How many times have you started something without reading the directions first? Whether it’s a “some assembly required” Christmas gift or that “but it looked so good in the store” table from Ikea, chances are it ends in frustration. Like it or not, you’ll end up using those directions—like you should have done in the first place. Why do we resist taking advantage of the help that’s right in front of us?
Many agencies do the same with agency management system training. System training is part of what you’re paying for—why not take advantage? All the old reasons come up: “It’s so busy right now. We just don’t have the time,” or “Everything’s working fine. We don’t need any training.”
And we all know if something is important enough, we find the time. For your agency, management system training is that important.
Why Take the Time to Train?
There are many reasons why training is vital to agency growth. For one, it gets your staff on the same page. Everyone learns the same methods at the same time. This uniformity is helpful as you work to document and streamline your operations.
Training also empowers agencies members to understand and utilize time-saving enhancements in your system. Good providers update their systems regularly, adding new features and enhancing others to quicken workflows. But, if your staff isn’t trained on these enhancements, chances are they’ll continue using a new system in an old way. Slowing down for a short time to train staff may seem inconvenient, but you’ll really save time in the long run.
In that same vein, training helps your agency do more without spending more. When used to its full capability, your agency management system allows your staff to get more done with less time. You gain all the benefits of hiring new talent or upgrading systems without any of the cost.
Finally, investing in training simply means you’re getting your money’s worth. Training should be part of your provider’s services. If you’re not taking advantage, you’re essentially wasting money. It’s time to start putting that investment to work.
How to Get Training Started
If you haven’t had agency management system training before, you may not know where to start. Follow these steps to get training up and running at your agency:
Determine where you need to improve: focus first on areas where you feel you’re moving too slow or aren’t seeing a lot of progress. Tackle these points in your training first.
Decide who needs to be trained: does your whole staff need a reboot or should you focus on one department first? Figure out groupings and target trainings for each.
Get in touch with your provider: find out what types of training (in-person, online, self-directed) they offer and decide what combination works best for your agency. Get their advice on how to structure training to best fit your culture.
Delegate a point person: depending on your staff size, this may be one person overall or one for each training group. This person will be the “go-to” once training is over to help people put what they’ve learned into practice.
Take advantage of continuing education: find out what your provider has to offer to keep you up-to-date with best practices and other training materials.
There’s more to an agency management experience than a top-notch system—you need to be able to use it. With regular trainings, you can be sure your agency is utilizing your system to its fullest, maximizing your agency’s efficiency and getting the biggest bang for your buck.
At SIS, we’ve seen the value of training in action. That’s why we provide targeted in-person and online trainings for our agency partners, and offer anytime access to great training resources on our PartnerNet user portal. Through a comprehensive KnowledgeBase, QuickGuides, and webinar recordings, as well as regular Regional Learnings, we keep our Partner XE community connected, informed, and educated.
We’re more than bells and whistles, we’re a partner working with and for our agencies to ensure they’re getting the most out of the Partner XE system. Find out more by reading what our clients have to say or get in touch at https://sispartnerplatform.com/contact-us.
The Power of the People How Partner XE Stays a Perfect Fit
As a company, we cannot evolve without our clients. Each client interactions is an opportunity to grow: to understanding expectations, market forces, and ultimately how we can best serve our partner agencies. Conversations with our support team, Regional Learning Events, Industry Events and work-groups all contribute to making Partner XE its most efficient.
Through these interactions, we gain innovative ideas to enable greater agency effectiveness for each role. This approach enables our clients to grow, add revenue producing roles and never outgrow Partner XE.
At a recent Boston Regional Learning, a client shared their initial skepticism about Partner XE’s growth abilities around commercial lines. When they first invested in the system, the capabilities weren’t quite there…yet. Now, they’ve not only grown at a rate well above the industry average, they’ve kept support staff the same and improved productivity. That’s a great win – for all of us.
It’s one thing to say you want to hear from your clients. It’s a whole other to actually change. We’re intentional about listening and about follow through with a sense of urgency. This creates greater trust and collaboration – acting as a true partner – working with our clients.
We’ll continue to drive innovation through this important partnership. We welcome you to share your agency’s needs with us. Get in touch at [email protected] or 800.747.7005, Option 6.
When he bought Berndt and Murfin Insurance Agency back in 2006, Dan Cassidy was introduced to an early version of Partner XE, SEMCI Partner. As he continued acquiring agencies – six over the past ten years – he also continued to choose Partner XE and Strategic Insurance Software.
“It just keeps getting better,” Dan said of the system, noting features like integrated agency accounting and commercial lines download. Dan also named SIS’s forethought and attention to client needs as integral with each acquisition. “It’s always a little shaky at first,” Dan commented of the transition process, “But we get through it because of the SIS staff. They are always onsite to help us out, and that’s key.”
Partner XE users continue to shape the future of the system through workgroups, surveys, regional learnings and more. Get in touch to find out about this rapidly growing community.
We’ve worked with over a thousand agencies in the past ten years, and if we’ve learned one thing, it’s that no two independent agencies are the same. That’s why we tailor the SIS Partner Platform experience for each client, getting to know their specific needs, and crafting a Platform to serve them and their customers in the best way possible.
Through the years, we’ve heard from many of our Partner agencies about their SIS Partner Platform experience. Here are a few of our most recent responses from those in the Partner Platform family.
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