Industry Trends

How to Celebrate Earth Day While Sheltering in Place

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused concerts, sporting events and other exciting spring plans to be put on hold, one thing that’s not cancelled is Earth Day.

2020, Agents, Best Practices, Industry Trends, Insurers, MGAs

Agent-Insurer Connectivity

Building Better Relationships with Your Insurer Partners

Is your agency realizing the benefits of greater connectivity with insurers? Now more than ever, the most successful agencies are those building and maintaining close ties to the insurers and MGAs they work with on a regular basis.

2019, Agent-Insurer Connectivity, Agent-Insurer Connectivity, Agents, Best Practices, Industry Trends

Best Practices

Surety eDocs: How Insurers Can Help Agency Partners for Mutual Success

Many independent insurance agencies would agree that the traditional way of receiving Surety renewal documents is a highly manual process. In a typical work week, I would estimate that I spend about four to eight hours going through the mail we receive from our insurers.

2019, Automated Servicing, Best Practices, Insurers, MGAs

Best Practices

Prepare Your Agency for the Unexpected

Extreme weather and natural disasters are becoming more commonplace and can have financially debilitating effects on businesses that are not prepared. Take last year’s hurricane season for example.

2018, Agents, Best Practices

Access to Markets

Drive New and Renewal Business with This Indispensable Tool

Historically, agents have relied on relationships with insurers, paper guides and insurer websites to identify insurer appetite for commercial risks. These time-consuming, manual processes often provide a partial and outdated view of potential markets for risk which can lead to a lost business.

2018, Access to Markets, Agents, Best Practices

Best Practices

3 Ways to Support the Needs of Today’s Digital Agents

As the world becomes more digital, agencies are leveraging technology to meet consumer demand for instant, 24/7 customer service. Consumer demand, along with the need for greater ease of doing business and a more diverse product range, has pushed agencies to seek increased connectivity from insurer partners.

2018, Agent-Insurer Connectivity, Automated Servicing, Best Practices, Insurers, Marketing & Distribution, MGAs

Agent-Insurer Connectivity

Connectivity: The Secret to Competing in the Age of the Customer

Today, insurance agencies face many challenges that they didn’t contemplate years ago. Consumer buying behaviors and patterns are different.

2018, Access to Markets, Agent-Insurer Connectivity, Agents, Best Practices

Automated Servicing

Why You Should Maximize Your Download Connections

Is your agency using download services to the fullest extent? If not, you’re leaving valuable time and money on the table.

2018, Agent-Insurer Connectivity, Agents, Automated Servicing, Best Practices

Best Practices

Data and Download: How to Make Your Agency Stand Out in Today’s Digital World

To be able to adapt, you have to see things that are not there and things that others are not able to see. All those things are built on data. Data is vital. It is not something that can be taken for granted any longer and it’s one of the ingredients to a great customer experience.

2017, Agents, Automated Servicing, Best Practices

Automated Servicing

Claims Download: Staking Your Claim to More Time in the Day

Technology has changed the way we do business at Schultheis Insurance Agency, especially when it comes to receiving client, policy, billing and claims information.

2017, Agents, Automated Servicing, Best Practices

Access to Markets

Finding Markets: Turn Wasting Time into Saving Time

Agencies strive to provide the best products at the right price for customers and prospects. But as an independent agent working with numerous insurer partners, I know first-hand how difficult it can be to find the right insurer for each risk.

2017, Access to Markets, Agents, Best Practices

Industry Trends

Emerging Trends: The Widening Technology Gap – And How to Close It

Recently, I spoke at the 2017 AAMGA Automation Conference in Atlanta, an annual gathering of MGAs and insurance professionals that centers on automation and advancements in insurance technology.

2017, Best Practices, Industry Trends, Insurers, MGAs

Best Practices

3 Major Risk Marketing Headaches – and How to Cure Them

It's the nature of our industry that commercial insurance carrier appetites are constantly evolving. As business landscapes shift to accommodate emerging risks, carriers must continuously and deliberately refine their specialties, products and services.

2016, Access to Markets, Agents, Best Practices, Industry Trends