How to: Improve Agency Communication
What is? AgencyBloc helps life and health insurance agencies grow their business by organizing and automating their operations using a combination of an industry-specific CRM, commissions processing, and integrated marketing automation. Start organizing, automating & growing your agency right now! 2
Table of Contents In this ebook, we ll discuss why communication is important, how you can improve your agency s inter-office communication, and the different tools your insurance agency can utilize to maintain good, productive contact with your coworkers. Communication in the Workplace...4 The Importance...5 Usage...5 Communicate More Efficiently... 7 Consider Technology...8 Do...8 Don t...12 Finding the System for You...14 What do you need?...15 Automated Workflow in AgencyBloc...15 Schedule a Demo...16 3
Communication in the Workplace
The Importance Communication is crucial in fostering productivity and successful outcomes in the workplace. It s one of the essential traits that make us human. We have the capacity to share complex, integrated stories between each other in clear, concise words. However, for all the great advantages this skill of communication provides, it also presents us with many challenges. It is not easy. Communicating effectively and efficiently takes dedicated work and your undivided attention. Why? Because humans are unique individuals, so each person requires a slightly different approach. You need to pay attention to what you re saying, how you re saying it, how it s received, and what could possibly come next. Communication can be hard, but it is necessary to be successful and profitable. It also needs to be effective; ineffective, overwhelming and unclear communication can derail over 80% of your workplace projects. Effective communication can make projects, tasks, and even life itself extraordinary. The lack of, or poor communication can quickly undermine any other hard work you ve done. Usage Communication can be great, if you know how to use it. With all of our innovations in recent years, how we communicate has drastically changed. We are constantly connected to our devices and ultimately each other, which makes contacting one another much easier, because, through one device or another, we are always there. In fact, one study found that 85% of employees use more than 1 device to communicate at work, and 32% confessed to using 3 or more. We are more glued to our technological devices than ever before. It s no longer 5
just desktop computers and corded phones; that same study found these devices to be the most used for communication in the workplace: 44% 36% 16% 5% Multiple devices open channels of communication, but they can also make efforts and conversations more complicated. Yes, it s easier to reach your coworkers since they re always tuned in, but it can also make it more difficult because it s hard to know which device they re on at the moment. Do you text them? Email them? Call them? Instant message them? Facebook them? Or something else? It s not the question if you can get ahold of your coworkers, but rather how and when. 6
Communicate More Efficiently
Consider Technology Insurance agents, whether attending off-site meetings or building their contacts through networking, are often all over the place. Tracking them down to one location can be extremely difficult, which can make communicating with them especially trying and cumbersome. This is where technology can help. Digitizing your communication strategy may be the way to go if you want to achieve faster, more effective communication within your agency. One of the biggest benefits of embracing technology to up your inter-agency communication strategy is that it allows you and your agents to maintain your mobility. Being mobile is essential in the sales world. Your agents will be able to work from anywhere, serve their clients better, and still be able to be in contact with the home office. However, when it comes to technology, there are some things you should keep in mind; here are some of the do s and don t s you should consider when it comes to communicating effectively in your insurance agency. Do Have an agency-wide communication strategy. If you want to improve your inter-agency communication, then you all need to commit to an office-wide strategy. Everyone should use the same email provider, the same instant message provider, and have access to coworker s phone extensions and email addresses. Once everyone is on board with the strategy, then you can start improving it. If not everyone agrees (or at least agrees to follow the strategy), then you will have no chance of improvement and your inter-agency communication could suffer even more. 8
Respect your coworker s time. A study out of the University of California found that it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to a task after an interruption. This shows that you should be clear and concise with what you re saying and how you re saying it. We re not saying chatting is bad, but when you or your coworker has a deadline to meet, make sure you respect their time and yours. Digitize your tasks and to-dos. It can be hard to keep track of everything you need to get done. Sticky notes are a great place to write quick notes, and they can be effective in reminding you of certain tasks as long as you don t have too many. But if you have stacks of sticky notes everywhere, can you truly keep track of everything you need to do? Better yet, how can you make sure you reach out to the appropriate people at the right time if you aren t organized? Using an Agency Management System (AMS) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to automate and digitize your tasks list can be exceptionally helpful. An AMS helps foster more efficient communication because it bridges the gap between agency-and-agent and agent-and-client. Here are some ways you can improve communication with an AMS: Organization: Management softwares help you organize and centralize all of your information in one convenient location. When a task is assigned to you, you will not only receive the notification, but you ll also have the detailed task, due date, the priority of the task, and all the information you need. That way you always know exactly who you need to contact and what you need to discuss with them. Dashboards: Dashboards are the opening screen you come to when logging into your management software. This page will display all the tasks and to-dos that have been assigned to you, the importance of that particular task/to-do, detailed instructions of the actions you must take in order to complete the given task and when it s due. This opens the door for chatting with your 9
Automated Workflow: Automated Workflow is the assistant that will make your life simpler. Once you set up the triggers and criteria for the different workflows, they ll run in the background and watch everything to automatically send emails and tasks. This creates a continual stream of communication within your agency so everyone can work together and throughout your client-base so you never miss a birthday or forget a policy renewal date. Automated Workflow ensures that you send the right message to the right agent/client at the right time. Renewal Reminders: Bridge the gap between agent and agency with automated agent and client reminders to help you manage all of your deadlines. Using an AMS can help to keep you on top of your to-dos, show you what s coming up, and provides you with the opportunity to bring up questions or concerns ahead of time. This will help you build the communicative relationship between you, the agent, and your agency. In addition, having an AMS with automated renewal reminders (part of Automated Workflow) will provide you with peace of mind because you ll never have to worry about missing renewal periods for yourself or your clients. Mobility: AMS s are extremely beneficial if they re mobile-friendly and cloud-based. Not only can you access your book-of-business in any place with an internet connection, but it allows you to stay in contact with the home office from anywhere. You ll be able to serve your clients better since you ll be able to securely look at the policy over any internet connection, answer their questions in real time, and boost their overall happiness with you through better communication. Now, it s crucial to note that not all CRM and AMS software is built the same. You ll need to ask your sales rep to see which features are available and at what price before you consider buying. The features and benefits listed above are based on the capabilities of AgencyBloc s AMS. 10
Use instant messaging. Instant messaging allows you to be productive and communicate more efficiently. The messages will pop up on the given device your coworker is on, and they ll be able to quickly see your message and send you a response. One of the major benefits of instant messaging services is that they are usually mobile-friendly and can be downloaded on multiple devices through one username or email. That means that you can access the messages from any device at any time. You can send a message from your computer as you re leaving your desk and receive the response on your phone while you re walking out of the office. Instant messaging is designed for quick, simple communication, so don t send your coworkers paragraphs. Why? Instant messaging is for brief conversations that do not require documentation or security. Also, they re not always encrypted, so be careful of the type of information you include within the messages. However, if you re ready to get in with the hip crowd and communicate faster with your coworkers, here are a couple of instant messaging apps/platforms you could consider: Google Hangouts: If you have a Gmail account, then you already have access to Google Hangouts. You can talk to any other Google user, and the app easily downloads and functions on any device (Android or Apple). The messages will pop right up in your email, so you re always likely to see them when you go in to check your messages on a desktop. Also, if you need to have a virtual meeting, you can join a video call and chat on live video with your coworkers. Slack: The relatively newest player in the instant messaging world, slack incorporates a lot within its messaging walls. You can have designated channels for each topic of discussion where anyone can comment and discuss. You could set up channels for each carrier so anytime you have questions or topics for discussion, you can discuss it with your whole team without having to call a meeting. You can also share a variety of document types, so everyone on your team is always up-to-speed. 11
Don t Skype: Skype has been around for a long time and for good reason. Much like Slack, anyone can use Skype, and much like Hangouts, Skype allows you to go between instant messaging and video conferences. In addition, for a fee, you can call phone numbers in a variety of countries through your Skype platform. Let your messages build up. Your coworkers are trying to get in contact with you for a reason, ignoring them will not be profitable for either side. Make sure you try and answer their questions and queries in a timely manner. Rely on email. Email is a great way to stay connected with your clients, but for your coworkers, it s not as convenient. Think of the sheer volume of emails you receive on a daily basis. It s hard to wade through the onslaught to find one particular email. McKinsey & Co. found that you can spend up to 28 hours each week writing emails and searching for information in emails. Cutting down on emails to your coworkers will help you gain some of that time back in your day. Now, if you need to discuss a topic at length, then email is the way to go, but if not, then maybe you should rely on instant messaging or just walking over to your coworker s desk. Another important use for email is if you want to retain the information in your inbox or archive instead of having it get deleted from a messaging app. Forget your professionalism. Tone is crucial when it comes to communication; it is one of the best ways for others to truly understand how you re feeling and what you re actually communicating. In face-to-face conversations, this is much easier to control and convey, in digital conversations, tone can easily get misinterpreted. Save yourself the headache and the sorrys and try to view the message from a different perspective. If you can see that your words could be taken a different way, try rewording them so your tone comes off as even as possible. Your friends might pick up on the underlying sarcasm or joke, but your coworkers might not. Play it safe and use a neutral tone. 12
Forget digital communication etiquette. If you so choose to dive into the world of digital communication, make sure you don t commit any atrocities against general digital communication etiquette. Here are some things to keep in mind: Attachments: Emails and instant messaging services both allow you send attachments. Now remember to actually send it! Nothing is more annoying than receiving a message to look something over only to not have anything attached. Always, always, always ensure that you ve attached the attachment before you press send. Typos: Another huge annoyance for those of us that read emails. Remember, your message is a reflection of you and your professionalism. Take the extra couple minutes to look the message over and make any corrections. Reply-All: Here s another element you should use smartly. If you re in a group conversation where everyone needs to know the message you are sending, make sure you hit reply-all. It ll annoy your coworkers if they continually have to wait for a response because you only replied to the latest sendee. Save yourself and your team time and always check to make sure everyone who needs to receive the message will be receiving it. Conversely, if not everyone on the email needs to see your response, DO NOT continually reply all and needlessly fill your coworkers inboxes. Structure: Also, be careful of your caps, exclamation, and color use. All caps will make it seem like you are shouting at your coworker, too many exclamation points, excessive color or multiple fonts in a professional email is a big no-no. Stick to the basics: capitalizing words only when appropriate, proper punctuation, and one neutral color for all of the text (unless there is a particular area of the message you are trying to highlight). Your recipients will be the happier for it, and you ll be able to maintain your level of projected professionalism. 13
Finding the System for You
What do you need? If you re ready to take that step and improve the communication within your agency, then consider adopting an industry-specific Agency Management System (AMS) like AgencyBloc. AgencyBloc helps make the communication within your agency and the communication between you, your clients, and prospects, more effective and efficient. AgencyBloc is an AMS that helps life and health insurance agencies grow their business with an industry-specific CRM, commissions processing, and integrated business and marketing automation. Focus more on what s important, your clients, and less on the day-to-day processes. Want to learn more about AgencyBloc? Check out our Overview Video: 15
Ready to see if AgencyBloc is a good fit for your agency? Sign up for a live, one-on-one demo of AgencyBloc. You ll be able to discuss your agency s specific needs and see the software in action 16