While some independent agencies grapple with the question of how to create a successful technology support program, one New Jersey-based outfit found the answer in the enthusiasm of its chief information officer, who helped turbo-charge growth with a vastly enhanced tech infrastructure.
As a result of its tech-fueled expansion, Couch Braunsdorf Insurance Group earned one of two Honorable Mentions in National Underwriter's inaugural "P&C Agency Technology Achievement Award" program, run in partnership with ACORD.
Couch Braunsdorf Insurance Group, headquartered in Liberty Corner, N.J., is a full-service retail insurance agency and managing general agency. Founded in 1903, the 30-person retail property-casualty producer made a fateful decision 11 years ago, when Elizabeth Tluchowski was hired to bring the agency up to speed with cutting-edge technology, and thereby empower the staff to realize senior management's growth ambitions.
With the backing principally of Chief Executive Officer James L. Johnston and Larry Evans, the chief operating officer, the agency blossomed from a modest-sized p-c firm to a midsize agency commanding more than $14 million in commission income and a more diverse list of insurance lines.
The agency expanded to write title insurance, health and life coverage, affinity business and professional liability, along with several unique business units and an MGA book in professional liability.
Today, the agency staff is five-times as large as when Ms. Tluchowski came aboard as CIO, while total premium volume in the past three years alone has nearly doubled, from $66.7 million in 2005 to $125.6 million last year.
All of that, said Ms. Tluchowski, was accomplished thanks to advances in technology and a willingness to "think outside of the box" when it came to embracing the latest tech innovations.
When Ms. Tluchowski walked into the agency 11 years ago, there was only one server but a firm commitment to technology growth from senior management. They knew then, she said, that the business expansion they envisioned would not be possible without making the infrastructure investment. Both Mr. Evans and Mr. Johnston gave her free rein to do what needed to achieve their goal.
"They empower their people here," she said. "They say, take an idea and run with it. That is how we ended up here. We looked at every opportunity and designed our system around those unique opportunities."
Today, the agency has 175 workstations and remote offices in Boston, New York City, Long Island, N.Y., and four offices in New Jersey, in addition to the main office, she noted. The total number of servers has grown to a total of 25–21 on-site and four others in remote locations.
"In the ever-changing environment of the insurance industry, we had to have in place the necessary system to serve our clients efficiently," she said. "We recognized we needed the proper tools for our staff, which is key to a long-term relationship with clients."
It is a system that is aimed at the cutting edge of technology–eliminating duplication of effort while providing key information to management from the monitoring of department functions. A top priority is to strive to achieve the lowest possible operating cost, she added.
Tech improvements cited by Ms. Tluchowski include a Web site where agents in the field can input and process an application. This allows for the addition of notes and online communication with other representatives in the firm.
The form is configured to ACORD standards and can be pulled into the firm's AMS Sagitta agency management system. This process makes the agency paperless and avoids duplicate entries, she noted.
Customer service representatives have dual monitors to improve efficiency–especially useful when a representative is on the phone with a customer and needs to enter a company's proprietary system because that carrier has yet to adopt bridging technology, explained Ms. Tluchowski.
The agency, she added, utilizes TransactNOW, an AMS product with real-time processing capability, which is supported by 90 percent of the agency's carriers (significantly, its key insurers), eliminating duplicate entries and speeding up the transaction process.
The agency also has Web controls in place to keep an eye on employee use of the Internet. Ms. Tluchowski said it allows her to measure bandwidth and allocate technology resources where they are most needed. Spam controls eliminate viruses and nuisance e-mails.
One more technology that is important to the agency is remote access to the company's servers, which allows users to handle issues from anywhere they are working. "We still work 80 hours a week, but it's not on site, and that's valuable," she said.
When it comes to technology products, Ms. Tluchowski said the agency favorite is the BlackBerry, which allows everyone to keep in touch. Technology that allows mobility but also permits producers to keep in touch continuously has proven to be most valuable to the agency, she noted.
In developing its technology platform, Ms. Tluchowksi said Couch Braunsdorf has followed best practices, investing 2 percent of its gross income into the firm's tech support. This investment has paid off in the growth the agency was seeking.
She added that the agency is also a big believer in continuous training.
Industry standards are one of the chief building blocks of the firm's technology success. Without ACORD and other standards, the agency could never have become paperless, she noted.
However, the agency takes those standards and molds them to the individual needs of each business unit, she explained. It is not a turnkey approach, where the user is limited to the technology's application.
Utilizing industry standards has allowed the agency to automate extensively, she observed. Clients have access to their own information, making changes and requesting certificates of insurance and identification cards. "We consider ourselves completely automated at this point," Ms. Tluchowski stated.
The next step, she said, is to expand into the realm of cross-selling and break down the silos between lines of business–something the agency is just beginning to push.
When looking at future opportunities, Ms. Tluchowski said the agency seeks to build a system that is more interactive and allows management to take the initiative in building even better technology.
"We call it 'solve the problem before the problem happens,'" she said. "It is continuous. There is not a night that goes by when I'm not looking for something new, something different, something that no one has come up with. We will constantly change to [have] the latest technology."
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.