If a carrier isn't offering automation technology to make yourjob easier, now is the perfect time to get engaged and find outwhat you can do to help change that. Staying ahead of the curve intoday's fast-paced market is critical. Carriers and agents mustwork together and embrace technologies that enable rapid responseand automation, or the customer will pass them by.

In an industry where instantaneous communication is changingcustomer expectations, insurance companies that integrateautomation technology into their agency-company workflows givetheir agencies a significant edge over the competition. This isespecially true with personal lines and small commercial lines ofbusiness, where some agents fear commoditization is happening dueto consumers focusing more on price than on the type of coveragethey are buying. According to IVANS 2011 Insurance Agents,Carriers & Technology Survey, more than 43 percent ofthe agents surveyed indicated that “customers shopping around forquotes” (primarily on the Internet) was the most threatening issueto their bottom line.

Nineteen percent of survey respondents also indicated thatanother concern to their bottom line is direct online sales. Someagents fear that carriers are starting to overlook the value theybring to the sales process and are beginning to pursue directonline sales instead. A number of agents even expressed theirconcerns that carriers will potentially leave the independent agentdistribution channel altogether. The pre- and post-sale supportthat agents provide, however, can be a key differentiating point incustomer retention and loyalty.

With competition heating up among insurers that is only beingfueled by a lingering soft market, rapid response can be a gamechanger in the way agents do business with their carriers. This iswhere automation can help. Agency-company interface technologies,such as real-time and download, can help agents enhance thecustomer experience through a single workflow, thereby enablingthem to respond faster to customers and provide more consultativevalue to the sales cycle.

Real-time facilitates the process of allowing insurance agentsto process policy transactions and retrieve account informationdirectly from within their agency systems or comparative raters.This technology enables agents to respond quickly with real-timeclaims, service, and quote and policy issuance for both personaland commercial lines. Download takes data from the carrier andprovides this data to the agency in an effort to keep the agencycurrent with policy revisions made by the carrier throughtransactional processing. The trick is in providing the data insuch a way as to preserve data the agency has that the carrier isunable to provide. The good news is that more agents are alreadyusing these tools.

In IVANS 2009 Agent Survey, only 36 percent of agentsreported using real-time upload. This number increased to 52percent of agents IVANS surveyed in 2011. Commercial lines downloadalso saw an increase from 42 percent to 59 percent of agents, andclaims download is up to 30 percent from 18 percent previously.More agents are realizing the benefits of agency-company interfaceautomation through reduced data re-entry and number of passwords,and they are enjoying the fact that real-time and downloadessentially places the data at their fingertips.

In fact, AlliedInsurance, which recently conducted a real-time survey withagents, found that of those agents using real-time technology, 52percent are saving four hours or less a week, and over 47 percentare saving five to 11 hours or more each week. Other automationprocesses, such as commercial lines download and claims download,take speculation out of what data is required and where it islocated, so agents can focus on up-selling and cross-sellingopportunities instead of performing administrative tasks. Whilethis is encouraging news, there is still room for growth.

For example, when those agents who are not using real-time wereasked in the IVANS 2011 survey why they hadn't implemented it yet,an overwhelming 60 percent said it was because their carriers donot offer the technology. Carriers, however, want to make certainthat agents are actively using automation so they can validatetheir investment. Agents, on the other hand, want to reduceredundancies and streamline workflows, so they can respond tocustomers immediately and be able to focus more on businessopportunities and less on administrative tasks. Agents are morelikely to select an insurance company that is easier to work with,thereby enabling that carrier to write more business and growmarketshare organically.

As more insurance companies look to invest in new policyadministration systems and upgrades, now is the perfect time foragencies to tell carriers they should be implementing real-time anddownload technology to maximize those larger investments if theyhaven't done so already. And, if download and real-time havealready been integrated, carrier should ensure the growth of thesetechnologies continues in their new or upgraded system, and workwith agencies to evaluate the possibility of expanding automationinto other lines of business.

Today's industry is faced with mounting pressures: increasedregulation, a struggling worldwide economy, weakened prices,limited marketshare and challenges to produce underwriting profits.Agents need to proactively seek information for their own benefitand make certain they are working with carriers that areimplementing interface solutions that will help them keep up withconsumer demands for quicker service and faster quotes. The oldadage, “the squeaky wheel gets the oil” is a lesson agencies canlearn from.

How? Here are three ways:

1. Keep an eye on their websites. For starters,agencies can visit their agency management system vendors' websitesto identify the transactions types currently being offered by theircarrier(s) and find out how they can get on board. If one oftheir carriers is not listed, the agency should contact thecarrier's representative and find out their plans for integratingautomation and what they can do to prepare.
2. Communicate, communicate, communicate.Education is also essential to create universal buy-in at anagency. It is important that everyone–from the president to thecustomer service representative–understand the economic and timesavings of implementing automation versus going directly to carrierwebsites.
3. Name an “agency advocate.” Assign anagency advocate to assist in promoting real-time and downloadand demonstrate its savings. The advocate can visit such industrywebsites as www.getrealtime.org to download resources and formsthat will help agency staff members understand the benefits ofusing real-time and download. Other websites have audio testimoniesand case studies given by agents which discuss real-time anddownload's features and how it improves the ease of doing businesswith carriers.

The agency advocate can also set defaults to real-timetransactions to speed up adoption in the agency. Reporting onemployee usage will show where further training might be needed anddemonstrate to the carrier where improvements can be made while theimplementation is in the early stages. If a carrier sees strongagent usage, they will be more likely to invest in othertransactions and lines of business, all of which will help themgrab more marketshare.