Automation: Understandability is a Trait to Look for in a Consultant

MOST OF us are aware of the communications disconnect that can take place between agents and their clients. The problem arises innocently enough when we fail to remember that terms that are second nature to us are not commonly understood by the general public. A prospect once called me in frustration over such a disconnect. He'd asked his agent how much he would be paid for covered damage under his policy. The answer was actual cash value at the time of loss. Pursued for a more understandable explanation, the agent restated his simple-sounding explanation. It still made no sense to the client, who finally gave up trying to understand.

Communication disconnects also can occur between agency owners and their technical consultants. A recent reference to a technology application led me to a series of e-mail exchanges with my consultant. His last communication read as follows:

“Wait until I put that thingamabob into the fiber port to poke the packet loose into the LFIZ compression algorithm. That will make the back-end dataflow faster from the SATA to the 1294 bus while reducing the 18225 JO overhead.”

Would his statement make any sense to you? It made absolutely none to me. But I use this only as an example. Actually, the comment is atypical of our consultant, who in reality communicates with us extremely well and recently was instrumental in helping us deal with a potential disaster, as I'll explain in a moment.

Managing a paperless agency and otherwise looking after hardware and software might seem to come with the territory for today's agency owners. The reality, however, is that owners need to focus on insurance operations. They don't need (or want) to understand what an “oversized Internet packet” is to use e-mail. Rather, agency owners should establish relationships with technical specialists who can understand the agency business activity and who can dispense with “techno-speak” when communicating with owners and agency staff.

Talented technology specialists who can speak an agent's language are difficult to find. One place to look is among secondary-school network administrators. They are accustomed to taking an educational approach to their work. These administrators typically take the time to educate you about technical matters, to the degree you desire. That can be quite helpful, since you may learn how to solve everyday problems and save the expense of calling in an expert.

Large agencies can afford to hire full-time tech people. Smaller agencies need to outsource the job to consultants. However, all agencies share the common challenge of understanding what the experts say, so the agency can carry out its mission.

A solid relationship with a technology consultant can contribute to your long-term success by helping you avoid some problems and enabling you to recover from any that do occur. Believe me, I speak from experience. Last month, our agency suffered a total system failure, but our technology consultant worked 40 hours over a weekend to get us back up and running.

When our server crashed, we had three back-up systems. Two of them failed. So as it turned out, our consultant's multiple back-up approach was a key to our quick recovery. So was his ability to communicate clearly and concisely with us. As I found out first-hand, there is no business terror greater than learning a back-up system has failed and that you might not be able to recover your critical data. Certainly, I'm sold on the value of a doubly redundant backup system–and on the importance of a plain-speaking, service-minded technology consultant.

If an agency owner cannot always be available when trouble strikes, then it's all the more important to have a technology consultant with good communication skills. Most agency employees view their workstations as they do their automobiles: Turn the key to start, press the gas pedal to go; when the thing doesn't work, call the garage. When troubleshooting, a technology consultant needs to make himself or herself understood by such employees. Those who can will gain the staff's respect and cooperation. They quickly realize the consultant's importance to their own jobs and the agency's success.

A good consultant also will help an agency plan for future technology applications. Life is much easier when technical-support needs, associated costs and implementation are considered in advance. A plain-spoken consultant can help agency owners identify relevant issues and grasp their importance.

Demand that your technology specialist take the time to understand your business processes and priorities. Require him or her to explain issues in terms you can comprehend–and then remember to take the same tack when talking to your own clients.