By Connections Editor
In a recent Applied Systems blog, Executive Vice President of Customer Experience Kris Hackney encouraged independent insurance agencies/brokerages to measure their digital transformation against that of their peers using the Applied Digital Agency Scorecard.
“Digital agencies capitalize on five areas of technology, including a foundational agency management system, data analytics, insurer connectivity, cloud and mobile technology,” she outlines. “It is critical for agencies to evaluate their use of technology in order to grow their businesses. Agencies can use the Applied Digital Agency Scorecard to see where they rank in relation to their peers, as well as assess how they can improve their operations through technology. It is imperative that agencies take the survey to keep adoption trends current and accurate.”
Why This Is Important
Each of the five areas Hackney outlines provide the “core capabilities needed to operate more efficiently, make more informed business decisions, build better insurer relationships, improve customer service, and accelerate growth and profitability across all lines of business,” echoes Applied Systems Senior Vice President of Product Management Michael Howe in his blog post, “What it Takes to Be a Digital Insurance Agent of Broker Today.” He cites the efforts of two Applied customers.
HHM Insurors, a family-run Pennsylvania independent agency started in 1939, knew it needed to become a digital agency to be able to do business the way clients now expect.
“When I liked about Epic was the fact that they were building all aspects of what we want as an independent agent into one system,” says Timothy Heim, vice president. “One of the big things we did was move our employee benefits company and merged the client data with the property casualty data. That provides a total look at the customer – what we write for that customer and the ability to cross sell and try to round out as much as we can. Having a sales tool that allows you to monitor all of the opportunities that are occurring in the agency at one time and be able to track them and be able to hold people accountable for them. That tool, I believe, is very valuable to us going forward.”
Deborah Hoffman, IT manager at Watson Insurance Agency, also believes a single foundational system is necessary for building a digital agency/brokerage.
“It does the reports, it handles the data, it is expandable, unlimited, it’s customizable,” Hoffman states. “It’s important to have all our data in one place.”
Hoffman also points to another advantage – optimizing carrier relationships.
“The marketing module on Epic is something we’ve never seen before,” she says. “We can track prospects, we can track suspects. We can run reports showing why this company did or did not write. That’s going to give us a leg up to let the companies know that ‘hey, we are sending new business, but you’ve chosen not to write it.’ On the other hand, it’s going to let us know if we need to have our producers put a specific amount of business with a specific company.”
Customer First
Like Heim, Howe points to the importance being ready to serve the customer as they expect to be served.
“The expectations and preferences of the end customer, the insured, are evolving rapidly so leading agencies and brokerages are increasingly adopting solutions that help them connect with customers and prospects, when and how they want, via online and mobile,” says Howe. “The core competency of any strong agency or broker, providing trusted advice to the insured, remains paramount, but the promise of digital presents exciting new possibilities to better serve customers and emerge as a stronger competitor in the years ahead.”
How Digital Are You?
Take the survey and see how you rate against your peers.
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