An exciting event is taking place in our industry on April 9, 2013. Hopefully you have been hearing about it: Real Time Day bring groups of enthusiastic volunteers together from across the United States and Canada for a series of multi-media presentations meant to encourage the industry to implement real-time interfaces for independent agents.
The objective of 2013 Real Time Day is to share how real-time capabilities impact agency principals, account managers, producers, carriers and consumers. Several young agents will be providing their perspective on the impacts and how it brings our industry into the current century, and will emphasize that the more that the industry improves the technology, the more likely it is that the industry will attract young people; vendors will share how the industry gains a competitive advantage throughout the independent agent channel with the standardized interfaces; carrier presentations will demonstrate how real-time technology is improving hit-rations, reducing the cost of processing policies, saving an incredible amount of time and keystrokes for personal and commercial risks, and making carriers more profitable; and agents will share how they are able to double their book of business without adding staff, and how they are finding time for more account rounding, and providing more professional and timely responses to their clients—all due to the use of real-time technology.
There will be live webinars, podcasts, ACORD TV broadcasts, YouTube testimonials and twitter feeds. Leading carriers such as MetLife, Progressive and Westfield will be sharing their insights on why carriers should invest in the standardized electronic interfaces to assist their agents and how much more business they are deriving through the use of the technology.
Many vendors have stepped up to the plate as well, encouraging others to build the bridges needed for the electronic communications. The Real Time Steering Committee is very proud of the willingness of vendors like QQ Solutions, Appulate, Semcat and Boston Software to share their success stories. The Agency Management System Vendors are also leading the pack to blaze the trail—Applied Systems, Vertafore, SIS and more. The User Groups of Agent volunteers are sharing how RealTime improves their profitability and efficiency—groups like ASCnet, NetVU, NASPA, and Canada’s Orbit group—how refreshing it is to see “competitors” come together for the good of the industry.
Angelyn Treutel, CPA, is president of Southgroup Insurance Gulf Coast and the chair of ASCnet's Industry Solutions Industry Initiatives Committee and the past-chair of the IIABA Agents Council for Technology.
Readers are encouraged to respond to Angelyn by using the “Add Your Comments” box below. She can also be reached at atreutel@southgroup.net.
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