With so many options and diverse needs, it can be challenging
to determine how to choose the best agency management system for your agency.
Are you looking for ease of use? Quality training? Integrated systems? Robust
marketing? Is it possible to find a system that meets all your varying agency
needs?
Chances are, there is a right system out there for your agency – if you know how to look for it. Narrow your options by starting with the base “must-haves” for any management system.
Your Management Systems Musts
Customization.
Find a system with the ability to create custom workflows, personalized
dashboards, and agency-unique data fields.
Ability
to upgrade. Tech moves fast, and you want your management system to be
malleable enough to keep up. Find a system with update-able tech.
Cloud-based.
You don’t want access tied to one physical location – give your team
flexibility with cloud-based access.
Security.
The data you store in your management systems is valuable, and you
want it to stay protected with top-of-the-line, disaster-proof storage.
Beyond these base elements, there are a few standard
additional capabilities your agency may need to fit your unique service.
Best Management System Capabilities to Improve Service
Integrated
website. You need a quality
website to stay competitive in today’s market and should have it integrated
with your management system to streamline service.
Client
Portal. Self-service
client portals are becoming a must-have across industries, including the
insurance market. Give your customers the best tools with an integrated client
portal to access and update their policy information.
Email integration. Use
integrated email to send messages right from your management system and
automatically attach all incoming and outgoing messages to each constituent
profile, streamlining processes and improving E & O coverage.
CRM
and Marketing Automation. These
essential prospecting tools can help you gain and leverage vital data,
empowering you to improve sales and marketing and grow your agency.
Find What You Need with Partner Platform
Our Partner Platform agency management suite starts
with the basics in access, security, and customization and offers all the
essential integrations to serve your agency’s unique needs. Our
dedicated team works with each Partner Platform agency to provide in-depth,
personalized training and a host of always-accessible resources to keep
agencies informed.
Let us bring you the tools to achieve exceptional
customer experiences, win more business, and grow your agency in the long term.
Get in touch at [email protected], 800.747.7005, Option 6, or fill out a simple contact form here
to find out more.
Research shows almost 70% of insurance consumers
do an online search before making their purchase. That means 70% of your
prospects are looking for you online. Are you one of the insurance websites
that will keep them engaged?
With “insurance near me” online searches growing by over 100% in the last two years, you need to be one of the stand-out insurance agency websites to make an impression. To stay competitive, be sure your site includes:
1. Clear branding elements
Your agency website should clearly state: “This is
us. This is what we do. This is what we value.” That means giving your agency
name and logo prominence and using your branding (logos, colors, and text)
throughout the site. Have your mission or value statement front and center and
include photos of your community to show your personalized approach.
2. Succinct messaging and minimal text
There’s no doubt a lot you can say about your
agency and why you’re the best choice in town, but your website isn’t the place
for too much detail. Focus on getting across the services you offer, the value
you bring, and how people can get in touch with you.
Despite the high volume of online searches, close to
80% of insurance consumers call an agency before closing the deal. You can fill
in all the details and personal stories on the phone, but your website should
get right to the point to get you connected.
To foster that connection, you need a consistent, prominent
call to action throughout your site. This could be a “Contact Us” or “Get a
Quote” button or another action-oriented callout. Prospects shouldn’t need to
search to figure out how to get in touch – make it obvious.
4. Mobile access
More than half of online insurance searches take place via a
mobile device. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile access, it can get
scrambled when viewed on such devices, frustrating prospects and turning them
away. Ensure your site can adapt so it looks its best no matter how someone
finds it.
As we have cited before, Microsoft
found 90% of consumers worldwide expect organizations to offer a self-service
portal. Insurance agencies are no exception. Besides providing an online
self-service portal, you need to ensure your client portal integrates with your
management system, CRM, and other customer data-driven software. The more your
agency tools connect, the smoother your operations.
Get All Your Agency Website Must-Haves in One Place
If you’re looking for an experienced partner to
help you craft an engaging, professional agency website, the Partner Platform
team has you covered. We now offer custom, agency-branded sites to help
agencies promote their brand and better serve their customers.
We work closely with all our independent
insurance agency clients to determine and create the best agency management
experience for their business. Over the years, we’ve tackled the highest needs
of the time, ranging from accounting integration to cloud-based
system security. Our Partner Platform agencies have made one need clear in
the past few years: insurance prospecting software.
As small businesses, our Partner Platform agencies are working to keep up with the sales and marketing advances big insurance provides wield. Thanks to our hard-working, innovative team, we’ve been able to equip our agencies with the tools they need to promote client growth and retention, all within one system.
The year 2020 brought transformation across all
industries, including insurance. Insurance agency software continues to evolve
in response to these transformations, prompting savvy agency owners to update
their tools and processes to respond to the needs of 2021.
A recent Chief Executive article pointed out several broad trends within the independent insurance agency: more digital interactions in the sales process, increased focus on digital customer experience, the convergence of sales and marketing, and the need to apply values in a new way.
Ken Branch echoed similar points in a recent PC360
article noting that in 2020 technology became more strategic, staffing and
communications shifted to digital, and customer service was heightened in
priority.
How can your agency respond to these changes and
apply your values in a new digital way?
The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the
digital shift, and it isn’t going away.
What does that mean for independent insurance agencies?
From both a sales and customer service
perspective, independent insurance agency software systems must support more
digital interactions. These digital interactions help agencies streamline sales
and customer support, including integrating digital tools into your agency
management system for one digital agency “ecosystem.”
Upgraded digital agency sales software includes:
Insurance CRM
Marketing Automation
Text Messaging
Quoting
Proposals
eSignature
Upgraded digital customer experience software
includes:
More digital interaction not only means you need
the right digital tools, but you also need to reimagine how you use them. The
increased focus on customer experience means you need to know more about your
customers. Much of that information comes from your sales and marketing tools which,
when integrated, maximize your data stream.
A management system with built-in insurance CRM helps
you improve prospect targeting, allows you to segment audiences, and empowers
your team to use management system data to initiate conversation in informed
ways. For example, you can craft an upsell/cross-sell campaign offering clients
with active Auto and Home policies but no Umbrella policy information,
emphasizing why they might consider Umbrella and a link to schedule a conversation.
Better coordination like this improves outreach at
all levels, including helping you target the appropriate number of calls and
emails to reach a prospect without the producer having to do it all manually. Embedded
CRM and marketing allow you to schedule and send emails, texts, and letters in
bulk while simultaneously prompting producers to call at the appropriate time.
This integration of processes increases your effectiveness and decreases time
spent.
The move to digital requires new ways to support
clients and a rethinking of the customer experience through the digital lens. Ask
yourself:
How could our agency use technology such as a
client portal, agency mobile app, and agency website in a way that enhances our
unique relationship with our clients?
How do these tools offer our clients ways to
conduct business seamlessly in the digital world?
Are we giving away that relationship by using
generic versus company-branded tools?
Texting with clients has become a commonplace form
of digital communication.
Do you support texting with your clients?
Can you easily document text conversations for
E&O purposes?
Can you text clients automated policy renewal
reminders?
Your quoting and onboarding process can be
improved with digital tools as well.
How are you using digital proposals &
eSignature to improve and streamline the quoting process?
Are you sharing proposals with the client in a
secure client portal integrated into the agency website?
And you can improve your quality of service
through digital systems.
How can you use your VOIP phone system with your
agency management system to save CSRs time?
Do you provide CSRs with pop-up client
information when they receive a call?
Can CSRs click to call within your agency
management system?
Do you have easy recording and attaching phone
conversations within your system?
These small improvements lead to an overall smoother
and more fulfilling customer experience, leading to higher conversion and
retention rates.
4. Find a partner to equip you for 2021 and beyond
Need an experienced partner to help you implement
and manage your agency software and digital tools? The Partner Platform team is
equipped to bring a top-of-the-line agency management system embedded with powerful
tools such as an insurance CRM, marketing automation, client portal, agency
mobile app, and agency website into your ecosystem.
Beyond these tools, we also provided a wealth of information on how agencies can build their brand and grow their business on our blog. As we start a new year, we hope you’ll benefit from some of the tips and tricks we’ve captured.
Finding Your Niche for Insurance Agency Marketing: Finding your agency niche means discovering a customer segment where you have an advantage. Use your individual agency expertise to strengthen your brand and grow your customer base.
Making Your Agency Website Your Own with Partner Connect: In our digitally-driven market, your agency website is your best and most prominent marketing tool. Discover how to make it modern, branded, and poised for sales enablement.
Gain Outreach Power: Marketing Automation and Your Insurance CRM: If you’re looking to increase lead qualification by more than 450%, the CRM and marketing automation combo is your answer. See what each tool brings to the table and why they’re on our “must-have” list.
Cyber security has been a concern across industries for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated risk. With more businesses moving to online operations, more data became vulnerable. This is especially true in insurance, where the use of insurance tech skyrocketed in 2020, along with incidents of cyberattacks.
Insurance is second only to legal firms as cyber criminals’ preferred industry to attack. The average agency is targeted over 100 times per year, with more than 30% of attacks succeeding. And according to PwC’s Digital Trust Insights Pulse Survey, cybercrime is expected to cost companies $10.5 trillion annually over the next four years.
Since our founding, the Partner Platform Community has grown exponentially. What started as a group of agencies and dedicated staff has exploded to contain much more. One of those additions is our group of Partner Allies. This team of insurance agency software providers started as a collection of exciting integration possibilities and grew into an ever-expanding coalition of cutting-edge insurance tech.
Another year is here, and we can already see what’s on the horizon for digital insurance—the last few years demonstrated the need for more data gathering and analysis, tech integration, and a focus on personalizing and streamlining customer service. The 2021 Independent Insurance Agent Survey found that, before the COVID-19 pandemic, about a third of agencies said they “lacked the financial or other support” to invest in digitization. However, by the end of 2020, 77% were investing in digitization, showing digital insurance is growing rapidly.
As we ring in the new year, let’s take a look at what’s on the digital insurance horizon for 2022.
