Amy Bryan, agency owner at Bryan InsuranceAgency
Years atcompany: 6
College: SUNY Oswego '03
Organizations/accreditations: member of PIA &NY Young Insurance Professionals; Immediate Past presidentfor NYYIPs; Part of the New York Central Mutual Agency AdvisoryCouncil & the PIA Agents Advisory Council; member ofLions Club in Cornwall, NY; working towards my CIC designation

Read Amy's previous nGI Q&A

Who is your primary contact at your top 3 insurers? Howoften are you in contact with them? My primary contacts atmy top insurers tend to vary but have a common thread between thethree. The top ones are the ones that have open communicationbetween my agency, the territory sales managers and theunderwriters. Communication varies by companies and even people.Some communicate better by phone while others are by email. I thinkthat it is important to find what works best with the companies orthe individual. My territory sales managers and sometimesunderwriters will also come to meet my agency in person which Ithink works great in putting a face to the person who you arespeaking with and strengthens the relationship you have with thatcompany.

Have you ever experienced any “generation gap” issueswith your carriers? Not really. I think the carriers noware looking to a broad spectrum of agents for feedback. Also, whenI am looking for carriers to work with, it is important that we fitwith them as much as they fit with the agency. It’s about acollective partnership between us and the companies.

How does technology fit into your workstrategy? Having two office locations, technology is ahuge part of my work strategy. We are a paperless agency andutilize headsets, dual monitors and a phone system within theoffices to make it easier on staff and clients. I’m also constantlyon my BlackBerry and have a laptop that I usually carry with me tomeetings or between offices. We also utilize social media to marketourselves. For us, technology is one of the many tools that I usehere to help us reach our clients and communicate easier.

What’s your mantra forsuccess? I have a lot of things that keep megoing, but I would say that in business, success comes fromlearning. No matter how successful you are, you can always learnmore and make things better. I learn more and read more now than Ithink I did when I was in school. I love it and am always lookingfor new things to learn.

Amy Bryan was featured in the Sept. 2010 issue of AA&B. She is an agencyowner at Bryan Insurance Agency.