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Analysis of Agencies with Revenues
Between $500,000 and $1,250,000
“Our website is a lot more interactive than it
used to be. We’ve used some outside vendors
to help us get the first stage done. Now you
can get semi real-time quotes through our
rating vendor’s program, obtain certificates
through another vendor and enter change
requests into a static form that we then
process on our agency system.“
“I couldn’t juggle as many balls as I do
without my Palm Pilot. My schedule is
downloaded from our agency system so
my office knows where I am at all times.
Any requests that I get in the field or that
are called into the office, I can scratch them
down for follow-up.”
The majority of these agencies have websites which, through the
use of third-party vendors, have become much more functional and
interactive.
Agencies are embracing technologies such as Palm Pilots and
laptops to help producers become more efficient with scheduling,
presentations, and communications.
E
FFECTIVE
P
ROCEDURES
/P
ROCESSES
The agencies in this study group tend to be “rigidly flexible” when it
comes to procedures and processes. They have well-defined
guidelines and strive to keep employees within the agency’s
standards for using systems, entering data, and processing
transactions. However, they give employees the latitude to do what
is best for the customer.
“If someone calls on the phone and asks
for a quote, the CSAs will decline unless
we can schedule an appointment for that
person to come into the office. It
eliminates the spinning of wheels for
‘shoppers.’”
“What is the path of least resistance?
Who is the easiest underwriter to get hold
of? If I’m getting my calls returned
within an hour, as opposed to 3 days
later, that’s who I’m putting the business
with. It may not be the best commission,
but overall it’s going to be so much less
work.”
“We continuously promote our website to
our clients to try to reduce the number of
faxes and phone calls to the agency and
to drive more of the processing to the site.”
“You want efficiency and effectiveness,
use direct bill. The carriers do a much
better job of collecting the premium than
we do and they don’t have to be
understanding of the ‘issues of the day’
at the contractor’s office.”
The use of carrier service centers appears to be driven by the desire
to streamline and free up time for the agency to make value-add
contacts with clients. They are continuously seeking the most
effective and profitable way to work, with some agencies assigning
certain people specific functions (e.g., generating certificates) to
others having support staff assigned to specific producers or
accounts and responsible for all functions.
Frequent client contact is supported through the use of form letters
and surveys. Transactional filing is widely utilized for both personal
and commercial lines and upload and download are seen as critical
to eliminating errors, duplication, and wasted time.
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