It is said that Missouri is the “show me” state. If that’s true then most independent agents must be from Missouri because when it comes to technology solutions, agency owners and their producers and CSRs need to “see it to believe it.” At least that was one conclusion drawn from the recently concluded survey of nearly 9,000 agency personal across the country conducted by the ACORD – User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE).
The AUGIE Agency Survey was launched on Jan. 2, 2002 and continued online for seven weeks. It consisted of 40 questions that covered basic agency demographics, technology profile descriptions, and workflow and interface issues with companies.
The AUGIE survey was the first to explore – on such a broad scale – agency workflow and technology issues with carrier partners. The survey questions, methodology and execution were managed by a broad coalition of carriers, vendors, agency technology system user groups, and associations. The survey sought information from both agency management and support staff. The survey confirms the findings of older, specific, proprietary studies – and such confirmation is always useful as any organization looks to turn research into insight and then into strategy and tactics.
Moreover, these survey results potentially could set the agenda for agency/company initiatives for years to come. For example, one of the key findings suggests that ACORD should fast-track a standard for billing inquiry – a step that has already taken place.
Early in the development process for the survey, AUGIE realized that within an agency there often is a disconnect between the principals who set policy and procedures, and the CSRs who handle day-to-day processing and manage workflows. Because of these differing perspectives, it obviously was important to know which group was responding to the survey.
Respondents to the survey were nearly evenly split between agency principles and senior management at 57% and the balance from customer service representatives or other support staff. When you examine the survey findings from these two perspectives, on many occasions you can see the differences. One example of this is with the question of new business processing.
When AUGIE reviewed those responses that indicated new business processing was their number one choice for how companies should spend their development dollars for web services for agents, we saw that senior management people in both personal and commercial lines ranked new business processing number 1 more often than CSRs with the same line of business responsibility. In fact, senior management responsible for commercial lines only selected new business processing number one in importance 41% more often than CSRs. The difference was somewhat less for personal lines only (26%) and for both at 27%.
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This was just one of many issues the survey examined. Throughout the survey, respondents had the opportunity to share with us some of their frustrations in dealing with technology and interfacing with carriers. One respondent had the following to say with regard to the cost of technology:
“I am concerned about the cost of doing business. Agency expenses keep rising, agency workload keeps increasing, the cost to maintain current and new technology and upgrades and the cost to hire, train and keep personnel affects our bottom line. While at the same time, commissions are decreasing and pressure is put on the smaller agency for increased premium volume and production. I wish you could do something to help alleviate the current situation.”
Duplicate data entry, proprietary company Web sites and the cost of keeping up with technology were common themes throughout the survey results. If you’re interested in reviewing the complete survey results, they are available online for download at www.ACORD.org/AUGIE.
The participants of AUGIE wish to thank the insurance carriers; industry trade organizations and technology providers for helping us prepare and publicize the survey. Most importantly, we thank the nearly 9,000 independent agency personnel who answered the survey.
Rick Gilman, vice president, ACORD, has managed ACORD’s role in the AUGIE process since its inception in August of 2000.
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