Adding the right technology to your agency can bring a wealth of benefits, but you may currently only be scratching the surface of the technology capabilities at your disposal.
You could be missing out on useful features available to you via various technology platforms, says Laird Rixford, president of Insurance Technologies Corporation (
ITC). Whether it’s features in your comparative rater, in your management system, or any type of insurance agency software, knowing where to look is just the start of fully maximizing your technologies’ capabilities.
“First, commission reconciliation in agency management systems,” he highlights. “Is your management system calculating the commissions carriers owe you for every policy you write? You can reconcile the statement with what carriers are sweeping from your trust account. It also will help you determine whether your producers are entering the correct commission amounts.”
What else could be hidden in your agency management system? Mobile agency management access and agency management reports are two other features Rixford mentions.
“If you’re paying for it, make sure your producers are using it,” he says. “If they’re not, find out why. Maybe they need it but forgot they have that as an option. Maybe they don’t. Either way, you need to find out.”
Then, there are the reports available in comparative rater.
“The best raters have reporting capabilities,” he continues. “If yours does, you should be looking at those reports. They can tell you the number of quotes your agency is doing by producer, location, line of business, carrier, lead source, and, so much more.”
So while you may be thinking to yourself about switching insurance technologies to gain greater capabilities, take a look at what you’re currently using.
“Make sure you’re using everything you can in the system you’ve already been paying for,” he notes. “And if you are and it’s still not meeting your needs, then it’s time to look for the right system.”
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Start-up agencies: Why technology is important from the very beginning
How having the right system could make your insurance business more efficient
