As you may know, the Real Time/Download Campaign was launched around four years ago. One of the driving forces behind its formation was the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s (IIABA) Agents Council for Technology (ACT.)

As much as ACT does for real time and download, it’s involved in a whole lot more.

Earlier this month, IIABA President and CEO Bob Rusbuldt took a few minutes across the table from a video camera (someplace you know I love to be) and shared some of his thoughts on ACT.

While Bob didn’t mention me by name, he did talk about real time, saying, “ACT is a champion for the use of real time by agencies and carriers, so you can quote business and access information from your carriers, directly from your systems, without having to reenter the same data multiple times.”

This was probably my favorite line of the whole piece: “Real time gives precious time back to your staff so they can focus on proactive service and cross-selling.” Time is precious, isn’t it? And proactive service and cross-selling are pretty cool, too.

Agencies that use real time are in some pretty good company. “In the Big I’s latest Best Practices Study,” Bob noted, “the best practices agencies credit the use of real time and download as having had a highly positive impact on their profitability and growth.” Pretty powerful stuff if you ask me.

In the video, he also outlined about some of the other great things ACT is up to. Bob concluded his video saying, “To get a great overview on the breadth of work being done on your behalf by ACT and to help you run a better business, please check out the ACT website.” Great advice! Oh, and it’s easy to find. Just visit www.iiaba.net/act.

Wanna check out the short video yourself? Just click here!

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There are some things I’m really good at, like helping agency and brokerage professionals realize Real Time doesn’t need to be daunting, making people smile at trade shows and conventions—even when they’re tired and don’t feel much like smiling, and putting together moderately engaging blog posts when the spirit leads. But one thing I’m not good at is poetry. (Surprising, isn’t it, since my feet are long fellows? Ha ha! Get it? Long fellows, like the poet?)

Even though I can’t write poetry, I know a good rhyme when I see one. And I saw one online recently. “Bricks & Clicks.” That’s it. Yes, I like my poetry just like I like agency and brokerage workflows: short and simple.

Anyway, I saw the masterpiece in the headline of a press release from Peerless Insurance, a Liberty Mutual Agency Corporation company that knows a lot about snow, ice and business insurance. While I’m rather impressed with the company’s poetic prowess, I am equally interested in the program the company is offering.

Here’s the deal: Peerless is holding two-day Bricks & Clicks digital marketing workshops for its appointed independent agencies. The goal: Help attendees learn how to grow their businesses online and discover strategies and techniques for using online marketing to boost leads and drive sales. Man, does that make sense, especially for agencies that can respond quickly to customers because they’re using Real Time. You understand, the Internet is really fast, and customers who use the Internet want answers fast.

On the first day, the carrier will share insights around Web site design, search engine optimization, web marketing fundamentals, social networking, and online tools and trends. Day Two looks at a web-marketing strategy to identify an appropriate customer base, provides detailed instruction in search engine optimization, examines online advertising using paid search marketing, and uncovers what analytics can reveal about online marketing results. I’m sure you can find out more at the company’s website.

Reading about this program got me wondering: Are other companies offering something similar to their agents? If so, which ones and what are they doing? If not, why not?

Agents, what do you think? Would it help if your carrier offered such instruction and guidance? And do you agree with me that Real Time fits real well with online marketing? If so, I’d love to hear more—including how you’re using the two.

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Can you believe it’s been more than a quarter century since we first saw the Prego commercial where Mom uses—oh, my word—sauce from a jar?

Every time her son or husband (check out the hair and the Tom Selleck moustache) mentions an ingredient that was part of her homemade sauce, Mom’s response is the same: It’s in there!

It kind of reminds me of questions I get about the Real Time/Download Campaign website. How can I find out what companies offer Real Time? It’s in there. Which vendors work with what carriers? It’s in there. What about carriers and Download? It’s in there. How can I get my agency or brokerage up to speed on Real Time real fast? It’s in there.

You get the picture. There’s a lot of information on the site, and there are links to even more. If you want to be legendary, like the mom in the Prego commercial, wander around the site. Find out about Real Time and Download and share what you learn with your coworkers and boss. Don’t miss our step-by-step guide to getting up and running—in just a month. Become the resident expert on Real Time. It’s how agencies and brokerages will thrive over time.

If you work for a carrier, vendor, trade association or users group, and your information isn’t in there, let me know. If you’re an agent that knows about an organization that should be included but isn’t, same deal: I’d like to hear from you. Finally, if you need information that you can’t find, tell me what you’re looking for. Drop me an email or leave a comment below.

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In meetings of agency automation geeks, we often hear the term “ease of doing business” bandied about. Of course, the phrase is certainly near and dear to my heart. Actually, that’s where my name came from; “Eddie” stands for Ease of Doing business guy. Did you know that? I thought it was pretty cool.

Well, there’s a company—Grange Insurance—that takes the phrase pretty seriously, too. On the company’s website, it says, “…we’re committed to Ease of Doing Business® (EODB) and providing a hassle-free insurance experience – from how you pay your bill to how you report a claim.” Last year, its focus on making it easy for independent agents and broker to do business brought in a trio of awards from leading industry organizations.

First, it nabbed NetVU’s 2010 Quantum Award for achievements in providing working agency-company technology that the users group says, “offers a superior quantum advance in workflow productivity and profitability for member insurance agencies.”

Soon after, it was among nine carriers honored by ACORD for boosting data input efficiencies by implementing commercial lines download. In September, it received an Applied Systems 2010 Interface Partner Award for “continued excellence in agency-carrier communication,” something it’s done five times before.

We talked with Sherry Rarey about what drives automation success at Grange. The company is doing so much, it wouldn’t fit in this blog. So we created an article and posted it as a PDF on the Real Time/Download Campaign’s “Articles” page. In it, Sherry talks about a host of things the carrier has done—from agency staff and company rep engagement to the Real Time/Download Campaign’s 21 Day Real Time Challenge and more.

If you work for an insurance company, check out the article for ideas on how your firm can boost ease of doing business. Let us know what you’re up to, so we can share it with others! If you work for an agency or brokerage, ask your carriers what they’re doing to help your agency succeed. Share the article with your carrier friends. And check out the Campaign Web site, and especially the 21 Day Challenge page, for ideas on how your organization can make the best use of available automation.

Better yet, share your thoughts here. What have you seen carriers doing that are worthy of an award? What do you think they should do more?

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Talk about a bummer. I was getting all ready for the big February 17-19 trip to Tampa—one I know many of my insurance sales, marketing and technology friends and business partners are taking—only to find out I’m not allowed to go. Needless to say, I’m more than a little upset.

I checked with some of my friends (The Phillie Phanatic, The Bird from Baltimore, and Screech, who works for the Washington Nationals) and they’re all heading to Florida. They have Spring Training duties to fulfill. But no, not me. I guess it’s for the best; it would have taken quite a while to get my car cleaned off and ready.

I’m disappointed I can’t make it, because I honestly believe this may be the best meeting ever. Not only do AUGIE and ACT get together, but AIMS Society is holding its annual event at the same place, as a lead-in to the others. The agenda is jam-packed with practical panel sessions, guest speakers and, of course, some sleeves-rolled-up work opportunities.

For me, the Real Time guy, I can’t wait to find out what comes out of two of those work sessions, in particular. The first is on the morning of Friday, the 17th, when attendees work on our Real Time Makes Real $$$$$ initiative, which was created a couple of years ago.

Marketing and workflow experts will come together in the joint AIMS Society/AUGIE session to find ways to improve the guide—making it even more valuable to agents and brokers who want to refocus service staff and build a true agency sales culture. If you’re going to be there, you might want to pre-read the guide and come with ideas. If not, read it anyway, and share your ideas below.

The second takes place Saturday afternoon, at the ACT meeting. ACT members will have breakouts and work sessions from 1:00 until 3:30 pm. These sessions always yield creative, practical ideas to help agents and brokers—and their business partners—boost productivity, efficiency and even profits. If you weren’t at the last ACT meeting, you can read an article based on the results of the session on social media best practices. If that doesn’t whet your whistle, I’m not sure what will.

If you go to the meetings, just do me a favor: when you’re drinking your hot coffee in the morning or if you have a cup of warm tea in the afternoon or evening, think about me, shivering up north. I’ll be thinking about you… in warm, sunny Florida. Grrrrr.

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Check out Wiktionary and you’ll find out what I’m talking about. Don’t feel like clicking through? Here’s what the site says: A round tuit is a circular object giving its owner the ability to get done everything that would have otherwise been put off to a later date.

I think we all need one of these. Fortunately, your friends at the Real Time/Download Campaign have given you one—in the form of a recorded webinar. Over the past year, and probably for longer than that, the Campaign has hosted free, live online presentations by insurance agents just like you who use Real Time in their offices. The webinars feature background information, an overview of benefits, live demonstrations of Real Time at work and more.

I’m thrilled that so many of you have already taken part. It’s making a difference. Still, many have not. I know, you always meant to get around to it but never did. Well, here’s you virtual round tuit: The webinars are available online for on-demand viewing. Problem solved. Just visit the webinars page and click on the January 2011 presentation. If you don’t want to click twice, open the presentation directly.  And download the accompanying presentation slides, if you wish.

By the way, there are other kinds of tuits out there. Some nice people in Ohio, Linda and Karen (who I don’t know, don’t have any business relationship with and make no commission from—darn it,) have a website that explains them all.

One is shaped like a stick. It’s useful once you have a round tuit. It lets you keep doing what you’re doing. It’s called a stick tuit. Another speeds up the process. It’s called a hop tuit. If you can’t find a hop tuit, you can always get a moovon. But I digress, which I seem to do a lot.
 
Again, the webinars are online. So get around to it, get a move on and hop to it. Check out the webinars. Talk to your agency management system vendor or users group. And implement Real Time in your office. Check out the Real Time 21 Day Challenge for a suggested agency path. Then, by all means, stick to it!

If you already got around to it, and you’ve implemented Real Time, share the wealth. Let you national users group or local chapter, state or local agent association, or any other agent and broker friends know about this blog post—and how they can get their own round tuit!

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I can’t claim personal knowledge of the efficacy of these instructions—for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t have any hair to shampoo. Even if I did, my arms are really too short to handle the task.

Still, I find the instructions fascinating. While one might argue that you need to wet or “rinse” your hair before lathering, cynics might suggest that the term “repeat” is simply a six-letter word designed to boost shampoo sales. Of course, that’s not an original idea on my part. In fact, years ago, before I was even born, a Fortune magazine article explored the genesis—and current day validity—of the instructions.

But let’s forget about lathering and rinsing… or rinsing and lathering. The “repeat” part of the instruction is my subject today.

It was nearly two years ago—at an ACT or AUGIE meeting—that an agency management system vendor friend of mine shared a personal experience. It seems he was being called on from time to time to demonstrate a certain system functionality. Of course, since he didn’t work in an agency, he had no reason to perform the task in the course of his job, well, other than to show others how it worked.

Still, he didn’t want to fumble when it came time to do the demo. So he practiced. In fact, he recalled advice he’d heard somewhere that said it takes 21 days to change or, in his case, form a habit. So he practiced the same task for 21 straight days. Do you know what? He got it. The task became nature to him.

From his account grew the Real Time/Download Campaign’s 21 Day Real Time Challenge. The Challenge was structured to help agencies get on board with Real Time in as little as 21 work days. Many agencies have found it to be useful.

They’ve also found it to be useful to have employees perform certain tasks—maybe real-time policy inquiry or real-time quoting—for 21 days straight. That repetition creates habits—good habits, I might add.

So where are you? Do you want to create good habits? Do you want to improve your personal productivity and that of your agency? Do you want to serve clients better and faster? Do you want your employees to spend less time pushing paper so they have more time to, um, sell insurance?

I say Real Time is the way to do that. And I say that making real-time functionality part of your nature is the best way to do it. So pick a task. Do it today. Do it tomorrow. Do it for the next 21 days!

If you’re still not sure what this Real Time stuff is all about, I’ve got your back. Tune in on Wednesday, January 12, for a free webinar that explains it all. And if you miss the webinar, check out our website, where we post selected webinars for on-demand replay.

By the way, I’ve got one more chuckle to share from the whole “Lather. Rinse. Repeat.” thing. And, again, this isn’t my original thinking. It’s from Wikipedia. If you take the instructions literally, but don’t stop the cycle—you just keep repeating, what happens? In theory, you could keep washing and rinsing your hair forever, or at least until you run out of shampoo. But again, that’s something I’d never need to worry about.

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Are you one of those agents or brokers—or CSRs or systems administrators or principals—who decided this year would be different? Are you fed up with losing clients to the agency down the street that’s able to get four or five quotes—real quotes—for prospects in an hour? Are you tired of playing telephone tag just to get a client a simple answer?

(Trumpets sound… and I spring onto the scene like a super-hero.)

Ta-da. It’s Eddie to the rescue. I know the answer to your problems. It’s Real Time. And it can help you with your resolution (or if the term ‘resolution’ turns you off, let’s call it ‘your decision.’) 

This is the year you need to get on board, get with the program, and move into the 21st century in your use of agency automation.

I ask you to invest an hour this month (on Wednesday, January 12, to be specific) to help jumpstart your path to better service, more business and greater profits. Join me (I’m just the pretty face on the slide) and my friends—real agency employees using real systems to conduct business in real time—for a one-hour webinar.

You’ll learn about the practical benefits of real-time processing. You’ll see live demonstrations of real-time personal and commercial lines transactions. And you’ll get tips and advice on how to get started—and keep going.

The webinar, hosted by the all-industry Real Time/Download Campaign (www.getrealtime.org), takes place Wednesday, January 12, 2011, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm Eastern time. To register, visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/512031761.

Don’t worry. We’re not trying to sell you anything. We’re just teaching you how to use available technology, which you probably already have in your office, to the fullest. Will you join me? It could be the best decision you’ve ever made.

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Recently, I heard that one of our Real Time/Download Campaign supporters had seen a marked increase in agent and broker use of its real-time functionality. Over a relatively short period of time, the carrier—Allied Insurance, headquartered in Des Moines—saw real time usage double!

Of course, that’s pretty exciting news. It sure made me proud! It also made me curious. I wanted to find out exactly what was behind the growth and how other carriers might achieve similar results. So I did a little digging.

What I found out was that, for this carrier at least, there really was not one single contributing factor. It was the combination of a lot of things, from increased information sharing across various company departments to a revamping of how agency passwords were managed to promoting our Real Time 21 Day Challenge, inside the company and to independent agent partners.

As Gary Lawrence, senior business consultant at Allied Insurance, was sharing information about his company’s interface work, one thing he said really struck home. It puts adoption of real-time functionality in great context, I think. He likened the growth of Real Time to “a train leaving the station. It’s not a dragster,” he said. “Adoption will be slow and methodical, but once it gets started, there is no stopping it… and I really believe, from an Allied perspective, that we’ve got the train moving now.”

You can read more about what factors contributed to Allied’s achievement in a case study we posted on the Real Time/Download Campaign web site. There are other useful articles on the site, as well. Feel free to check them out and, of course, share them with others. And if you have found similar success—or maybe you’re seeking it—share a comment below or drop me an email by clicking the “Contact Eddie” link on the left side of my blog.

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In a period of two hours this morning, two different Facebook entries appeared on my news feed. When I saw the second, I had this “déjà vu all over again” feeling. It seems agency management system folks think alike.

What were the posts about? Well it seems that two of our Real Time/Download Campaign supporters are hosting Webinars—on the very same day—about how to get the most out of download. In fact, both will be running at roughly the same time.

NetVU, the Vertafore agency management system users group, will host “Making Download Work for You,” designed to give participants “the tools and information needed to make download work” to their advantage!

The users group tells folks “Come ready to roll up your sleeves and get ‘down’ and dirty with the details your agency needs to know about Download!” Did you catch (and appreciate, like I did) that pun? The event takes place on Wednesday, November 17, from 10:30 a.m. ‘til noon, central time. Click here for more information.

Applied Systems is presenting a Webinar for its The Agency Manager (TAM) agency management system clients. Titled “Effectively Using TAM Policy Download,” the one-hour event will feature “must-know tips and uses of policy download in TAM….”

The vendor says the presentation “demonstrates the flexibility and value of using TAM policy download to increase your productivity.” Like the other Webinar, this event also takes place on Wednesday, November 17. It starts at 11:00 a.m. central time, and also ends at noon. TAM users can click here to register.

If you’re on Facebook, you can easily connect with Applied Systems and NetVU. And of course, you can “like” me, as well.

By the way, if you are a little unsure about this whole blogging and Facebook thing, you’re in luck. The Agents Council for Technology (ACT) is hosting a Webinar, “The Social Web and Insurance—Finding Success & Lessons Learned,” on Tuesday, November 16, at 2:00 eastern time. In the hour-long session, agents and consultants will look at lessons learned over the past 18 months and share what agents can use to help ensure a successful experience.

Come on now, if I can blog and update my Facebook page (wearing white gloves as I do,) anyone can do it!

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