Partnership and collaboration are important factors for success in any business, and your independent insurance agency is no exception. This is especially true with commercial lines downloads (CLDL). If you are not in communication with your partners around CLDL, you risk poor implementation, leading to frustration and errors.
To avoid such issues, reach out to your partners and ensure they will support you in CLDL implementation and use. Important partnerships to note include your carriers and agency management system provider. For each partnership, you should address questions such as:
What does the carrier/provider know about commercial lines download?
What do they see as their role in CLDL?
How will downloads be sent?
How will reports be created (on paper, electronically) and what will they look like?
Who are the appropriate contact person(s) for each partner regarding CLDL assistance?
Does the carrier/provider have guidelines in place for CLDL?
How will errors be reported?
How will errors be resolved?
How will policy synchronization be addressed?
It is important that your carriers and agency management system provider support commercial lines download and understand the processes of implementation well. A great resource for you and your agency partners is the ACORD Agency-Start Up Guide for CLDL. By ensuring you and your partners are on the same page, your agency will experience the benefits of CLDL implementation.
As an ACORD partner, we at SIS fully support commercial lines downloads and ensure our clients have the tools they need for successful CLDL implementation within our Partner XE agency management system. We know the importance of clear, consistent communication with your agency management system provider and are always available to our clients at 800.747.7005 or [email protected].
If you’ve read our last two posts, you should by now be convinced that commercial lines downloads (CLDL) add value to your independent insurance agency. But if you have yet to make CLDL part of your agency, how do you get started? The following checklist will help ensure your agency is CLDL ready.
1. Make a plan –Decide who needs to know what, and when, and then create a timeline for implementation.
2. Get your carriers certified – Check with your agency management system provider to ensure the carriers you partner with are certified for download within their system (Check out Partner XE certified carriers here).
3. Talk with your carriers – Ensure all your carriers are on board with the process and get in contact with their help desk to go over details.
4. Test carrier downloads – Work with one carrier to test out the system. Be sure to choose one you have a good relationship with that has a large enough policy count to make an impact.
5. Stay in contact with your provider – Contact with your agency management system provider is crucial to CLDL success. Talk over the process with your provider and stay in touch during the implementation period to work out any issues that may evolve.
As you can see, it takes some planning to get commercial lines downloads implemented in your agency. But, with the help of your agency management system provider, you will soon be on the road to success.
We at SIS are always happy to help our Partner XE clients as they set up for CLDL, and are ready and willing to answer questions and concerns. Contact us today with your questions, and we’ll be in touch!
As an independent insurance agency, you are well aware of the issues caused by E & O mismanagement. With so many t’s to cross and i’s to dot, it can be easy to slip up when managing client information and policies, but you cannot afford to make such mistakes. How can you keep your agency out of hot water?
Having well established and followed E&O procedures and utilizing a variety of tools (i.e. mobile, texting, and paperless workflow) can help your agency stay on top of E & O management and out of trouble. In our latest eGuide, we address some of these tactics and tools to beef up your E&O defense.
Check out our E & O eGuide, and our other great resources, on our resources page. See something you like? Don’t like? Want to hear more about? Contact us to let us know!
As we saw in our last post, commercial lines download (CLDL) can benefit your independent insurance agency in a variety of ways. From increasing your workflow efficiency to saving you money, one may wonder why agencies would hesitate to employ commercial lines downloads.
Unfortunately, many agencies cling to the memories of the old CLDL, remembering the system as clunky and wrought with errors. However, thanks to the ACT (Agents Council for Technology) workgroup, there have been significant advancement in commercial lines downloads over the past couple years, making them an excellent asset for all agencies. Such improvements include:
Creation of guidelines, such as the ACORD CLDL Implementation Guides, to give agencies tips on implementation and review best practices.
Increased data accuracy, through the implementation of detailed checklists, eliminating the common problems of the past.
Development of form documents that can be adapted for individual carriers/vendors to ensure data is sent successfully.
Implementation of agency, carrier, and vendor trainings to increase understanding across the industry.
Updated agency management systems that can accept information faster and easier.
When using CLDL, success lies in understanding and matching data fields appropriately, adhering to ACORD standards. As an ACORD member, SIS is aware of and employs ACORD’s standards in implementing CLDL amongst Partner XE users. To learn more about how to employ commercial lines download with Partner XE, contact us today!
Strategic Insurance Software, providers of Partner XE, a leading agency management system for independent agents, today announced the Fall 2014 release of Partner XE. The new cloud-based update is an automatic install, requiring no action on part of the user. The release aims to provide greater personalization and functionality.
“Partner XE Fall 2014 continues to bring information to users’ fingertips,” said Paul Fuller, EVP of Product Management at SIS. “This release focuses on allowing agency users to more effectively create and personalize data within the system. By reducing clicks and increasing functionality, it should help streamline agency operations.”
Many of the new features added in Partner XE Fall 2014 are in response to feedback from SIS’ partner agencies.
Kevin O’Brien, Vice President of NASPA, the Partner XE user community, said, “SIS is a great partner because they proactively seek input from their clients. They listen to our needs and it’s reflected in every update.”
Major feature updates include:
Creation of a multi Policy Summary of Insurance Functions through the Quick Menu feature.
Quick Create expansion to include policies, individuals, and contacts.
Ability to personalize agency dashboards.
Expanded search and filter capabilities through Quick Search.
“We’re excited to bring this new release to our clients,” said Michael Doran, President of SIS. “Listening to our clients then translating their desires into new capabilities is core to SIS’ culture. We appreciate the collaboration that exists with our agency clients and are committed to continuing to improve Partner XE with our community of users.”
We’re almost halfway through the year, and a lot has changed since January. At this mid-year mark, we took a look back at some of our most popular posts and put together a list of the essentials. These posts can help hone your insurance marketing strategies for the remainder of the year and beyond.
Posts to Improve Service
• What Customers Want and the Insurance Software to Get It (view post)
• What Insurance Tech Do Agency Customers Want (view post)
• Digital Insurance Customer Service: Keeping it Personal (view post)
Insurance is now digital insurance. The same goes for almost every consumer sector – from banking to healthcare and beyond, most consumers are finding what they need online.
But just because people are searching for what they need online doesn’t mean they only make purchases via digital means. Customers still want that personal connection, they just want to get business done faster.
This is the conundrum of the independent insurance agency – responding quickly, yet personally, to prospects and customers. These statistics tell that story.
When it comes to your insurance prospects and customers, there are three main areas to focus on:
1. Improving ease and speed of service
2. Personalizing prospect and customer experience
3. Gaining data for expert advice
Each of these areas answers the question, “what do insurance customers want?”. Are you leveraging the right insurance sales software and processes to respond to these needs?
Partnership and collaboration are important factors for success in any business, and your independent insurance agency is no exception. This is especially true with commercial lines downloads (CLDL). If you are not in communication with your partners around CLDL, you risk poor implementation, leading to frustration and errors.
If you’ve read our 
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