As Client Services Manager at SIS, I spend a lot of time talking with our partner agencies about their day to day needs around agency management system functionality. One popular topic is how to execute advanced insurance agency reporting through their management system.
Owners, principals, accountants, and other agency staff need to extract and interpret data stored in their management system but are unsure how to get the information they need. In many of our Partner XE Regional Learnings, we review the most popular reports and how to export and interpret them using excel. Below are just a few of the most commonly requested reporting areas.
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Once run, all of these reports can be exported to Excel as .xls or .csv files. Once in Excel, you can manipulate data to look cleaner and interpret it in different ways (i.e. as percentages or sums). You can also change formatting so you can easily present data to staff, partners, investors, or other groups as needed.
The best tool I’ve found for data interpretation in Excel is pivot tables. Pivot tables allow the user to summarize, count and extract column percentages against other columns of data without being an Excel wizard. Below is an easy YouTube video on how to use basic functions of a pivot table:
Reporting can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be. Once you know the data you’re after, you’ve overcome the biggest hurdle. I’ve helped many of our Partner XE users tackle their reporting needs. It’s amazing what you can do once you’ve got a handle on the basics!
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Our Partner Learning Center offers dozens of step-by-step videos, our QuickGuides are available 24/7 as a quick refresher, and the SIS staff is always available by phone or email to give that extra helping hand. To find out more about what SIS and Partner XE can offer your agency, contact us at [email protected] or 800.747.7005, Option 6.
As an independent insurance agency management system provider, we work with agencies from all over the country. From North to South and East to West, we’ve encountered hundreds of agencies, but never one exactly like another. Each has its own culture, community, and specific needs.
We discuss these individual agency management system capability needs with each agency, and find them as varied as the agencies themselves. However, there are many capability needs that come up time and again. We asked a few of our partner agencies to share their most useful capabilities, compiling a “must have” list for agencies seeking to improve operations and better serve their customers.
“We love that emails automatically attach. As an agency owner, it gives me comfort knowing while my staff is out there doing, doing, doing, everything is getting put in the management system. That protects us so we can grow without fear of E&O.” – Britt Linder, Peterson Insurance Services
“We use carrier downloads all the time. It works pretty seamlessly, updating on a regular, nightly basis…the fact that it’s reliable makes a difference. Same with creating certificates; we have a pretty good workflow going, and we can easily make changes to policies in the system.” – John Horvath, Neverman Insurance
“With multiple locations, the accounting plug-in is a must. The financial reports I can produce are second to none. It’s a piece of cake to do seemingly complex reports. I can look at multiple entities, compare balance sheets, combine entities, and all sorts of other iterations. I had my accountant call yesterday and ask for my first six months. It was a matter of two or three clicks to get the report and email it off to him. It’s just so easy.” – Dan Cassidy, Berndt And Murfin Insurance Agency
“With our old system, we didn’t have a good app to use on the road. It’s great to have everything in the palm of your hand. There are times you get calls after hours or on the weekends (all too often, really) and with the mobile app you can quickly pull it up, load the client’s information and tell them exactly what they need.” – Chad Van Camp, Family Insurance Center
“The big one for us is working with certificates. We send out hundreds of thousands of certificates each day and needed a system that could handle that volume. This latest (Partner XE) release allows us to mass email and fax the certificates we need.” –Alison Van Wyk, Van Wyk Risk Solutions
“The security updates have been huge. Data security was important when we got on board…As a principal, security is my number one concern. A great system means nothing if your data’s not safe.” – Matt Derrenberger, Ann Arbor Insurance Associates, LLC
Though agencies may use all of these capabilities to varying degrees, it’s always great to hear which stand out to each. That’s the challenge we enjoy solving: creating a system that can adapt to each agency’s unique needs.
Partner XE offers all the above capabilities and gives agencies the ability to build the best system for them. In the end, each Partner XE system is as singular as its agency.
To find out more about Partner XE, SIS, and how we can serve your agency, contact us at [email protected] or 800.747.7005, Option 6.
It’s not often our interactions with others stand out to us throughout the day. But, if they do, it’s because they were one of two things: impressively positive or shockingly negative. As an independent insurance agency, you’ve had your share of insurance customer service feedback on both ends.
Working with our partner agencies, I’ve seen how each handle negative customer service experiences and the preventative measure put in place to avoid them. Below are some of their tried and true steps.
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1. Timely responses: Top priority is to get back to your customers quickly. When you have a question, you want to hear back soon. Especially when it’s urgent. No one likes feeling they’re on someone else’s time during a service interaction.
2. Communication/clarity: Pick up the phone. Stop hiding behind emails. Give a real answer to questions.
3. Follow through: Your word is good, but your deeds are better. When responding to a customer request, stay on schedule and follow up regularly. Even if you don’t yet have a solution, stay in contact to show each customer his or her request is important.
4. Knowledge: Admit that you don’t know everything. When you’re not the expert, go to a team member who is. Not only will you better meet the customer’s need, you’ll gain some knowledge for future use.
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5. Personality: Service quality is only as good as the quality of the person delivering it. Bring out the best version of yourself for your customers. There’s nothing more helpful than a friendly voice guiding you through your questions.
6. Consistency: Take everything above and continue to make it happen. How you respond, how you communicate, the knowledge you have and the personality your team brings to the table should be the same high caliber from customer to customer. This consistency helps perpetuate your excellent service reputation.
I know these steps work because I’ve seen them in action – and not just with our partner agents. At SIS, we employ these measures to make sure our clients are helped and heard. Each Partner XE agency receives multiple ways to ask and answer questions through dedicated service, access to online Quick Guides, and regular in person and online trainings to keep operations sharp.
Want to find out more about the service and support SIS offers? Contact us or check out our website at sispartnerplatform.com. We’ll give you the timely response, clarity, and consistency you deserve.
You do a lot with your agency management system. You and your staff are in it every day: looking up information, running reports, and adding data constantly. But, you may be missing something. With your day to day routine usage, it’s easy to forget about or overlook some high-efficiency elements related to your management system. Check out the list below to see what you may be missing.
Chances are the standard naming conventions and workflows in a system aren’t the perfect fit for your agency. Take advantage of customizations such as using agency-specific category names and task paths. These small adaptations make your system more intuitive for your staff.
Read more on creating personalized workflows in your management system
Any system integration is beneficial for your agency, but accounting takes the cake. If you’re still relying on QuickBooks for accounting, you’re behind the curve. Integrated accounting eliminates double data entry and inevitable mistakes.
Like integrated systems, downloads spell out an immediate efficiency boost. If you’re already downloading, make sure you’re updating regularly. Carriers and lines of business are added frequently, and you may be missing out if you don’t have an up-to-date list.
Learn about linking commission downloads with agency accounting
You store so much data in your system. What is it telling you? You’ll never know if you don’t ask. Pulling data from your management system provides an accurate look at critical items such as book of business, client types, best carriers, premiums and other custom information you’re tracking. The insights you gain from reports can help you can target new opportunities and clients.
Give your customers direct access to their information through a web-facing customer portal. This can eliminate late night or weekend calls about accidents or need for proof of insurance. It’s a great ‘and’ to the services you’re already providing, especially in our technologically progressive society.
See how a customer portal benefits agency and customers alike
At SIS, the number one service we provide is free, ongoing training and support for our clients. Whether it’s in-person training for their team or always-available online training videos and QuickGuides, it’s included in our partnership. And, we hold monthly webinars on various topics, giving our partner agencies tools they can immediately use to impact their agency.
It may be time for a change. We’d love to talk with you about your management system needs. Contact us at 800.747.7005, Option 6 or [email protected] to talk to an SIS staff member today.
When I talk about mobile apps with our clients, the first thing they think of is how it can improve their day to day operations. This is very true – your agency members have much to gain from all the time, on-the-go access to your agency management system via a mobile app.
But, mobile access is beneficial to agency customers, too. They give customers that same anytime access to their policy and info.
For your agency, mobile capability means accessing your agency management system on a mobile device. Such mobile capability allows you to perform relevant tasks when you’re outside of the office. That could include:
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For your insured customers, mobile access means viewing and updating their policy and contact information on a mobile device via an agency portal. Though they are essentially tapping into your agency’s management system as well, the connection is opaque. But, the benefits remain obvious. Some include:
Find out more ways to build and serve your customer base
Adding mobile access to your agency is a small move that makes a big difference. Almost everyone has access to and uses their mobile phone frequently, and this addition will separate you from your competition.
At SIS, we know these seemingly small enhancements can make a big impact on your agency. That’s why mobile access, email integration, and other efficiency-boosting capabilities come standard in our Partner XE management system. To find out more about what Partner XE has to offer, get in touch with us to schedule a demo and tell us how we can help your agency grow.
When Lara Moffitt began as CEO of MHJ Insurance, her first order of business was to find a new agency management system. She knew their old system was complicated, expensive, and had poor customer service. It was clearly time for MHJ to make a change.
So, Lara rallied her team to start their search for a new agency management system provider. The three-month-long project included a series of interviews, demos, and plenty of internal discussions about what was working and what wasn’t.
Innovation is key to longevity in any industry, and the insurance industry is no different. Insurance revolves around people and relationships, making it an inherently dynamic field.
Digital insurance demands seem to change by the day to keep up with evolving customer and agency needs. That’s why we at Partner Platform partner with various tech partners to stay up to date with changing conditions. We as an organization can only be experts in so many areas, so we recognize the need to partner with outside specialists to fill our gaps.
We work with industry groups and tech companies to cover areas like digital document processing and cyber security, among others. Below are a few of our recent posts highlighting these valuable tech partnerships.
Insurance tech advancements are making everyday processes faster and more efficient, and customers are demanding more digital interactions than ever before. Despite the benefits and increasing customer demand for insurance tech, your team may be hesitant to adopt new technology.
This hesitancy is understandable. Change is difficult, and introducing a new process or system to an individual’s workflow can be frustrating. But, the benefits of integrating insurance tech into your agency far outweigh the challenges of overcoming change.
Here are a few ways we’ve seen agencies work to be more receptive to new technology and system updates.