NetVU Says Goodbye to Industry Veteran and Gentleman 

Larry Burton Rollings, 65, of Champaign, IL, lost his battle last month with MSA. Multiple System Atrophy is a rare form of Parkinson’s Plus. Husband to Linda Rollings, Larry earned a degree in Risk Management from Illinois Wesleyan in 1967 and, after serving in the U.S. Navy as a communications technician, went on to a distinguished insurance career as an independent agent.

 

In his ownership role with Dimond Bros. Insurance Agency, Larry was instrumental in its expansion into multiple locations throughout Central Illinois and ultimately having a statewide presence. His love for this business could be seen in his tireless effort helping others both professionally and personally. Volunteerism was a core belief with Larry, serving the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois, which he was a past president.  

 

His volunteering manifested itself within his community as well. Larry was active in multiple civic and regional organizations, one being a member of the Arcola, Illinois Fire Department for 29 years.

 

Brady Polansky, NetVU president and CEO, said, “Larry had a great sense of humor, was a true gentleman in every sense of the word, and an industry leader that will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Linda and her whole family during this difficult time.”

 

Even in illness, Larry’s drive to serve his community and make a difference led him to become instrumental in finding a cure or a stopgap for MSA. He participated in many studies and clinical trials that continues beyond his passing when he made sure his brain could be used for further research. To continue Larry’s commitment to finding a cure, his family has asked that all donations be made to Northwestern University to augment specific research funds for Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s Plus diseases, such as MSA.

 

Donation information is as follows:

 

Checks can be sent directly to: 

 

Northwestern University

Feinberg School of Medicine

Attn: June Ulrey

420 East Superior Street

Rubloff Building, 9th Floor

Chicago, IL 60611

Memo:  Larry Rollings, Parkinson’s Plus

 

or

 

Online donations can be made at: 

 

www.giving.northwestern.edu/nu/feinberg  

Under “Additional Feinberg Designations”, select “Parkinson’s Research Gift Fund”.

 

Thank you for your generosity.

 

Family visitation will be held Saturday, October 29, at the First Christian Church of Arcola, Illinois from 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. A private Celebration of Larry’s Life is planned for the end of the month.

 

 

 

 

Agency Perpetuation: Speaking to the Experts 

In this final article on Agency Perpetuation we have been able to get some insight from a couple of the educators for the 2012 NetVU Conference sessions on the same subject. With these sessions covering some aspect of Agency Perpetuation, this is a topic of concern to every agency owner. Whether you’re hoping to perpetuate the business by keeping it in the family, or are looking outside for the best opportunities, our speakers agree there are potential pitfalls you must try to avoid.

 

Tom Doran, principal at Reagan Consulting is teaching a workshop on Avoiding M&A Blunders. Although a majority of insurance agents and brokers hope and plan to perpetuate their ownership internally, many still choose otherwise, and wade into the unknown – a sale of their business to an outside buyer.  As the dollars are significant, there are a few basic issues you may want to address well in advance of a sale of your business to ensure the external sale process results in the very best possible outcome. Below are the five top mistakes an agency owner makes when considering merging with another agency. 

• Your corporate structure - buyers strongly prefer to purchase assets rather than corporations 
• Restrictive agreements - an insurance agency with appropriate restrictive agreements in place with its producers has a much greater value than one without them  
• A solid financial foundation - without question, an agency with a proven track record of profitable growth and solid financial management will generate more interest from the buying community, resulting in a higher value for the seller  
• A solid sales team and management - buyers are paying for your insurance expirations, but your people are the real asset buyers are after    
• Have a good team in place - before it’s time to sell, assemble and begin working with a solid team of advisors to ensure you are positioned for the best possible outcome  

In addition to Tom’s session, Larry Linne, Sitkins International, will be teaching a session Industry Change Requires a New Producer Profile. As Larry puts it, “Our industry is changing fast and the producers of the past will struggle to be successful. This session will give insight to why it is changing and what attributes the future producer will have if they are going to be successful, as well as how multiple generations will play into this dilemma.”

 

Of significant importance to the successful perpetuation of your agency is how to attract and develop that next generation of producers. Agency Services Group will present Developing the Next Generation of Producers. If your agency is staffed by baby boomers, what are you going to do over the next decade as your workforce is depleted through retirement? That reality alone could be the impetus for reshaping the culture of the agency in order to attract the younger generation or to consider finding other perpetuation solutions.

 

Finally, Paul Martin, PZ Martin Education, will be presenting an IIABA Best Practices session on Agency Perpetuation. Paul will discuss the pros and cons of selling your agency to different types of buyers, as well as identifying the best opportunities for meeting perpetuation goals and gaining an understanding of the critical factors to consider when determining a course of action. Unclear expectations can lead to anxieties, apprehensions, and misunderstandings about the future financial impacts and emotional attachments that make a thriving agency a place attractive to talent and focused on growth. Without thoughtful preparation, a perpetuation plan is nothing more than wishful thinking. Every agency owner deserves better, a plan that controls risks and rewards as much as they can. 

 

As Madelyn Flannagan, Big “I” vice president of education and research, puts it, “Today’s agency owners have a large and often perplexing number of opportunities to consider. They have to decide whether to perpetuate internally, take part in a merger, or sell to one of many competing external buyers.” This perpetuation session will offer tremendous insights to agency owners on how best to make these important decisions.

 

Agency Perpetuation is just one of a number of issues being addressed in the Principal Connection track. These are difficult business times, and equipping yourself with the best knowledge and understanding to help you make the right decisions is critical to moving your agency forward.

 

Register now for the 2012 NetVU Conference, April 26-28, 2012 in Anaheim, CA. You can’t afford to miss it!

 

 

  

Progress Made on NetVU Industry Positions

The NetVU Playbook 2011 presents the organization’s Strategic Industry Position on various issues impacting the insurance industry and the Independent Agency System. It was first created in 2009 and each year the NetVU leadership reviews and updates those positions based on priorities identified by NetVU members and current industry focus.

 

Over the next few issues, we’ll present a particular NetVU position and summarize some of the activities underway by various organizations with respect to those industry issues. NetVU leadership both from the volunteers and the staff actively participate in a number of those organizations such as: ACT, AUGIE, ACORD, and IIABA.

 

Real-Time Adoption and Usage  

NetVU believes that Real Time workflows are a major time-saver for agencies, on average reducing by half the time it takes to process a transaction on a carrier’s proprietary website. The reuse of data without re-entering is one of the most significant technology opportunities independent agencies have today.

 

Also, we believe use of Real Time Multi-Company Rating is directly linked to independent agency channel success.

 

Real Time enables a consistent process for multiple carriers from within an agency’s management system or comparative rater. Website navigation, logons, and passwords are handled securely and automatically.

 

“To that end, NetVU encourages our member agencies, carrier partners, and vendor community to implement and use Real Time wherever possible,” the Playbook states. View the recorded Download webinar (password: download) or register for the upcoming part 2 session to be held, Wednesday, November 16.  

 

According to the current ACT Recommendations and the Status of their implementation by the industry, the growth of Real Time implementations, and use of “best practices” workflows has been strong in certain areas with some agencies and carriers having really focused on full implementation. The stated goal is to encourage more implementation by more agencies, carriers and vendors, and move toward round-trip transaction processing.

 

A basic obstacle identified by the ACT Committee was the lack of consistency among carriers with respect to the transactions and lines of business where Real Time is implemented. Carriers need more implementation guidance for certain transactions.

 

Also, Best Practices workflows are ready to be published, but it will continue to take a concerted effort among agents, vendors, carriers, and others in order to successfully achieve widespread adoption.

 

Commercial Lines Download 

NetVU believes Commercial Lines Download is an essential component that allows independent agencies to hold their nearly 80% market share in the commercial insurance marketplace. Synchronization of data between agents and companies is paramount to efficiently and profitably servicing commercial lines customers.

 

To that end, NetVU encourages our member agencies, carrier partners, and vendor community to embrace Commercial Lines Download wherever possible.

 

Tremendous progress has been made and there is now tighter certification criteria, so commercial lines download is working really well, according to ACT and AUGIE. But there still exists agencies that haven’t implemented it, so continuing education and getting the word out about the benefits is critical at this stage.

 

An upcoming AUGIE meeting on November 4, in conjunction with the ACORD Implementation Forum in Ft. Lauderdale, FL will include sessions on Commercial Lines Download. If you plan on attending the meeting, be sure to participate in those sessions.

 

In the next issue, we’ll look at Identity Management, Encrypted E-mail and data security in general and report on some of the industry activities in these areas. 

  

 

Save the Date - Sagitta System Admin (SSA) Certification

Join us for an immersion course aimed to help users gain the NetVU Sagitta System Administrator (SSA) Certification.

 

February 20-24, 2012 - NetVU National Training Center - Irving, Texas

Register NOW

This certification is designed for the Sagitta system coordinator in the agency. Upon completing it, the SSA will be able to fully support the various users of the Sagitta system.
 

 

 

  

Protecting the Lifeblood of Your Business

Few industries are as data driven as the insurance industry. Independent agents don’t sell widgets or provide electricity to homes and businesses; they provide financial security and peace of mind. As such, the gathering, analyzing, and future expectations for that information is our business. So protecting information is critical to our success.

 

Over the years, as more of the business process automated, more of the data was stored electronically, linking it to the larger community. As the Internet and technology became more sophisticated, there is a dance that takes place between data security efforts and hackers’ creativity. Responsibility for data security must rest with each agency from overseeing an effective password management strategy to using encryption technology to secure the transmission of the data and everything in between.

 

The key to a successful data security begins with an audit of current practices. Are Post-Its framing monitors with scrawled passwords on them? Does staff travel with sensitive information on their laptops? Has an outside review of security steps been done? Sometimes agency personnel are too close to see all the holes.

 

You should establish a written policy for handling sensitive data (and make sure everyone understands what constitutes private personal information), communicate the details of it to every employee, and periodically review it for updating. There are more laws being passed, on the state and federal levels, concerning data security that make effective handling of private information not only good business practice, but a required, legal obligation of all businesses.

 

Figuring out how to protect the data can be overwhelming. Fortunately, there is a lot of work being done to develop technology and best practices for preventing a data breach in your agency.

 

Several carriers are exploring technology and new approaches to exchanging data in a secure and easy method that doesn’t disrupt the agency workflow. One such example is from The Hartford. They are testing a new approach to ensuring a trust framework with its agents.

 

NetVU Chairman Gray Nester and his agency, BB&T, along with The Hartford successfully piloted a Federated ID relationship between the agency and carrier. The idea is for a federated ID system to ultimately eliminate the need for different IDs and passwords when dealing with all of an agency’s partners.  Jim Rogers, assistant vice president, The Hartford is point person for this project, working with various ACT, AUGIE and ACORD committees.

 

There is a lot of work that still needs to be done, but this approach has succeeded in other industries, and support for it in our industry is growing.

 

In addition to working towards a more secure and simple way to communicate with its agencies, The Hartford recognizes that data security is a challenge for all businesses, and has launched a new data breach coverage for small businesses. To read a recent Insurance Journal article about this new product, click here.

 

Also, ACORD, ACT and AUGIE are among several industry groups looking at the larger issue of data security, and have developed resources to help agents and carriers protect the private information entrusted to them by their clients. For one, IIABA’s ACT has developed a series of papers, webinars and articles on the importance of implementing a written security plan, and a prototype security plan.  Visit www.iiaba.net/ACT, and click on Security and Privacy on the left under “Quick Links.”

 

Of course, you’ll find cyber security and privacy issues front and center in the 2012 NetVU Conference program. So be sure to register to attend this coming annual event, April 26-28 in Anaheim, CA.

 

Check out the NetVU Playbook (page 10) to find out what our industry position is on data security.

 

  

Goal-Setting 

Goal-setting is the basic material of the framework for success.  A life’s framework built on the right kind of principles with goals properly handled, has a special property.  It moves us toward success.  We can’t stop it.

 

Here we go:

1. We will set Professional and Personal goals and
2. These goals will be Meaningful, Measurable, and Written

We set goals with certain identifiable, essential characteristics - the way we write them and evaluate our progress enlivens, powers, and strengthens the whole process.

 

So let’s take a closer look at the nature of this goal business.

 

Professional Goals 

This is an obvious class of goals.  After all, the reason you’re reading this article is as an aid to increasing your productivity, making more money, advancing your career, starting your own company, and making you more valuable than you already are.

 

Personal Goals 

This is perhaps not such an obvious goal category for this article.  But it’s as much a “must” as Professional Goals.

 

Here’s an irony.  Companies, and individuals within those companies, are best served in all regards:  production, employee and customer satisfaction, and workplace harmony-when personal goals are in the picture right alongside professional goals, not down a notch – we mean right alongside your professional goals.  Personal goals might include things we want to do for ourselves; activities that include family and friends; or maybe the community.  They might (should!) include physical, spiritual, and mental exercise.  These goals are important because they anchor our energy to pursuits that can give a huge positive jolt to everything we do.  As we’re pursuing our professional goals, we’re simultaneously focusing energy on our personal interests.  Our whole being is pulling in a concerted way.  It’s where 2+2 equals more than 4.

 

There are three characteristics in addition to the requirement that goals are both personal and professional.  They must be:

 

Meaningful 

The point here is simply to push you in the direction of devoting time, and thought to the emotional stake you have in the goals.  The more important the goal is, on a gut level, the stronger and deeper the physical, intellectual, and emotional connection to that powerful energy reserve you’re tapping into.

 

Measurable 

Specificity in describing the goal is another requirement for ensuring high impact, and results.  Without going nuts, describe measurable features.  The goal shouldn’t read, for example, “Get in better shape.”  Write down a target weight, a target date, and a few words about the program you’re going to start (e.g. diet, type of exercise, benchmarks…).  The point, again, is to crystallize the idea by putting effort into the description, by driving toward specifics.  Warning: This is where a breakdown in the goal setting process typically occurs – lack of specificity.

 

Written 

There’s no word-processing or typing or Personal Hand Held Devices or other such old-fashioned keyboard digital allowed within this process!  Strictly cutting edge.  Seriously, you’ll need a yellow pad and pencil.

 

The goals are to be written, by hand, on a yellow pad, with a number two pencil. It’s all part of deepening and strengthening the connections between our conscious intentions (the written goals), and the unconscious energy reservoir we’re tapping.

 

Suffice it to say the way we write the goals, including the materials we use, helps to give oomph to the whole undertaking.  The deeper we go, the more outward manifestations we get.  And writing by hand, with pencil and paper, takes us deeper into our goals.

 

Intervals 

Lastly, the goals will be set at a few different intervals.  Let’s start with 5 Personal and 5 Professional goals (meaningful, measurable, and written) with a 30 day fulfillment period; 4 of each with a 90 day target; and 4 at one year, again in the same two categories.

 

And here’s a one-time-only free goal:  Your first thirty-day goal, personal and professional, is to have your hand-written goals completed one week from today.

 

As you read this, did any resistance come up for you?  If not, you’re one of the rare lucky ones – if yes resistance did arise, Congratulations, you’re right on target, right on time.

 

And to help here are some Goal Setting books you can consider – why not pick one?

• Dare To Win - Jack Canfield
• First Things First - Stephen Covey
• Linchpin – Seth Godin
• Pick Four - Zig Ziglar
• See You At The Top - Zig Ziglar
• Selling from the Inside Out - Tom Redmond
• The Art of Possibility - Rosamund & Benjamin Zander
• The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy
• The Richest Man in Babylon - Og Mandino
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
• Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
• Younger Next Year - Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge
• Your Best Year Yet - Jinny S. Ditzler

Best wishes are flying your way.

 

This article was written by Silver Corporate Partner, Tom Redmond, president of Redmond Group Inc.   Sign up for Tom’s free Sales Coaching newsletter by visiting www.redmondgroupinc.com. 
 

 

 

How Does Your Agency or Carriers Use Social Media? 

Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Four Square – they’re all just gobbledygook if you don’t know what you’re doing. What are your peers and competitors doing with social media? What about your carriers? Ever think it might be good to coordinate or leverage each other’s activities, but don’t know where to start?

Understanding what the landscape is and how others are using social media is a great first step.

B.H. Burke & Company is conducting a survey to gauge how agencies and carriers are using social media. The results of the survey might not only provide significant information to the industry, but they'll share them with each participant and industry organization.

The online survey should take about 20 minutes to complete, and will stay open until October 31. Only one person from each agency or carrier should complete the survey.

Click here to take the survey now.