Ease of doing business is a phrase we’re all familiar with these days. We need to receive data, consume data and share data. But how to do this can be a question.
Is it an agent issue? Is it a carrier issue? Or is it a solution provider issue?
Ease of doing business involves every part of our industry. This has been a topic of discussion for AUGIE—the ACORD User Group Information Exchange—for several years now. It’s also why the Real Time Campaign was started.
During a recent AUGIE meeting in Las Vegas, the vital role that real time plays for both agents and for carriers was apparent. That fact was further reinforced by the results of a recent Real Time/Download Survey. It’s a way to increase efficiency, decrease keystrokes and eliminate duplicate data entry.
Related: Read "Real time is the right time to improve work habits."
So what is real time? It’s the ability of an agent or broker to enter data once into an agency management or rating system and automatically send to and receive data from a carrier for rating, inquiry, policy information or other data needs.
Real time advocates show how spending time servicing your customers—not processing paperwork—benefits and grows business.
Supporting real time is an ACORD standard. Andy Fogarty, member of ACORD’s board of directors and chair of the ACORD Standards Committee said at the recent Las Vegas meeting, "It’s important that all of the companies adopt ACORD standards. It leads to increased implementation of real time and download." He also told the audience that for data to flow seamlessly, it’s essential that they adopt ACORD standards in all of their systems and adopt ACORD forms.
The Real Time/Download Campaign conducted a recent poll, which showed that ease of doing business is the key to success and real time is instrumental in making that happen. More than 60 percent of the agents ranked "additional carriers with real-time capabilities" as 7, 8 or 9 in their list of priorities, with 9 being the highest.
Related: Read "MGAs get closer to real time technology."
During the AUGIE meeting, James T. Armitage, vice president of Arroyo Insurance Services, explained how real time has benefited his agency and "saved a tremendous amount of time … There’s a need to get things done quickly." He added that real time capabilities do "affect who we do business with." Using a workers’ compensation example, Armitage detailed how his agency can upload data from its system automatically to a company, answer a few questions, and get the information its clients need. "It’s 10 minutes versus an hour," he said.
Joining Armitage on the panel were Joe Hernandez, principal of Branch, Hernandez & Assocs., Las Vegas; and Bonnie Two Bears, Systems Coordinator of InterWest Insurance Services Inc., Redding, Calif., bringing different regional perspectives on real time implementation. Hernandez showed how his agency uses real time for personal lines quotes to increase its ability to service customers. Two Bears told the audience how real time is helping her agency, even in today’s tougher marketplace. "The staff was resistant initially. They got used to it and they won’t work without real time now," she said.
On a second panel, carriers discussed how they are implementing real time to support and grow their agent base. Mele Fuller, manager of agency automation at Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, explained how her organization provides options and opportunities for agents that increase their efficiencies, including real time and download. Liberty is working to make it easier for agents to do business with it, but Fuller noted that agencies need to implement real time and download to gain these advantages. For those agencies new to it, Fuller recommended starting with one area and growing from there. "There’s a lot to gain," she added.
MEMIC’s Gary Baxter, vice president and CIO, added that even small monoline companies use ACORD standards and work to make it easier to interact with their customers—their agents and brokers. Jacque Burm, manager of Scottsdale Insurance, added that his company always accepts ACORD forms, which makes it easier for agents since they have one standardized form to learn and use. He encouraged other carriers to get involved and get more standardization across the industry.
These open conversations help everyone see that everyone has common goals: improved ease of doing business and business growth. In tougher markets, agents need to spend their time and effort on building and maintaining relationships with their customers. They need to increase client contact, make it personal, and create bonds that last. For carriers, making it easier to do business with them opens up more opportunities for sales and gives a competitive advantage.
The days of proprietary portals and endless data entry are fading away. Today, it’s real time and download. It’s the right time to implement it and start focusing on your real business.