The 2006 Agency Technology Study, conducted by the ACORD-UserGroups Information Exchange (AUGIE), demonstrated the need forimproved communication between carriers and independent agencies oninterface and workflow enhancements, according to ACORD, theinsurance standards organization.

With this in mind, AUGIE has created and issued "ProductiveAgency Visits by Insurance Carrier Marketing Reps: A Guide toImproved Communications on Workflow and Technology." The guidebookis designed to help principals communicate to their own staff keyworkflow and technology issues and to improve communicationsbetween agencies (owners and staff) and carrier fieldrepresentatives, indicates Mike Bergstein, who headed the workinggroup of volunteers who developed it.

"Too many agency owners and their staffs still don't recognizetheir business lives can improve dramatically with so many toolsavailable today," says Bergstein, vice president of The CapacityGroup, a New Jersey-based agency. "Our collective job is tocontinue to reach out to these agencies. We need to touch more thanjust the agency principal; this is a desktop-to-desktop battle tochange behavior."