Chicagoland SIA Blog

Expanding your independent insurance agency often involves strategic decisions. One such strategy is the acquisition of a book of business, which involves purchasing an existing portfolio of clients and policies from another agency or agent. While this approach can offer several advantages, it also comes with its own set of challenges. Understanding the pros and cons is crucial before making such a significant business move.

As independent insurance agents, your email inbox is your digital lifeline, connecting you with clients, prospects, and industry updates. However, it's not just your primary inbox that deserves attention. In the fast-paced world of insurance services, neglecting your junk email folder can have significant repercussions. This article delves into the importance of regularly checking your junk email folder and explains why some vital emails might end up there when they shouldn't.

In the insurance industry, the concept of book ownership holds significant importance for agents. Whether you're a captive insurance agent, an independent agent, or part of an insurance network, understanding what book ownership means and how it differs among these models is crucial.

The challenging market conditions, characterized by reduced risk appetite and strict underwriting practices, make it increasingly difficult for carriers to take on clients with poor credit scores and/or a history of claims. In such circumstances, carriers are unlikely to make exceptions and are more likely to decline coverage for these individuals.

Automation is rapidly transforming the insurance industry, and independent insurance agents can leverage this technology to streamline their operations, reduce their administrative burden, and free up time to focus on more high-value activities. However, before implementing automation technology into your agency, it's essential to develop a well-defined strategy to ensure the technology is deployed effectively.

A Digital Strategy focuses on how you use technology to improve your business. Having a sound digital presence is one factor of an overall digital strategy as it focuses on the use of online technologies to give your business a competitive edge. However, your digital strategy does not end there - having an agency management system and leveraging other technologies to improve your business’s performance, as well as the process of evaluating new technologies you may wish to implement in the future, are all part of your digital strategy.

Insurance agents are constantly looking for ways to streamline and automate their day-to-day operations, so that they can focus on selling insurance and growing their business. Two types of software that can help them do this are agency management systems (AMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

At its core, success is the favorable accomplishment of an aim or a purpose. To know if your agency is a success, you must first identify the aim(s) or purpose(s) of your agency and create meaningful, measurable goals towards that end.

Do you have a process for onboarding new clients?

Has anyone ever asked for five minutes of your time? What is five minutes of your time even worth? If a client, employee, friend or significant other asked for five minutes of your time—do you have it to give? Or are you simply too wrapped up in your day and the tasks you need to accomplish to slow things down and make time for other people?