Modern Technology Initiative - Agency Management and Beyond

[andrewonj]

No shameless plug intended. Im a P&C agent in Chicago and Ive worked with the agentrun team on product development for some of their designs and functionality. I've been using the beta and like it. Thought maybe the OP or others would like it too.

 

[blue_wynd]

No shameless plug intended. Im a P&C agent in Chicago and Ive worked with the agentrun team on product development for some of their designs and functionality. I've been using the beta and like it. Thought maybe the OP or others would like it too.

I don't know. All of your posts have been about Agent Run. So unless you are the world's best customer considering how you are pimping Agent Run, I am going to take you being an agent with a grain of salt. I really can't see an agent coming on to a forum to do what you are doing. You getting paid for referrals?

 

[andrewonj]

I don't know. All of your posts have been about Agent Run. So unless you are the world's best customer considering how you are pimping Agent Run, I am going to take you being an agent with a grain of salt. I really can't see an agent coming on to a forum to do what you are doing. You getting paid for referrals?

Thats fine. Im not asking anyone to believe me. And no, I don't make a dime of this. I helped the team with some of the questions they had when building it, and Ive seen it grow from nothing to something I actually enjoy using, so you can say Im pretty excited about it.

 

[agentrun]

According to Linked In you are the founder of AgentRun

Andrew Lech
Consulting Developer / Founder
Founder
AgentRun
May 2012 – Present (1 year 9 months)Chicago, IL

Shame on you.......

Hey Guys,

Lets all calm down. Not sure how things got so misdirected on here. Its just a simple discussion.

vinsuranceguy - Yes hes right. Andrew Lech (me) is the founder of AgentRun. I used to work as the sys admin for a broker here on the southside of Chicago. Theyve been really helpful in helping us build our system. Andrew is one of their agents that fit the profile of agent we were looking for and he gracefully agreed to help out.

If you have any questions or doubts feel free to reach out to me directly. Hes a great guy and I think we need to return to the original purpose of this thread. In the end I think all you agents are in it together.

Thanks

Andrew Lech

 

[andrewonj]

According to Linked In you are the founder of AgentRun

Andrew Lech
Consulting Developer / Founder
Founder
AgentRun
May 2012 – Present (1 year 9 months)Chicago, IL

Shame on you.......

vinsuranceguy - There are many Andrews in this world. You are correct though...

Andrew Lech or "agentrun" on these forums is the founder of AgentRun. Im leaving this discussion but if you have any questions reach out to him. Im sure he'll be more than happy to talk.

To the OP sorry for this thread getting out of control. Was never my intention posting here.

 

[jamie.card]

Hi marin

great read. ive recently joined the recruitment industry after working in insurance for 6 years and im now a specialist IT/business change recruiter into insurancee. ive been given the task of writing a blog about what changes within the insurance industry could creat a recruitment need.

i wondered if you had any ideas.

thank you in anticipation

INTRO
I just took over as IT director at an established 4 person Independent Brokerage. We've already made a lot of changes and have many more exciting changes in the pipeline.

My goals for 2013 are as follows:
1. Consolidate Technology.
2. Cut down on unnecessary technology costs.
3. Implement Modern Solutions.
4. Simplify and optimize workflow.

CURRENT SETUP + WHAT WE'VE DONE ALREADY

1. Replaced all Windows machines with new iMacs running 10.8.2 Mountain Lion.
2. Implementation of hosted exchange for email, contacts & calendars - the top of the line solution for business collaboration.
3. Implementation of a hosted, virtual environment, accesable from any device via RDC (Remote Desktop Connection) or Jump (iOS). The Virtual Environment runs on Windows Server 2012.
-Internet Explorer allows us to access carrier websites that haven't been updated to latest web standards (Hartford, Safeco, Traveler's etc.).
-Eclipse (Agency Management) has been migrated to the Virtual Environment.
4. Banished the fax machines and setup eFax through our exchange domain.
5. Implemented one-click, wireless scanning from ScanSnaps (1 per workstation) to each iMac.
6. Setup Box as our Hosted File Sharing System.
7. Launched new website

2013 QUARTER 1 TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE STEPS
1. Replace Eclipse (Agency Management) with a cloud-based, modern, insurance-specific agency management system. As many of you know, the task isn't easy.
2. Replace Box with SkyDrive Pro (yet to be released)
-Box is great except sync between the Mac and PC (Virtual Environment) technically isn't supported. Dropbox for Teams was a consideration and is a great product, however, as per goal 1 for 2013 (consolidation), SkyDrive Pro is a better fit as it will be a simple upgrade to our existing Exchange accounts and will also be cheaper than Dropbox for Teams.

AGENCY MANAGEMENT

Requirements:
1. Cloud-based
2. Significant investment dollars going into maintenance and development of products/services.
3. Clean, modern interface.
4. Modern backbone (no Citrix server hosting the product)
5. Commission tracking
6. Accord integration
7. All-lines support
8. Good customer service

I've looked at the following agency management solutions:
•AMS 360
•Agencybloc
•Agency Matrix
•Quomation
•Aspire
•Applied
•SugarCRM
•Salesforce

Agencybloc seems the most modern, with a lot of investment dollars, a clean interface, great accessibility etc. The problem is that it doesn't support Accord Certificates of Insurance or some other features. They advertise themselves as a Life/Health agency management but when you speak with a rep, they will say that's just because of high entry barriers in the P&C market. At any rate, after almost joining, I've taken a step back and began weighing other options.

-----------------
CONCLUSION + YOUR FEEDBACK ENCOURAGED!
I would love input/questions. This is exciting to me and I feel like there is so much to do that can help this agency. This is applicable to most insurance agencies, at least from the research I've done. Many have been around for decades and have older managing partners that have lost touch with technology the last 5-10 years.

Looking forward to hearing from all of you!

-Marin

 

[Habershaminsurance]

What crm did you choose? Did things go as you had planned? I am considering agency bloc for my life only business.