No, it's not a reference to a vacation or a competition, butrather, to today's consumer and how they wish—no, demand—thatbusiness be transacted.

"The shorthand term is 'multichannel engagement,'" says MichaelHowe, senior vice president of product management for AppliedSystems. "Customers want to work with the agency on their terms.It's no longer sufficient to say, 'I have office hours from 8:30a.m. to 5 p.m.'"

This method has been in place in other industries for years. Inbanking, think back to when ATMs first arrived on the scene; nowrecall the first instances of online banking and mobile deposits,which take advantage of a smartphone's optical characterrecognition software. Yet the insurance industry can be slow toadapt to emerging tech trends.

"I was recently sitting with an agent who isclose to retirement age," recalls Chip Bacciocco, CEO ofTrustedChoice.com (formerly Project CAP). "He said, 'I don't wantto have a client who won't have a coffee with me.' And there'snothing wrong with that—but if you limit yourself to customers whoonly want to have coffee with you, you can't build an agency onthat. That's not how people shop today."

Technology has changed, but not agents' core values and missionstoward their customers. They are still trusted advisors who provideexpertise and maintain ongoing relationships with insureds. Buttheir delivery of such knowledge has shifted, and the ubiquity ofsmartphones drives much of that.

Now, customers are demanding mobility—both when shopping forprospective agencies and for their own self-service. "Consumers arejudging potential agencies based on whether their websites aremobile-enhanced," says Ron Berg, executive director for the AgentsCouncil for Technology (ACT). "They use their current experiencesand expectations with other industries, and are demanding the samefrom the independent agent."

More than half of the web traffic for Paradiso Insurance inStafford Springs, Conn., comes from its mobile-optimized site, saysowner Chris Paradiso. And when his agency brings in between $15 and$16 million in premium volume each year (of which 40% is personallines), those traffic visits translate to policies bound anddollars earned.

Inaction can lead to paralysis, Berg cautions. ACT hasinformation online regarding how agencies can optimize theirwebsites for display on mobile devices. Agents should considerresponsive design—where the website automatically resizes,regardless of the device on which it's viewed. ACT stressessimplicity: Hone in on the most critical information, whichincludes the agency's location, hours and quoting.

For agents on the go, both Vertafore and Applied Systems offermobile versions of their agency-management tools. Applied'sMobileProducer provides a direct connection to its Applied Epic andApplied TAM agency management software to deliver account andpolicy details. The vendor's CSR24 and PerformanceManagement areboth mobile-optimized for smartphone and tablet.

Vertafore's Producer Advantage app, for both Android and AppleiOS, connects with Pipeline Manager, AMS360 and ReferenceConnect toenhance client servicing. It also integrates with Vertafore SingleSign-On to access all Vertafore Producer Advantage capabilities anddata.

Agents also can download the ACORD One app for quick access toforms and certificates while out in the field. Ideal for Android oriOS tablets, the app allows for finger-as-a-stylus signature anduses the cloud to sync data and forms.

e-sign here, please

What's driving agency technology is the consumer experience,says Steve Anderson, president of The Anderson Network, aconsultancy specializing in agency technology. "Insureds didn'twant to put up with opening a PDF, printing it, signing it,scanning it and sending it back."

Docusign, the official Big "I" e-signature partner, announcedearlier this year a joint venture with Vertafore's Agency Platformand AMS360 Online software. "E-signature allows us to designworkflows differently and keep the producers out with customersinstead of having to interact by phone," says Alex Lintner,Vertafore's CEO.

E-signatures come in a variety of forms, from finger-signing ontablets or click-to-sign functionality. Besides the time savings,e-signatures ensure that all documents are signed, sealed anddelivered in good working order. No sections or initials are evermissed, as the software alerts the applicant to any fields leftblank.

Agencies have a responsibility to ensure signatureauthentication, as forgery is greater for online transactions;electronic records are generally easier to alter than paperrecords. An audit trail that includes tamper seals mitigates thatrisk.

Demand more: Sign On Once

E-signatures are one of the best examples of agents asking forand receiving tools from their carriers and vendors that enhancethe customer experience. Anderson stresses that agents and brokershave more clout with carriers and vendors than they realize,especially when they join industry coalitions such as ACT.

"Agencies need to reinforce the problems and security risks thatmultiple IDs and passwords cause," says Brian Bartosh, principal atTop O'Michigan Insurance in Alpena, Mich. and Applied ClientNetwork representative for the ID Federation, an industry coalitionthat promotes information security and identity management."Agencies need to be vocal. Carriers don't see the number ofpasswords we use."

According to the ID Federation, agencies and carriersconsistently rank password management as the No. 1 pain point indaily operations.

"The average person at our agency has between 40 and 50usernames and passwords," says Bartosh. "And that is a hugestumbling block—keeping track of them, resetting them, revokingprivileges when someone leaves."

Not to mention downtime and lost productivity: The ID Federationestimates that as many as 75% of help desk calls are from employeeswho forgot or need to reset a password.

To simplify the process, the ID Federation has created anidentity management standard that securely accesses multiplecarrier platforms through the agency's management system. Launchedin May, SignOn Once is available now for carrier implementation. Itprovides users with a unique username, which is certified forauthenticity and used to access participating carriers' andvendors' websites.

After becoming members of the ID Federation,interested carriers and vendors agree to a Trust Framework—a set ofrules that govern business, legal and technology use. "It's anagreement where the insurance carriers trust the validation of theuser," says Bartosh.

The success of this standard lies in its implementation. The IDFederation currently receives about half a dozen carrier and vendorinquiries a week. As of press time, BB&T Insurance, TheHartford, Hanover Insurance Group, EMC Insurance, Liberty Mutual,Progressive, Applied Systems and Vertafore are members, but haveyet to launch SignOn Once for agency use.

To encourage more carrier and broker participation, agents andbrokers must speak up, says Berg: "We need to get to a criticalmass of vendors that provide this solution, and get the buy-in froma significant amount of national, regional and super regionalcarriers."

Power to the Agent

Agency management systems are much more robust and dynamic thanin years past. And in today's competitive landscape, it's no longeracceptable for vendors to roll out software solutions every 24months, Howe says. When agencies chose to lease these agencymanagement platforms through the cloud, instead of paying for asoftware license, updates can be made on an ongoing basis.

This gives agencies more bargaining power with their carriers,says Brian Cohen, consultant for Altamont Capital Partners in PaloAlto, Calif.: "Agency management systems are now able to do datamining and lead generation. The challenge is to the carriers. Mostof them are operating on legacy systems that are stillpaper-based."

In his former position as CEO of Menlo Park, Calif.-basedcarrier Pacific Specialty, Cohen saw that independent agents werechoosing not to do business with carriers who have antiquated ITsystems. "There is a movement where agents [are realizing they]don't have to be tech savvy themselves, but they can transactbusiness more efficiently because of the capabilities of theiragency management systems," he says.

When factoring in technological capabilities during carrierselection, Cohen suggests that agents first consider their agencymanagement system. "Look at the best case: How can I use my AMSthat will speed up the process, make it less cumbersome and moreefficient for the client and for the agency?" he asks.

Then determine whether the carrier allows you to use thosefunctionalities. Can you write a policy electronically with theinsured, but the carrier requires a faxed form? If the carrier's ITsystems can't handle that, consider moving your business to a moreefficient carrier.

"For independent agents, the leverage they have is the threat toleave," Cohen adds.

All work and…play

Fantasy football may cost employers more than$13 billion in lost productivity, according to the Chicago-basedconsultancy group Challenger, Gray & Christmas, as millions ofAmericans use company time to review player stats and managerosters. But what if there was a way to harness fantasy footballenthusiasm and know-how into more insurance sales?

Enter Adam Hollander, founder and CEO of FantasySalesTeam, anAustin, Texas-based software startup. A few years ago, when workingin sales management, Hollander noticed that typical sales contestswere failing to motivate his reps. "I was starting to question thevalidity of these contests," he says.

Hollander uncovered two flaws in his analysis. First, hissuperstar performers generally won most of the contests, "but Iwasn't looking to motivate those folks," he says. Second, theenthusiasm faded quickly. "After a couple of days, some reps wouldfall behind a leader or a goal, and then they fell out ofcontention [for prizes] and would disengage."

To make a sales contest successful, Hollander would have tochange the model. "I have to motivate a larger portion of the teamfor as long as possible," he says.

Noticing that many of his reps play fantasy football, Hollanderwondered if he could bring that type of culture into the workenvironment: For instance, create a game that rewards employees forevery phone call, every closed deal and every policy add-on.

After spending nights and weekends creating the FantasySalesTeamsoftware in 2013, Hollander launched the beta version with threemedium-sized companies. And now, more than 75 companies play thisgame, including Allstate, Esurance and brokerages GuideOneInsurance and Primera Insurance. This growth has ledFantasySalesTeam to expand to 20 employees.

The game exists in five formats, for baseball, basketball,football, racing and soccer. It is offered as an individual-basedgame, a fixed-team mode where sales managers build teams, and anoption where sales reps can draft themselves. Agencies andbrokerages can customize the game to work toward certain goals,including for example, if the company wants to build auto premiumnumbers in a specific month.