The year 2020 was one like no other: it provided
individuals and businesses worldwide with some interesting and rarely seen
challenges. Innovation, flexibility, and adaptation were required in increasing
measure to reduce risk and make the most of the opportunities that came our
way.
For the Partner Platform team at Strategic Insurance Software, the foundational service principles we practice every day were exercised in new ways and to new heights, helping us turn the many challenges of 2020 into some amazing successes. The growth and achievements of the team are truly remarkable.
In this unpredictable and challenging year, our
team worked with the Partner Platform Community to improve the Partner Platform
experience and achieved significant accomplishments including adding and
enhancing features such as:
Through it all, we as a team welcomed a dozen new
team members, celebrated births and marriages from afar, and supported each
other and our Partner Platform agencies through each new test and transition
2020 brought us.
We are thankful for our Partner Platform Community,
who expressed encouragement and appreciation as we worked through the
challenges of 2020 together. Countless positive emails and conversations on
service team experience and product enhancements make us all exceedingly proud
of our team’s commitment, effort, and accomplishments in serving the Partner
Platform Community.
We look forward to building on these successes and assisting our clients in growing and flourishing in the years ahead.
Last year, we began planning our 2020 Partner Platform National Learning Event. While we expected it to be different from our 2019 event, we never anticipated the COVID-19 global pandemic challenges. Yet, our innovative and adept team and SIS partners readily came together to form our first Virtual National Learning Event.
On October 15th and 16th, we
welcomed over 750 registered guests for two days of learning. Guest speakers
and our dedicated staff lent their expertise, and well over 3,000 views poured
in as attendees participated in an average of five sessions each.
Over the two days of the event, the Partner
Platform community encountered great insights from all who came, delving into
engaging questions and continuing to sharpen the Partner Platform tools and experience.
SIS CEO Alex Deak kicks off the National Learning Event with a nod to the many SIS Partner Platform partners
As CEO Alex Deak kicked off the event by covering SIS Partner Platform’s 2020 milestones, he also delved into what’s to come in 2021. Then, he turned things over to keynote Dr. Debra Jasper, Founder and CEO of MindSet Digital, who spoke on one of the event’s central themes: remote work and the power of digital connections.
After a Partner Platform 2020.4 overview from Director of
Product Management Bryce Lee, the event turned to simultaneous
presentations on one of three learning paths: agency growth and retention,
valuation, and Partner Platform best practices.
Guest speakers included:
CPA
Chris Ryan, Partner at Donovan, Sullivan & Ryan, speaking on agency valuation
and perpetuation
Bryce Lee joined SIS
President Michael Doran to wrap up the event, sharing about “The Future of
Partner” with updates on coming improvements and enhancements in 2021 and
beyond.
Immediately following the event, our team was
flooded with feedback – a hallmark of the Partner Platform community. Some of
the responses included:
I really enjoyed the webinars. I felt like I learned something in each one I attended. As always, I am very impressed with Partner and your team. Good job!!
Amazing
seminar these past two days! Thank you for all of the great information and
updates. It was nice putting faces to names. It was also nice because we felt
heard. A lot of things we had inquired about and proposed were being addressed.
So, thank you and the Partner team for that.
Just
wanted to thank Partner for the past two days of webinars. I learned so
much. It’s nice to know your company is
always moving forward with technology.
So user-friendly, so glad we become customers!
Thank
you!! We started using SIS at least eight years ago at my agency and have
always appreciated your customer service and willingness to listen to our needs
as an agency. You have come so far since the early days, and love all the
innovation and improvements.
Thank you to all who attended, provided feedback,
and contributed to our commitment to always innovate and grow.
If you have additional thoughts or feedback,
please get in touch at accountmanagement@sisware.com.
And, if you missed sessions or want to revisit any of the workshops, all
Partner Platform users can access the recorded sessions on PartnerNet here.
Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing
everyone again next year!
On a global scale, 2020 has been extremely challenging. The crises of this year have impacted each of us at a personal level. Whether it’s the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, an unstable economy, or divisive politics, we all had to sort our way through this year in unique circumstances. But we have all gotten through it – thanks to enduring support.
Community, learning, and innovation are core
principles for the Partner Platform team. 2020 has provided many challenges and
opportunities for our team to exhibit these principles. We’ve worked together
to face the obstacles of social distancing and system interruptions, and innovated
with more virtual learning events,
enhanced webinars, and online learning to keep our community connected and
educated.
Among the many insurance marketing strategies out there, blogging continues to be a popular and useful tool across the years. We consider blogging an effective method and have the facts to back it up: websites with blogs have over 400% more pages indexed in Google than those without a blog, and more than 60% of consumers made a purchase based on a blog post.
Small businesses point to accountants as some of the most important professionals for their business. That may be because 60% of small business owners say they don’t know the first thing about finance and accounting. As a small business owner, you can probably relate. Many independent agency owners find themselves in an accounting crash-course when they start or take over their business. How can you beat the odds to get a grasp on your agency’s finances and position yourself for future growth?
This past year, one of our team’s major focuses was insurance agency marketing and how we can get the best tools to our Partner Platform agencies, helping them build and grow their agency brand. From our integrated Marketing Automation Manager to our Partner Connect custom website, app, and Client Portal offerings, we spent hours gaining feedback and perfecting our sales and marketing offerings.
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.
