Congratulations to Allied Insurance for Being Named 2011 Quantum Award Recipient by NetVU
Workflow efficiencies, process integration and improved productivity were among the reasons given for naming Allied Insurance the 2011 Quantum Award recipient in the National category. Allied Insurance’s main focus “was to reduce and/or eliminate major workflow barriers recognized by both agents and industry partners.” They identified four specific technologies that have helped agencies realize substantial gains in efficiency:
- Allied ONCE – A password management tool which eliminates the need for agents to synchronize their real time password with the carrier password. This was identified by the industry as the number one reason for low real-time utilization. Shortly after Allied implemented this technology, they saw a significant increase in real-time transactions.
- Agency Portal Deep Launch – This allows agents to seamlessly access the Allied portal from within real-time quoting and inquiry transactions. As an example, through a single mouse click, the agent can directly access an insured billing/payment screen without having to authenticate or navigate through different menus, resulting in a lot of saved time and greater efficiencies.
- Commerical Umbrella Download – This enhancement completed Allied’s commercial product portfolio, allowing agents to have a complete view of their customers’ commercial policies.
- Vertafore Book Roll – Working with Vertafore, Allied implemented the Book Roll to automate the inefficient and manual transfer process.
Currently, these technology solutions are being utilized by about 1,300 Vertafore agents and are in support of ACORD industry standards.
The Quantum Awards recognize carriers that have made a definitive commitment to NetVU member agencies to offer superior workflow productivity and profitability. Watch for the next issue of NetVU Now for information on the recipient of the Quantum Regional category.
Nordhaus To Be Inducted into Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame
George Nordhaus, chairman, Agencies Online, is adding another honor to his already distinguished career. This coming July will mark his induction into the Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame.
Dr. Kenneth Hollman, Martin Chair of Finance at Middle Tennessee State University, and founder of the Hall of Fame, said of Nordhaus, “When he first came to the Insurors of Tennessee, the state chapter of the Big “I”, George showed the drive and commitment to excellence that has served him well throughout his more than 40 years insurance career. He was instrumental in taking a lack luster association and breathing life into it for the betterment of all insurance professionals in Tennessee.
“That dedication and record of accomplishment is why George will be among the three nominees to be inducted into the Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame this summer.”
When he learned of this honor, Nordhaus said, “Being recognized like this is thrilling. To think that I started my career with the Insurors of Tennessee, back in l960, and to be remembered for that work all these years later, is amazing to me.
“I’m also proud about the honor from an organization that has made its own mark in the Volunteer State; one of the top state Insurance Halls of Fame. What is probably most exciting to me is that this organization traced my insurance industry activities in the succeeding years since I left Tennessee, in l966. That effort on their part is something I’ll never forget,” he concluded.
Nordhaus has made an unparalleled mark on the industry over his career. Among his numerous accomplishments, Nordhaus is the founder of the insurance education-publishing firm, Insurors Press (now known as the Insurance Marketing and Management Services); a prolific author and speaker, Nordhaus was also the youngest non-British Name at Lloyd’s of London.
The Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame was first established in 1997.
E&S Joint Working Group Calls on Independent Agents to Drive Further Progress
For two years, a group made up of ACT, AAMGA, NAPSLO and ACORD members have worked together to bring process efficiencies to the excess & surplus lines arena. During that time, the E&S Joint Working Group has made significant progress developing new applications and supplements and demonstrating their successful use.
Additionally, over that time interest in the activities of the E&S Joint Working Group has grown with 353 industry stakeholders participating from among retail agents, general agents, wholesalers, E&S, and program carriers and solution providers. As with all great new endeavors, building it is only half the work; getting people to “come and use it” is essential to its success.
The Joint Working Group is calling upon independent agents to once again help the industry move forward in the same manner it did years ago within the standard market by getting carriers and software developers to adopt ACORD Forms. It is just as important for agents to start to press General Agents to accept these new ACORD E&S applications where it makes sense for your business. The greater the demand on GA’s to accept them, the greater they, in turn, will push E&S carriers to accept them, too.
Proof of concepts that show GA’s accepting data from independent agents using Real Time and then downloading data back to the retail agent prove the significance of these advances.
This will take a grassroots effort to make a reality out of all the work and success of the Joint Working Group. As their new website (http://www.esjwg.org) states, “The mission of the E&S JWG:
- Improve the electronic exchange of information among Retailers and MGA/Wholesalers, Brokers, Program Managers, E&S Carriers, and Specialty Markets
- Explore all opportunities for enhanced workflows
- Recommend industry direction and encourage implementation
We need everyone to be involved if we’re going to make a difference. If you write a lot of E&S business, you should consider joining the working group. Just visit their website and click on the “Contact Us” button.
For more detailed information on the specific developments, visit the website.
Save the Date! PowerUsers is Coming!
Mark your calendars now and experience the latest agency technology, network and share ideas with fellow users, and learn from the best instructors at the NetVU 2011 PowerUsers Conference. So save the date for September 11-12. The Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, GA, is where it is all going down. You won’t want to miss this annual networking and education event for the most-motivated Vertafore system users!
It’s Time to Take Another Look at Personal Lines
The tsunami of social media tools hitting the shores of the insurance industry lately has highlighted one clear pathway to personal lines profits. Another pathway many agents are choosing is to partner with their commercial lines customers by offering personal lines products and services directly to their employees through various worksite programs. A third pathway, and no less valid, is the relatively simple process of “asking” for the business. Sometimes the simplest approach is often the most overlooked.
There are many different ways to grow your bottom line and helping independent agents and brokers navigate through these and other pathways is the Personal Lines Growth Alliance, a virtual association with a simple mission to help the independent agency system increase its share of the personal lines market.
Did you know that 50% of all property/casualty premiums are from personal lines, that’s a $230 billion business? One third of all Property & Casualty premiums including commercial lines is from personal auto alone. And currently independent agents and brokers only write around 35% of all personal lines premiums.
$150 billion goes to the captive agents and direct writers.
While the commercial lines market has taken a big hit in the past few years, personal lines business continues to grow. That’s why the Alliance believes this is an especially great time for independent agents and brokers to go after that market; and NetVU agrees.
As one of the founding partners, NetVU not only supports PLGA, but President and CEO Brady Polansky serves on the PLGA Board of Directors.
Working with a number of different industry groups in addition to NetVU, including ACORD, AUGIE, ACT, and the AIMS Society, the Alliance accomplishes its mission through an awareness campaign that reintroduces the versatile and attractive personal lines market, educates independent agents and brokers on the new and creative pathways to success and lastly, directs members to the vast resources that currently exist from various organizations throughout the industry.
If you’re curious about what PLGA can do for your agency, visit their website at http://personallinesgrowth.org. Check out The Power of Personal Lines Podcasts, the PLGA Blog and the dozens of articles. Follow PLGA on Twitter and Facebook and share your thoughts and ideas with the hundreds of members.
If you’d like to stay informed on PLGA activities, find out more on how you can improve your agency’s personal lines business and show your support, become a member, it’s free to agents and brokers. Just visit the website and complete the “Become a Member” form.
Artizan Announces Integration of CSR24 with Vertafore’s WorkSmartTM
The integration extends the workflow management capabilities of WorkSmart to include transactions from CSR24 by policyholders.
Richard Roy, president of Artizan Internet Services, announced the integration of Artizan’s policyholder access solution, CSR24, with Vertafore’s intelligent workflow product, WorkSmart.
“Insurance agencies are constantly looking for new ways to increase process efficiencies,” Richard said. “Those agents using Artizan’s CSR24 and WorkSmart understand the positive impact online customer service and internal task management can have on their agency. With the integration of these two systems, these agents can further enhance their functionality with automated processing and workflow routing.”
Bowen Miclette & Britt has been a long time user of CSR24, and with their recent investment in WorkSmart sees significant value in the integration of these two products. “WorkSmart provides the intelligent workflows we need to automate processes and reduce the number of steps it takes to get things done. It increases Bowen Miclette & Britt’s capacity to service our clients and ensures we always have the right people on the right tasks,” states Senior Vice President Donna Wilson of Bowen Miclette & Britt. “When utilizing WorkSmart with CSR24, activities done by our policyholders within CSR24 including – obtaining certificates, auto IDs, and requesting changes — are fully integrated into the workflows and tracked within WorkSmart. As a result our account executives are aware of our clients’ needs at all times.”
For example, if a client requests a policy change through CSR24’s online portal, the task is automatically forwarded into WorkSmart. WorkSmart then intelligently routes the activity to the client file and generates a task for the appropriate agency employee(s) to handle change request.
“The integration of these two solutions enables agents to have consistent, faster and more cost-effective processing across their organization, therefore improving service to their customers. Additionally, by integrating CSR24 policyholder transactions into intelligent workflows, agencies have the advantage of utilizing WorkSmart’s robust reporting and analytics to track and report on policyholder initiated activities,” explained Vice President of Enterprise Solutions Steven Finch of Vertafore.
For agents looking to find a way to best streamline and standardize internal processing and deploy a consistent customer facing solution, the CSR24 – WorkSmart automated workflow integration is the answer.
The solution allows agents to:
- Automatically route routine requests made in CSR24 to the correct agency personnel
- Track CSR24 tasks through WorkSmart business process reporting
Give policyholders the ability to place agency requests from within CSR24 and automatically initiate WorkSmart intelligent workflows.
NetVU Announces New Silver Corporate Partner: The Grace Bauer Group Inc.
Celebrating 21 years in business, The Grace Bauer Group Inc. helps insurance agencies throughout the United States increase efficiencies, secure consistency, prevent against E&O, save time on training, and increase revenue through the thorough review, documentation of Best
Practices, implementation, final review, maintenance, and auditing of procedures. Click
here to learn how Grace Bauer can benefit your agency.
In addition to individualized, in-depth consulting, Grace Bauer offers agency conferences via webinar that cover relevant topics to individual insurance agencies. Topics include areas of concern, such as auditing, marketing and time management, as well as peer-to-peer facilitated round tables. Click here for more information or to register for a conference.
The Grace Bauer Group Inc. has been an endorsed product vendor for NetVU for more than 10 years. We are proud to now include Grace Bauer as a NetVU Silver Corporate Partner.
| “Grace is excellent at walking into an agency and within a few hours can tell where problems lie. Grace’s follow up maintenance calls have proved to be most helpful. The calls help get us back on track and keep us focused on what our goals are. Hiring The Grace Bauer Group has proven to be one of our most valuable investments! “ Dina M. Vajdos, Accounting Manager
Texas Insurance & Financial Services Inc.
“With Grace’s assistance we have developed a detailed procedure manual that includes step by step instructions on how to complete each function within our agency and within AMS 360. By working with Grace, we continue to improve our processes and overall morale within our agency.”
Suzette C Ward, CIC, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Gateway Insurance Services, Inc.
“By having procedures, we have better insured clients and make more money.”
Veronica Della Porta
The Della Porta Group
This process enlightened me to all of the procedures that should be in an agency that were not in ours - to know why and how things were done - where our exposures were - which made me a better manager."
Robynne Olson
Olson Inc.
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