2011 Leadership Workshop
By: Gray Nester, NetVU Chairman of the Board
What a great 2011 Leadership Workshop we had this year! We learned a ton of great things about personalities, and how to lead with different personalities on your team. Did you know your chairman was a Warrior? I’m sure some of you are not shocked by this but others may be and might want to know what that means. Feel free to ask the attendees of the conference, as this was a very interesting session. Not only was the session informative but the scavenger hunt we did was a lot of fun and showed how the traits play through in day-to-day life. If you are interested in checking out the fun, you can “Like” our Facebook page and see the pictures in the 2011 Leadership Workshop gallery.
Not only did we learn about our leadership style, but we also learned about managing perpetuation. This session was valuable no matter if you are talking about your team, agency or Chapter. If you were not involved in this session, you really missed out. Want to know how to get involved? Check out our Chapter Resource Guide.
If you are not involved in a Chapter, now is the time! With expense control being as important as ever, I can not think of a better way to promote the bottom line of your business than being involved in your local Chapter. Our local Chapters provide the opportunity to become more efficient with systems and processes, while keeping cost under control, since most people can find one that meets close to home. If you don’t see a local Chapter in your area, why don’t you consider starting one for NetVU? We would be happy to provide support to get you up and running.
One of the most valuable items we did, from a leadership perspective, was brainstormed on how to improve the support for Chapters from a NetVU and Vertafore perspective. We also took the time to have some conference discussions, as planning for the 2012 NetVU Conference has begun. We received very valuable feedback, and I believe it will make our conference next year the best ever. For more information about the 2012 NetVU Conference, please see our new thread in the NCOM (Community) Lounge titled “NetVU Conference 2012”. You can also read my post there and discover some of the things the board of directors and the Chapter leadership group are thinking about as we prepare for our trip to Anaheim, CA.
As always, remember there is a place for U at NetVU!
Real Time Made a Real Difference for Selective Insurance Company of America, Named 2011 Quantum Award Winner (Regional Category) by NetVU
NetVU has named Selective Insurance Company of America (“Selective”) as their 2011 Quantum Award winner in the Regional category. This prestigious honor is designed to recognize an insurance company’s achievements in providing agency-company technology that offers a quantum advance in workflow productivity and profitability for member insurance agencies.
NetVU members appreciate Selective’s strong support and ranked the company as one of the highest adopters of Real Time and download in the industry. Selective strives to be the partner of choice, delivering high-tech, high-touch insurance and risk management solutions for agents and customers.
“Selective’s commitment to Real Time and download is part of its overall business approach, which combines field underwriting, inside underwriting and marketing to provide an ‘ease of doing business approach’..” said Joseph Feo, assistant vice president, Agency Integration for Selective.
Real Time transactions via TransactNOW are available for all commercial and personal lines business that is quoted or written by Selective. Agents can utilize Real Time to quote and upload via their Vertafore management system and Selective will download it back to the management system.
Selective conducts agency producer schools several times a year to gather feedback from its agents on possible new technology offerings. The recommendations given by this group help prioritize Selective’s technology upgrades for the coming year. At one producer school, NetVU members indicated that improving commercial lines download was their primary technology priority and Selective responded by successfully re-certifying its commercial lines download process in 2010. Also in 2010, Selective rolled out enhanced Consumer Self Service capabilities. For agents that are rating personal lines policies, they have the ability to expose personal auto quoting on their agency website from Selective via PL Rating Consumer Direct functionality.
On Selective’s company website, existing insurance clients can perform a number of transactions, including: print both commercial and personal lines auto ID cards, create and print Certificates of Liability insurance and/or Evidence of Property Insurance. Their insureds are also able to pay a bill by credit card or EFT, view the status of their bill and report and view a commercial or personal lines claim.
Every transaction completed by the insured will trigger a notification to the agency so they can track what their customers have initiated. All of this enhances the agent’s ability to service customers 24/7 while at the same time freeing their staff to concentrate on revenue generating tasks.
All these initiatives and the enhanced workflow offered by Selective is why it was chosen as this year’s Quantum Award winner for the Regional Carrier category. They clearly are providing quantum advances in workflow productivity and profitability for NetVU user insurance agencies.
Do you know a company that has made quantum advances in 2011 – submit your nomination today. Applications are due Wednesday, November 30.
There Is No "I" In Team
By: Brady Polansky, President and CEO, NetVU
Recently the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the sixth game of a best of seven series to win the NBA Finals and hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time in franchise history. What made this championship series so intriguing wasn’t the fact that I now live in Dallas and was pulling for the home team. It wasn’t that I was rooting against LeBron James as a former Clevelander who thought his departure from the city was tastelessly handled. It wasn’t because I was lucky enough to be on the floor at yet another NBA Finals as consultant to the National Basketball Association. Nope, it wasn’t any of these reasons.
The reason so many people, along with myself, were fixated by this series was they all wanted to see if Miami could "buy" (rather than build) a championship. Thankfully, the collective sigh of relief came as the Mavs beat up on the Heat in Game 6 — revealing the much anticipated answer. No, you cannot "buy" a championship.
As the underdog, Dallas acted like professionals. Even Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Mavs refrained from his usual pot shot remarks during the entire Playoff run. Dirk Nowitzki, the star player on the team was sick with a 102 degree temperature in Game 4, but he never complained – he got out there and played his heart out. The team worked together, without fanfare I might add, to beat what many were calling the ultimate dream-team of the chosen-ones.
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(Here’s a picture I took of LeBron while holding a piece of
audio equipment during an interview after winning
Game 3…you can see my upside down face at the
top of the photo.) |
On the other hand, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James were paid outrageous sums of money to be assembled in an effort to create a super-human team that on paper, simply could not be beat. They celebrated every small victory, every step of the way. They complained to the refs every time they thought they didn't get a certain call. They acted like school children who had never been in a playoff game before. All that and for what? Today, they are celebrating their accomplishment of being second-best.
Don’t get me wrong; Dwayne, Chris, and LeBron are great players. They will win a championship some day, I am certain of that. However, we all have a reprieve from it happening the first year they were assembled in a "bought and paid for" fashion. Look at it this way, even though LeBron scored a convened "triple double" (more than 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists) in Game 5, his team still lost. Some say LeBron is one of the best to play the game. However, to help keep it in perspective, LeBron doesn’t have a single championship ring. Michael Jordan has 6!
I’ve said it over and over again, I would much rather work with a team of very good players, like the Mavs, rather than a team of super stars, like the Heat. There may be “I” in the middle of the word win, but “I” does not belong in the word team. It’s the team as a whole, not the individual, who is responsible for winning. Otherwise, LeBron would have several championship rings by now.
One last thing to take away from this series is while it is great to celebrate success, true professionals act as if they have been there before. They don’t make a big deal out of anything less than the championship. They don't talk trash. They WIN!
Remember, you can have great success in life if you constantly contribute your best to the team and act like you’ve been there before.
You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play!
By: John Boudreau, COO and Co-Founder, Astonish Results
I think we can all agree the independent insurance industry has changed dramatically over the last decade. Many agencies have embraced the change and adapted very nicely, while some agents are kicking and screaming the whole way. The biggest game changer over the past 10 years has been technology. The Internet has revolutionized the way we do everything, including shopping for insurance. Currently, 85% of all consumers research online first before making a purchase. That’s incredible! So is it safe to say that 85% of your time, energy, sales and marketing efforts are geared towards those 85%? If you answered no, why not? What’s stopping you? Here’s the good news: It’s not too late to make this your agencies’ top priority.
Technology is more available today than ever to help grow your agency. There are so many opportunities for you to make more money by working smarter, not harder. Digital marketing has allowed us to do more with less. You can now mass market your agency with automated email marketing campaigns, increase traffic to your website with creative referral programs, and leverage free social networking tools to better communicate to your customers and prospects to generate new opportunities every day.
The truth is the Internet is here to stay and much like all technology, it changes often. In order to capitalize on all the low hanging fruit, you MUST take advantage of all the technology around you or someone else will and you will be left with a shrinking book while other savvy agencies grow theirs. Remember, it’s never too late to embrace a solid digital marketing strategy. After all, 85% of all consumers can’t be wrong…can they? One of my favorite slogans is from the Powerball lottery. It explains that “you can’t win if you don’t play!” So simple yet so true. When it comes to digital marketing, no truer statement has ever been made.
No one really knows what the future holds, but we do know this, the Internet will only continue to get smarter, faster, and more accessible. Will you?
Astonish is a NetVU Platinum Corporate Partner.
As the leading provider of digital marketing and sales training for the independent insurance industry, Astonish Results is perfectly poised to help grow your business. With the creation and implementation of a blended online strategy, let us help you change your agency forever. Call us today at (888) 899-1936 to speak with a dedicated Astonish Results representative who will schedule a tour of our digital insurance marketing system for you, or click here to sign up for a FREE virtual presentation today!
IPFS Corporation Launches New Brand
New Brand Combines Premium Financing Specialists Corp. and Imperial Credit Corporation
IPFS Corporation, the leading independent provider of premium financing, is pleased to announce the formal launch of their new brand: Imperial PFS.
Imperial PFS was created by combining two of the strongest premium finance players in the market: Premium Financing Specialists (PFS) and Imperial Credit Corporation (ICC). Part of the same group following an acquisition one year ago, the two organizations have operated as separate businesses until March. With corporate offices in Missouri and New Jersey, Imperial PFS will operate 28 regional branch offices throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
“We are combining the strengths of two very robust companies to create the leader in the premium financing industry,” said Mike Gallagher, president, Imperial PFS. “Our continued focus and priority will be on the success of our agency partners. We now have the opportunity to offer an even broader range of services and programs across the spectrum of premium financing to our combined client base.”
“This reorganization has allowed us to take the strengths and best practices of both organizations and leverage this with our top resources,” said Paul A. Zarookian, chief operating officer and executive vice president. “Our long standing executive and management team remains in place as do our service teams across the country. We are committed to maintaining the services levels we have always provided, the efficiencies we bring to the process and the capability to help our clients get deals done.”
Imperial PFS is a NetVU Silver Corporate Partner.