Top Tech for Insurance Agencies

Whether you are the next generation taking over the family business, or an aspiring startup, this article is for you. With 2018 now at a close, I am still continuing to take emails from multiple agencies looking to make some changes in 2019. If you haven't noticed, technology is taking the insurance world by storm. Competition is increasingly fierce, and agencies are seeking more ways to gain an edge over their competition.

Are you motivated and ready to grow your insurance business in 2019? Yes.

Are you considering some technology changes, but not sure where to begin? Yes.

You've probably seen articles like this written before. In fact, i'm sure you have, because i've seen them too! They probably started off with...

1. Agency Management System.
2. Comparative Rater

Sound familiar? This is not the same article. If you still haven't adopted an AMS system, or comparative rater, you are further behind the competition than you think! How do i know? Well, because i'm taking calls/emails from your competition regarding next level technology changes. I'm conducting FREE IT Evaluations, which has given me a first hand look. Your competition already purchased their hosted AMS systems last year, or the year before even.

So, where do we start then? That's right - CLOUD. If you spent 2018 in denial, please feel free to keep shaking your head. Cloud is not just a buzzword, it's the fundamental driving force for change. I hear it all the time, my business made it this far without cloud, why do i need cloud now? For those that continue to avoid adopting cloud, how do your 2018 sales compare to 2017 and 2016?

With that being said, here is the top tech for insurance agencies.

1. Website: You don't have to spend thousands of dollars on a website. This also doesn't mean you can sign up at wix and build a WYSIWYG site that looks decent. It won't. It will look cheap. It will look like a modern version of the site you've replaced. What's the point in that? If you haven't heard of WordPress, start reading. No, i'm not talking about the .COM that is similar to the Wix experience. I'm referring to the platform itself. Hire a developer, and build a custom site. You don't need very many pages, which is what keeps the price low. If you are still thinking about your website as "basically a business card" you are wrong. Sorry, but someone had to tell you. You should be thinking about lead generation, which leads me to my next top tech.
2. Blog: Don't have time to write? Hire it out or make time. It's not a huge effort, when you plan ahead. Wordpress was built for blogs, as a CMS platform. When people comment on your articles, reply. This is an opportunity for you to be viewed as a subject matter expert, so don't waste the opportunity. Stay on point.
3. Social Media: This is about business pages, not your personal life. Take steps to keep them separate at all times, as best as they will let you (talking about you facebook). Your social media accounts (e.g. facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) should be integrated with your wordpress site. Again, it's about lead generation. it's about traffic. it's about the impact on SEO and rankings. Website, Blog, and Social Media are the Bread, Peanut Butter and Jelly we've built our lunches around for generations. Again, if you don't have time, hire it out or make time. There are tools available to simplify this (e.g. Hootsuite).

Okay, those may have been kind of boring, but they are important. They are the foundation of every business, not just insurance agencies. It's how you get found on Google. Take a moment to perform a self evaluation of your website, blog and social media accounts. Even better, check out your competitors. Moving on...

1. Internet Service Provider (ISP): Your probably thinking, i've had internet access for years, why do i care? The truth is, you probably haven't reviewed or changed your service levels since you first signed up (unless you received a complimentary upgrade). Also, if there are other reputable carriers in the area, they usually offer aggressive enough pricing to make you consider changing every couple years. If you don't feel like dealing with it, i get it. Just make sure you have adequate bandwidth to run your business today, and after you adopt your full suite of cloud offerings. Don't let $25 in monthly Internet fees become your bottleneck, upgrade your account already!
2. Network Infrastructure: I see it all the time. A client who purchases consumer grade networking products (routers, switches, access points, and firewall) and then complains that his network performs poorly or blames his ISP (See above). You can't use the same equipment in your business, that you do in your home. Your business has higher technology demands than your home, which requires business/enterprise class infrastructure to support. Also, security is still the top concern for most of our clients. If you don't have some type of firewall solution in place, you are certainly prone to threats and attacks. It's been proven that small business are targeted more, don't kid yourself that it won't happen to you.
3. VoIP: If you have not adopted VoIP yet, then you are most likely (e.g. definitely) over paying for your phone service. Yes, it's true. I'm seeing clients paying 4-5x what they should be paying for phones each and every month. Now don't get ahead of yourself and sprint over to ringcentral and signup for an account. It's a little more involved than that. There are three major considerations for VoIP - ISP, Infrastructure, and Carrier. If you have enough bandwidth, an enterprise caliber network, and a reputable carrier, VoIP will work great. If you don't address any one of those three areas, it will work horrifically and you may dump it out of frustration. Don't let a bad past VoIP experience stop you. Take advantage of our FREE IT Evaluation and a 15-day trial of our VoIP services and see how much you could be saving each month!
4. Microsoft Office 365: After attending Microsoft Ignite this past fall, it was increasingly clear that O365 is poised for another HUGE year. If you are still running old, outdated versions of Microsoft Office you are taking unnecessary security risks, exposing your business to threats and attacks. At the same time, your losing efficiency and becoming further disconnected or even incompatible with your customers. That's not all though, you are missing out on the benefits of the rest of the suite.
5. Microsoft Teams: Teams is part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite, depending on which version you purchase. Beyond Outlook (w/ Exchange), Calendar, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, you should be looking at Microsoft Teams. In the growing world of remote workers, sharepoint, skype for business and team collaboration, Teams is the answer. Microsoft is pushing teams like nothing else. If you've already started to adopt cloud, and have been trying to take your team to the next level, explore teams and what it can offer your business.
6. OneDrive: Again, part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite, OneDrive becomes your personal storage space. Stop storing files on that laptop, desktop or mobile device, and start storing them in OneDrive. Why? For one, OneDrive offers a lot more virtual storage space than any of these devices offer physically. It's less expensive, and won't slow your devices down. Plus, whenever you need a file, it's far more accessible than physically pulling the file from one of your devices.
7. Managed IT Services: Wait, this is more than a shameless plug, honestly. I hear it all the time, "but i can't really afford Managed Services..." You can't? You can afford to pay hundreds of dollars each month for someone to scan documents, answer every phone call or make cold calls, but you can't afford to adopt the latest technologies to make your business run more efficiently or protect your business from downtime? Does that make sense? Every small business owner wears many hats, we have to. If by wearing the IT hat, your business is suffering, than it's time to pass the baton onto someone else who can carry out your vision and let you get back to doing what you do best - growing your business!

Honorable mention: CRM & E-Signature software. Those really should be part of your AMS solution at the start of this article, but just in case your AMS doesn't include these features - seek them out! They are game changers, especially when paired with some of the other technology above!