Posts - May 2009

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Oooh, not a good way to start a blog post, eh? Don’t worry, there will be no cold hands or drafty hospital gowns involved. This is a different kind of check-up.

I’d like to know from all of you, how are we doing? Are we answering your questions, providing you with enough tips and tricks and industry fare to make it worth your while to have bookmarked FirmAlchemy? I’d like to know specifically – are you getting what you want from this blog – and if not, what would help? If on the other hand, you’re thrilled and couldn’t possibly ask for anything more, I’d like to hear that too. Don’t worry, I can blush with the best of them. Please write to me at feedback@firmalchemy.com with your report on how we’re doing. Leave no holds barred. You’re welcome to submit anything that comes to mind.

If you would like to see more product information, let me know; if you would like more product feature spotlights, I will give you more! If you have format changes to suggest or even if you have a question that’s been burning a hole in your…pocket?... send it my way, and I’ll do my best to get right back to you with an answer. Face it kids, this blog is about you. This is your place and I want to make sure you’re getting what you signed up for. So shoot me a line, I can’t wait to hear from you!

The number one issue we hear from agencies and brokers is that they want to reduce manual data entry in their firms and make sure their data stays in sync with that of the state.

Just think for a minute of all the time you or your licensing staff could save by not having to constantly re-key producer information you already have. At Sircon, we have a name for that terrible dance – "Swivel Integration".

"Sure, my systems are integrated" we once heard, "All I have to do is pull up a record on the system on this computer, and then swivel in my chair to the monitor behind me and key it in over here." This, folks, is not integration. And don’t worry about our friend here, she got help.

Put an end to swivel integration and start relying on TRUSTED DATA to ensure your producers are properly credentialed and make sure your firm stays in constant compliance. In turn, use that information to seamlessly feed downstream systems and convert your systems of record into data repositories housing the exact same information relied upon by state departments of insurance.

Sound too good to be true? We assure you, you’re not dreaming. Come to the webinar on May 28th and learn more about how to Leverage Trusted Data and put an end to Swivel Integration for good!

Have questions about our agency broker blog or want to register for our May 28th, 2009 webinar on Leveraging Trusted Data? Email me at firmalchemyfeedback@sircon.com.

It seems like agency and broker blogs, publications, and other resources are abuzz with one common topic – Customer Retention in a Downturned Economy. You’ll likely read how acquiring new business costs agencies much more than keeping their existing business happy. You’re also likely to read statistics demonstrating that any new purchase must deliver actual cost savings, or people simply won’t buy. Case in point, many Americans lowering their policy coverage, as compared to 2008.

Well, what does that mean for you? Put simply, the key to any agency's customers staying where they’re at, taking into account an industry where policies are approaching commoditization and margins are whisper thin, lies squarely in the talent of its agents. Relationships matter and for you, that means hiring and retaining the very best sales people.

One key to keeping great salespeople in your firm is to let them do what they do best – SELL! One of the easiest ways to facilitate your agents’ successful sales career is to make sure that they are licensed and that their renewals are processed in a timely manner, across each state in which they sell.

Sircon's online insurance license and renewal tools are seamless. They hinge on eliminating manual data entry and automatically notifying your agents and your staff of upcoming renewals. Sircon's solutions keep your agents properly licensed and process renewals electronically, from one, convenient location, allowing your customer-centric agents to remain qualified to do what they do best and leaving you to do the same – run your business.