NU Agency Tech Award Winners Share Secrets To Tech Success

David Schaefer, a principal and executive vice president of AH&T Insurance–named this year's award program "Champion"–said his Leesburg, Va.-based agency needed a technology solution to allow effective communication with a major branch office across the country in Seattle.

The agency installed a single phone system for both offices, while also establishing a video conference capability that allows them to deal with colleagues in either location as if they were down the hall, rather than across the country.

Mr. Schaefer said AH&T also had to upgrade the agency's physical infrastructure, but that retrofitting was anything but routine, given the fact that the agency's Virginia headquarters building is part of an historic district. Eventually, however, extensive upgrades were installed–including its power system.

For RCM&D of Baltimore, Md., which won an Honorable Mention, the goal was to transform the agency into a place where information is easily accessible online to both clients and staff, and where the knowledge of experienced producers could be leveraged by newer employees, according to Kenneth Runne, vice president and chief information officer.

Mr. Runne said the agency's new technology has allowed producers to share critical information, such as whether a prospective client has been contacted before and by whom, along with details on why the agency failed to close the sale.

Mr. Runne said that at first producers in the agency were hesitant to not only learn a new system, but to share their individual databases of contacts, as well as details about sales calls. To overcome these concerns, Mr. Runne said producers had to be shown how the technology solutions would benefit them in their daily work by helping them close more sales.

Going forward, Mr. Runne said his agency is working to implement solutions that will allow employees to work more easily from home and the road, giving agents more access to information through a laptop or BlackBerry. RCM&D also wants to expand the types of material clients can access online.

Melissa Armatis, information technology director for the Daly Merritt Insurance Agency in Wyandotte, Mich.–which also won an Honorable Mention–said she also had to overcome the challenge of getting the agency staff to buy in 100 percent to any new tech solutions.

She explained the agency addressed this issue by setting up committees that serve as internal user groups, with staff leaders chosen to spread the word and act as a resource. Daly Merritt refers to this as a "train the trainer" philosophy.

Ms. Armatis said one challenge is to help customers and prospects understand the value added by the agency's superior technology. Many systems run behind the scenes, she noted, and while a client may not immediately be able to measure the value of, for example, having data periodically backed up at the agency, that value becomes obvious in the event of a power outage.

The key, according to Mr. Schaefer, is for an agency to keep up with what's coming next in terms of technology, with upgrades and enhancements ongoing as hardware and software improvements are released.

Ms. Armatis warned, however, that with so many vendors selling numerous solutions, agencies must make sure they stay informed not only about what is available on the market, but that any system being added will be able to communicate with others already implemented.

Mr. Runne said agencies need to listen not just to customers but also to business units within the agency. Team effort, he noted, is critical when considering which technology solutions to employ.