“Chatbots: The Insurance Agent’s Friend (And Part-Time Rival) – Episode 047”
by Steve Anderson and Ryan Deeds
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One of my more popular presentations is called “The Virtual Agency.” In that presentation, I explore the various options available today for creating a 21st-century “office.” As consumer expectations change from physical face-to-face to browsing a website, to interacting via a mobile device, it may be time for you to rethink what your physical office looks like and whether you need a physical location.
I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time, and probably agree with what you’re feeling right now — there are some excellent reasons to have a physical office location. I have a physical office separate from my home. It’s not very big, nor very fancy, but it is a place I go “to work” when I’m not traveling. It actually might be accurate to consider it my “man cave.” You see, I realized some time ago that I am more productive and can concentrate better in a work environment.
“How One Insurance Agency Successfully Implemented Electronic Payments (Featuring Eric Wistrand) – Episode 046”
by Steve Anderson and Ryan Deeds
Sorry, listening to the audio on this website requires Flash support in your browser. You can try playing the MP3 file directly by clicking here.
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan talk with Eric Wistrand, IT Director at the Couch Braunsdorf Insurance Group, and learn how his agency successfully implemented an electronic payment solution. By listening to this episode, you will learn:
The Digital Broker podcast is brought to you buy Indio Technologies. Indio turns the application and renewal process into an online TurboTax like experience for your clients. As a result, the 1,000+ agents using Indio provide their clients with a top-rated customer experience, reduce their E&O exposure, and outgrow their competition. To learn more about Indio, click here!
Clients are still in the habit of paying an insurance agency by check, but take a look at everything that has to happen for that check to clear. (9:20) The check has to arrive in the mail. Someone has to break it open, time-stamp it, and reroute it to the accounting department, assuming an account manager doesn’t have to get involved first. Someone in accounting then tags the check to the client’s file before sending the check out to be deposited. This is typically a batched process—checks accumulate until a batch is deposited all at once, prolonging the clearance of the funds further.
Amazon’s Kindle is the most popular eBook reader. Many know how easy it is (sometimes too easy!) to purchase and download a new book onto their Kindle device. I like using a Kindle because it is easy, lightweight, and allows me to quickly highlight key points and take notes.
But, what about other documents that are not traditional books? These could be a PDF document, a report you want to review, or any other type of document that you want to take with you on your Kindle. Amazon has had a way to send documents to a Kindle for some time. Every Kindle device has a unique email address you can use to attach a document and send it to your device.
This does work fine. However, Amazon has made it just a little bit easier to get a document onto your Kindle by using Send to Kindle (for both 
Windows and Mac) as an option in Windows Explorer.
“Unlocking Agency Data: How Indio Uses Data To Help Agents Improve Customer Experience (Featuring Adam Bratt) – Episode 045”
by Steve Anderson and Ryan Deeds
Sorry, listening to the audio on this website requires Flash support in your browser. You can try playing the MP3 file directly by clicking here.
This episode was originally recorded on December 27th, 2018.
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan talk to Adam Bratt, co-founder of Indio Technologies, to learn more about how Indio is already helping agents and brokers and will continue to do so by introducing new features. By listening to this episode, you will learn:
The Digital Broker podcast is brought to you buy Indio Technologies. Indio turns the application and renewal process into an online TurboTax like experience for your clients. As a result, the 1,000+ agents using Indio provide their clients with a top-rated customer experience, reduce their E&O exposure, and outgrow their competition. To learn more about Indio, click here!
Indio has been The Digital Broker’s sponsor since the podcast’s inception, and we’ve talked about the product when we thought it was appropriate, but many of our listeners are still curious: how does Indio help agents and brokers do their jobs better?
Summary:
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan talk to tech entrepreneur Duke Williams about chatbot technology and how it applies to insurance operations. By listening to this episode, you will learn:
The Digital Broker podcast is brought to you buy Indio Technologies. Indio turns the application and renewal process into an online TurboTax like experience for your clients. As a result, the 1,000+ agents using Indio provide their clients with a top-rated customer experience, reduce their E&O exposure, and outgrow their competition. To learn more about Indio, click here!
Recap:
Duke has found that many agents and brokers misunderstand or underestimate what a chatbot is and what it can do. It isn’t simply a widget that resembles a conversation between computer and user. Fundamentally, a chatbot is an A.I., rules-based conversation within a specific context. (5:57)
Despite the strides in A.I. technology, most chatbots are pretty simple creatures—Duke likens them to four-year-old children, but even that might be overstating it. Four-year-old children can think independently and generate new ideas. A chatbot is limited by what a human tells it to think and how.
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