Tag Archives: technology

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The Anderson Report on Agency System Selection Now Available

I am pleased to be able to announce the official release of the updated Anderson Report on Agency System Selection. The information available in this special report has taken me years to learn. See the press release below for detailed information. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Technology Anxiety? New Anderson Report
Helps Agencies Select Management Systems

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (November 30, 2009)—The continuing soft market and recession are putting the squeeze on independent insurance agents and brokers, causing a 2.8% job loss rate for agents and brokers in the past year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Streamlining is the key, but agencies need to stay up on technology to compete, says Steve Anderson of The Anderson Agency Report.

Anderson recently introduced a special report to aid agencies in that evaluation and selection process. The Anderson Report on Agency System Selection (www.AgencySystemSelection.com) walks agencies through the process, reviewing the specific technology-vendor options available for firms of any size.

“The problem we find from our surveys and client interactions is that the whole technology realm is too complicated and too expensive for many agencies to grapple with during an economic downturn,” says Anderson. “They simply don’t have the resources for a costly team of tech evaluators right now.”

A recent study found that 59% of insurance executives are unhappy with their existing systems, and agencies are looking for ways to improve their technology without breaking the budget, Anderson says.

Choosing an agency management system can be difficult. “The expertise of insurance agencies is selling insurance; computer concepts and terminology can be intimidating to agency owners, managers and users alike,” the report says. “In addition, despite industry consolidation over the years, agents still face a wide range of choices in the technology marketplace.” There are more than 30 options, and each has its particular advantages and disadvantages depending on the carriers represented, number of employees, mix of agency business, and number of locations, to name just a few, Anderson says. For example:

  • Should the agency stay with the current vendor and upgrade the software? Or should it look at an entirely new system from another vendor?
  • What real benefits will the agency obtain from specific system features?
  • Is the agency capable of maintaining its own system, or should it let someone else manage the computer systems by going with a hosted system (known as software as a service, or SaaS)? Who will watch over the system?

Agencies can walk through a standard process on their own to evaluate different vendor systems and pick the one that’s best for their agency, says Anderson. In general, the firm must determine where it is now and where it wants to go. Then it can begin to evaluate what system would best fit into its current operations—or best replace a system with which it is unhappy. “The purchase of an agency management system is not first and foremost about computers,” says the report. “It’s about the agency, the way it operates now, the way it will operate next year and the years beyond. A detailed system review is an opportunity for an agency to closely examine its business and make decisions about the kind of agency it wants to become.”

Anderson has developed a five-part course on how to go through the agency system selection process. The course—currently free—is e-mailed in five segments. Agents can register to receive the e-mails (one a day for five days) by going to https://steveanderson.com/choosing-the-best-agency-management-system/.

About Anderson: Based in Nashville, Tenn., Steve Anderson (www.SteveAnderson.com) is one of the insurance industry’s top consultants and speakers. He delivers keynote addresses, lectures, seminars and conference programs, in addition to individual agency consultations, helping clients maximize productivity and profits by smart use of technology. He is executive editor of The Anderson Agency Report (TAAR), a monthly newsletter dedicated to providing independent agents with the technology information they need to more effectively manage and grow their agencies. He is also president of The Anderson Network, Inc., which was formed to help agents and brokers maximize productivity and profits using practical technology. A licensed independent agent for more than 30 years, Steve has worked as a manager and producer in two agencies.

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ABA Legal Technology Survey Results

From smart phones that allow lawyers to make the most of downtime, to technologies that permit law firms to host virtual meetings, tools that use the Internet are significantly increasing the productivity of lawyers and decreasing their wasted time, according to the recently released 2009 American Bar Association Legal Technology Survey Report.

The American Bar Association Legal Technology Resource Center surveyed ABA lawyer members in private practice from January through May 2009 on their use of technology. Topics ran the gamut from budgets and purchasing habits to the use of smart phones in the courtroom. The survey concentrated on issues relating to technology use, not product use.

Among the results:

  • Leaving the office doesn’t mean leaving work behind. Eighty-two percent of respondents said they use a PDA, smart phone, or BlackBerry while out of the office, compared to 67% in 2008. Of respondents who provided brand names, the BlackBerry/RIM (64%) was cited most often, followed by the iPhone (14%) and Palm Treo (13%).
  • While more than three-fourths of respondents report that they telecommute (77%), only 6% of all respondents report having a virtual law office. Solo respondents are the most likely to report using a virtual law office (12%), followed by respondents from firms of two to nine attorneys (7%).
  • Social networking for personal use is gaining popularity among lawyers. Forty-three percent of respondents said they maintain a personal social networking presence. That’s up from 15% last year.
  • When asked whether their firms maintain a presence in an online community/social network such as Facebook, LinkedIn, LawLink, or Legal OnRamp, 12% of respondents report affirmatively, up from 4% in the 2008 survey.

This survey provides a glimpse into the changes that are rapidly transforming the work environment, even in a conservative profession such as law. Agents too can transform—so pay attention and learn.

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Helping Agents Stay Ahead in the Technology Game

As I travel across the country talking to agents, the question I hear most often is, “Can you just give us a couple quick tips on the top things we can do right now to make our agency more profitable and effective?”

The answer is, YES!

As an insurance technology consultant and editor, I’ve been able to discover the cool new tools, websites, gizmos and gadgets that can make your life easier, more productive, and more competitive.

I have created a new, weekly emailed newsletter — Steve Anderson’s Tech Tip — that will highlight one new “thing” that will help an agency increase productivity and effectiveness: Tech Tip is short, to the point, and quick to read.

After working with literally hundreds of agencies of every shape and size, I’ve come up with what I believe are the best agency technology resources available anywhere.

Is there a charge for Tech Tip? The answer is: NO!

This is my way of supporting agents in these trying economic times — not to mention that I really do love finding the latest gizmos and gadgets that can increase productivity — just ask my wife!

All you have to do to sign up is go to www.SteveAnderson.com and complete the simple Tech Tip subscription form on the right sidebar. Once you verify your email address, you will begin receiving the newsletter every Thursday morning. And, of course, I will never give your name out to anyone and you can unsubscribe at any time.

One more thing: As you begin to get my Tech Tip newsletter, always feel free to email me with comments, new ideas or products that have worked for you. I’ll check them out and spread the word!

Question: What technology tools do you use to gain a competitive edge and increase profitability?

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I’m Helping Randy Get His Dream Job

I have played a very small part in an interesting marketing experiment that might be a good lesson for how agencies could leverage some of these new marketing tools.

A little background — I ran into my neighbor and friend, Randy Elrod, and his wife, Chris, at a local Mexican restaurant last week. They asked us (my daughter Stephanie) to join them and during the conversation I found out they were strategizing on how Randy could win a contest to land his dream job.

Murphy-Goode is a family-owned winery located within Sonoma Country’s Alexander Valley. They decided they wanted to leverage Web 2.0 tools to promote their wines to a wider audience. They wanted someone who really knows blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to get the word out about their wines. Randy is that person. He has taught me a lot about using social media.

To find just the right person, Murphy-Goode created a contest. They have asked each applicant to create a 60-second video and upload it to the contest site. They are then asking each applicant to demonstrate their social media influence by having their friends and followers vote for their video. Getting the most votes doesn’t guarantee a job, but it does help get an interview — the next step in the process. They will pick 10 people to interview and from them select the final candidate. The winner will live at the winery (at no cost) for six months and be paid $10,000 per month. The title of the position is: “Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent.”

We talked for a while and brainstormed on what his 60-second video should look like. They invited me to their house the next night to participate in a tasting of all of Murphy-Goode’s wines. Randy wanted to make sure he liked the wines! So we tasted eight bottles ranging from white to red. I was glad I could walk home!

My small part is during the tasting they shot some video for background and I am in the final video he submitted to Murphy-Goode. Well, at least the back of me is in the video.

I want to help Randy, and you can help as well. Why would you do this? Because it is an opportunity for you to experience firsthand how you might be able to use social web tools in your agency.

Here is your part. Please take 70 seconds to complete these four simple steps:

  1. Watch Randy’s very cool video on the Murphy-Goode website.
  2. Enter your email address to vote for Randy.
  3. Wait for the verification email and click on the link inside the message body. Note: Your vote will not count until you do this!
  4. Tweet this post or mention it on your Facebook page, or anywhere else you might have some connections.

That’s it. Pretty neat little experiment, huh? Not only is Murphy-Goode getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in free publicity, they are using the tools they want to develop to find just the right person for the job.

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Google Mistrials

In a case of modern technology meets the traditional courtroom, a small but increasing number of jury trials are being declared mistrials as a result of jurors doing research on Google and using their mobile phones to send text messages and to Twitter.

An article by John Schwartz in the New York Times published March 17, 2009, details some of the problems arising because of jurors’ use of modern technology. In one example, the judge in a federal drug trial in Florida was forced to declare a mistrial because nine of the 12 jurors admitted they had done research about the case on the Internet.

This trend is not going away. People are becoming more comfortable with posting comments about their daily activities on Facebook, a blog, or in a Twitter post. This is going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to control. Just another little example of how transparency is affecting all areas of life.