Jeff Yates, executive director, Agents Council on Technology

Ease of doing business has proven to be a great strategy for carriers, so I find carriers more tuned into the concerns of their agents than ever before. For example, carriers implementing efficient real-time quoting through comparative raters and agency management systems have seen a big uptick in the number of quotes they receive and are being considered on risks where they hadn't been before. Increasing numbers of carriers participate in industry organizations like ACT, AUGIE, and ACORD, so they can fully understand the current inefficiencies agencies face as well as agency business requirements for improved workflows. In these organizations, they work alongside agencies and vendors to improve how the business will be done in the future, and as a result, their future technology investments take this industry direction fully into account. Carriers also have found agency technology councils, field trainers, and real-time transaction monitoring and follow-up with agencies when there are errors to be very beneficial strategies in helping them continue to refine their real-time and download implementations to create the very best agent experience.

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