamlines your communications, it provides customers with a sense of security. Knowing they can view and update their information at any time means customers feel in control.
Such portals should be an extension of your management system and accessible on your agency website. In these portals, customers can print certificates and ID cards, look up policy information, and update their contact information, among other actions. Providing this quick access to information makes your agency versatile.
Mobile Apps
Naturally, mobile apps play a big part in mobilizing your agency management system. Agencies use their mobile app as an extension of their management system, allowing them “on-the-go” access to all their system has to offer. Producers use their management system’s app to look up prospect and client policy info, view contact history and update important records. Customers take advantage of agency mobile apps during emergencies, snapping photos of accidents and initiating claims in the moment.
Having a scanner may not intuitively translate to improving system workflows, but scanning plays a critical role in an important initiative: going paperless. A paperless agency is no longer a trend, it’s a requirement. Storing documents virtually protects them from disaster and theft and improves E&O protection. Adding a scanner to each workstation makes going paperless that much easier.
It’s 2017. Each member of your agency should have their own email address and check it regularly. Customers now rely on email communication, and many times prefer it over in-person or phone calls to get business done. The speed of email is its charm. Policy documents can now be sent, signed, and securely returned through email. And the best systems include email integration so you can send and store emails and easily attach documents right from your management system portal.
Internet Providers
Working with a reliable internet provider is integral to your agency, and especially your management system operations. Your agency needs a provider with reliable upload and downloads speeds that are able to handle the large amount of data you’re processing daily. One way to ensure you’re getting the speeds you paid for is to test them on Speedtest.net, a website that rates your upload and download speeds. Your provider should also be responsive to any issues, getting your agency back online quickly.
These tools, coupled with an adaptable agency management system, will help you stay a cut above the rest. At SIS, we work with multiple partners to bring mobile, online rating, paperless workflows, and other efficiency-wielding tools into our Partner XE management system. We’re constantly improving our system, taking requests from our clients, and challenging the status quo in the industry.
To find out more about SIS and our Partner XE agency management system, contact us here or at 800.747.7005, Option 6.
These are just a sampling of the many learning resources we provide to our clients. But, the greatest resource is the clients themselves. We at SIS look for ways to connect clients, encouraging them to share best practices and learn from each other’s mistakes. Through regional learning workshops and client-run workgroups, our agency partners are constantly investigating and improving the Partner XE management system.
Through these tools and networking opportunities, we help our clients get the first down they need. I challenge you to do the same.
Strategic Insurance Software, LLC (“SIS”, “Company”, “us”, “our”, or “we”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.
This policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the websites www.partnerxe.net, www.partnerxe.com or www.sispartnerplatform.com (our “Website”) and/or use Partner XE™ and/or any web or mobile (including tablet) application, and any supplemental information, tools, programs, equations, algorithms, methods, ideas, or processes of any kind (collectively, the “Services”) that SIS has made available. This policy also describes our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing such information.
This policy applies to information we collect:
On this Website.
In connection with Partner XE™ and any mobile or tablet applications.
In e-mail, text and other electronic messages between you and this Website.
It does not apply to information collected by:
Us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by SIS or any third party; or
any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries), including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Website
Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is to not use our Website or the Services. By accessing or using this Website or the Services, you agree to this privacy policy. This policy may change from time to time and your continued use of this Website or the Services after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so it is your responsibility to check the policy periodically for updates.
Children Under the Age of 13
Our Website and the Services are not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any information to or on the Website or through the Services. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on this Website or on or through any of its features or the Services, register on the Website, make any purchases through the Website, use any of the interactive features of this Website or the Services or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at [email protected].
Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It
We collect several types of information from and about users of our Website, including information:
by which you or your customers may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number, credit card information, billing information, and any other identifier by which you may be contacted online or offline (“personal information”); and/or
about your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Website and usage details.
We collect this information:
Directly from you when you provide it to us.
Automatically as you navigate through the Website. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses and information collected through cookies, web beacons and other tracking technologies.
From third parties, for example, our business partners.
Information You Provide to Us.
The information we collect on or through our Website may include:
Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website. This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our Website or the Services or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information when you report a problem with our Website or the Services.
Records and copies of your correspondence (including e-mail addresses), if you contact us.
Details of transactions you carry out through our Website and of the fulfillment of your orders. You may be required to provide financial information before placing an order for the Services through our Website.
Your search queries on the Website.
Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies.
As you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns, including:
Details of your visits to our Website, including but not limited to traffic data, location data, client data, logs and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Website.
Information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system and browser type.
The information we collect automatically is statistical data and may include personal/company information. It helps us to improve our Website and the Services and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:
Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Website according to your individual interests.
Speed up your searches.
Recognize you when you return to our Website.
The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:
Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website.
Flash Cookies. Certain features of our Website may use local stored objects (or Flash cookies) to collect and store information about your preferences and navigation to, from and on our Website. Flash cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as are used for browser cookies.
Web Beacons. Pages of our Website and our e-mails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an e-mail and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).
Third-party Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies.
Some content or applications, including advertisements, on the Website are served by third-parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers and application providers. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our website. The information they collect may be associated with your personal/company information or they may collect information, including personal/company information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content.
We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly.
How We Use Your Information
We use information that we collect about you or your company or that you or your company provide to us, including any personal information:
To present our Website and its contents and the Services to you.
To provide you with information, products or services that you request from us.
To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.
To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection.
To notify you about changes to our Website, the Services, or any other products or services we offer or provide.
To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Website or through the Product.
In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
For any other purpose with your consent.
We may also use your information to contact you about our own and third-parties’ goods and services that may be of interest to you. If you do not want us to use your information in this way, please contact [email protected].
We may use the information we have collected from you to enable us to display advertisements to our advertisers’ target audiences. Even though we do not disclose your personal information for these purposes without your consent, if you click on or otherwise interact with an advertisement, the advertiser may assume that you meet its target criteria.
Disclosure of Your Information
We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual (or any individual company), without restriction.
We may disclose personal/company information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy:
To our subsidiaries and affiliates.
To contractors, service providers and other third parties we use to support our business and who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of SIS’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by SIS about our Website or Services users is among the assets transferred.
To third parties to market their products or services to you if you have not opted out of these disclosures.
To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it.
For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
With your consent.
We may also disclose your personal/company information:
To comply with any court order, law or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request.
To enforce or apply any Agreement between SIS and you for use of any portion or version of the Services and other agreements, including for billing and collection purposes.
If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of SIS, our customers or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.
Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information
We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal/company information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:
Tracking Technologies and Advertising. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. To learn how you can manage your Flash cookie settings, visit the Flash player settings page on Adobe’s website. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
We do not control third parties’ collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way.
Your California Privacy Rights
California Civil Code Section § 1798.83 permits users of our Website that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an e-mail to [email protected].
Data Security
We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal/company information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration and disclosure.
The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to the Services or certain parts of our Website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal/company information, we cannot guarantee the security of your information transmitted to the Services or our Website. Any transmission of information (including personal or company information) is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained in the Services or on the Website.
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable e-mail address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.
Contact Information
To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, contact us at [email protected].
Berndt and Murfin Insurance Agency Client Stories Getting Started Training Support Partner User Community Agency Information Based in Portsmouth, OH (3 locations). Founded in 1921 18% commercial and 82% personal 30 employees Dan Cassidy “… I’ve seen the alternatives....
A recent SIS survey revealed 54% of agencies are “neutral” on how they view their marketing success. “Some days we see results, some days we don’t. Overall, we’re unsure of our success,” many reported. This kind of vagueness is unsettling—how can an agency improve its marketing efforts without a clear picture of its current status?
To add to the problem, 66% of agencies budget only 1-5% for marketing[1].
As the way we do business changes, so, too, does the way we market. If you’re looking for ways to up your marketing, try these insurance marketing strategies to help your agency bring in business and grow your base 1. Establish your brand You can’t market something...
In an increasingly mobile and connected world, your agency needs to respond by transforming to a digital insurance agency. Your employees, customers, and prospects are accessing more information digitally than ever before. Is your agency equipped to mitigate the risks...
Connecting with customers is an essential part of the insurance business, and, these days, texting is a universal way of connecting with anyone. If you’re in the business of connecting, shouldn’t texting be part of your insurance software? The unexpected and...
A recent SIS survey revealed 54% of agencies are “neutral” on how they view their marketing success. “Some days we see results, some days we don’t. Overall, we’re unsure of our success,” many reported. This kind of vagueness is unsettling—how can an agency improve its marketing efforts without a clear picture of its current status?
