This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.
Compliance and producer control are like the proverbial frog in the pot. If you’re new to a new organization, broken compliance practices, manual processes, and missing producer data can be horrifyingly obvious, waving red flags. But as you struggle to maintain manual onboarding processes on top of everything else you need to do your job, those errors and data gaps gradually grow and become overwhelming. It becomes something like that.
So how can you correctly identify the key areas of concern in your producer management process before you end up being boiled alive in the cauldron of compliance issues? And how can you determine your own success or failure? Do you know how to measure?
For your own assessment, we have compiled the top three categories used to evaluate an organization’s compliance effectiveness and the criteria organizations use to objectively measure results. If you can answer yes to all three questions, you probably don’t have a compliance issue. However, the majority of people working in the insurance industry may find that his or her one or more of these symptoms indicate a minor compliance problem of their own (without actually seeing the problem). Stay tuned for more information on how to solve it!)
1. Is compliance integrated and automated in real time?
Your data is continuously up-to-date and integrated across your technology stack, so your teams can make better decisions at every stage of your business.
However, outdated information puts a strain on your infrastructure. Compliance processes with delays, silos, and manual input place a significant burden on agencies and carriers’ internal processes. Instead of being able to make quick, informed decisions, every decision comes with the risk of being subject to manual data validation or skipping necessary compliance steps altogether.
It’s an open industry secret that the way in-house compliance teams currently deal with compliance is through manual processes, legacy systems, and hours of email and phone calls. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Below are before and after profiles of companies that have implemented automated compliance solutions. If you find yourself identifying with “before,” you may need a compliance upgrade.
- in front: A chief compliance officer regularly took work home on weekends to maintain manual compliance in Texas alone.
- rear: He now maintains his business during business hours and manages producers in all 50 states in less time than it takes a single state.
- in front: Although the company had two full-time compliance officers, there was still a lack of clarity regarding compliance rates. As a company aiming for aggressive growth, management was intimidated by state compliance reviews.
- rear: The workload for both compliance professionals was reduced by 25%, and they were able to leverage their knowledge elsewhere within the company. The best part? Visibility into his company’s data has gone from serious concerns about compliance to having 100% confidence that all sales are properly executed by appropriately licensed and appointed personnel. .
- in front: One compliance officer said that for a single class of new hires, they need to set aside two weeks for manual processing and data entry.
- rear: The entire process of onboarding a new class of agents takes two hours.
Do you recognize who you were before or who you are? Do you have access to compliance and producer data at the point of decision-making, or do you need to dig deeper? Think about it please. How much does spending hours of manual research to find the right information cost you every week? Every year? One of AgentSync’s customers says: “Although we don’t charge for my time, the reality is that companies like me who try to make compliance a challenge require much more than AgentSync, which makes compliance easy and automated. That means we spent a lot of money.”
2. Do you offer a world-class agent experience?
As talent retention becomes mission-critical, companies that provide data and self-service tools to agents will be well-positioned. It’s no surprise that agents value speed to revenue.
Companies that fail to understand the essence of the agent experience end up spending thousands or even millions of dollars on recruitment programs to attract experienced and reputable downstream partners. However, because the agent leaves during or immediately after onboarding, her ROI on that spend is never visible due to continued churn.
According to data from Report co-sponsored by AgentSync with research firm Aite-Novaricahaving digital options and responsive service is key when recruiting the next generation of producers.
The study reports that 97% of young agents believe speed and time to quote are very important when referring business. However, 54% of agents reported that their chosen carrier does not offer online or mobile onboarding options.
If any of the following examples sound familiar to you, compliance may be an obstacle to attracting and retaining solid agents.
- in front: One company was struggling with the average onboarding experience taking weeks or even months. Compliance and operations teams knew from experience that this was in line with industry norms, but the entire organization was frustrated.
- rear: With solutions that prioritize a world-class agent experience, onboarding processes now take days or even hours from start to finish.
- in front: Compliance officers were struggling with hours of manual work to onboard one new producer.
- rear: When businesses implement modern solutions, they can achieve the same results in just a few clicks.
- in front: With the previous solution, when a single agent’s name or address changed, members of the operations team had to search numerous external state websites.
- rear: Agents are given an agent portal where they can manage their information. Two-way data sync allows agents to update and correct information directly, without locking it up in email or voicemail and requiring hours of manual intermediary work.
The end result of focusing on agent experience is that companies with automated compliance solutions retain better agents. By retaining great agents, you spend less on recruiting and instead grow with referrals from existing partners who are already excited. As one AgentSync customer says, “Having data at my fingertips allows me to shine and impress colleagues and new hires alike.” .
3. Data intelligence to optimize distribution
We want to be able to use data and business intelligence to justify our business decisions, but often our choices are driven by instinct and gut reactions.
Compliance and producer control data tied to spreadsheets and sticky notes? have Data is used to make intelligent decisions, but dirty data is not. Can be used data. Instead, they operate in the shadows, potentially wasting thousands of dollars in unnecessary appointment and licensing fees, not to mention risking fines for opaque compliance practices.
We estimate that nearly 100% of companies want to make smart decisions based on data, but even carriers that have built their businesses on long-term actuarial data are When it comes to business data, you’re at a loss. . According to one study, 75% of financial and insurance services executives “Challenged by the fragmented nature and vast amount of data available”
For anyone working in a business plagued by siled manual data stored in spreadsheets, personal drives, emails, and sticky notes, this statistic is not at all surprising. In fact, one industry blogger claims:An astonishing 88% of enterprise data sits idle”
But if you did it Do you want to access and analyze your data?
- in front: A compliance officer spent weekends manually compiling reports on where his business spent license fees.
- rear: With the transparency and accessible data reporting of a comprehensive compliance solution, it takes 2 minutes to create a report that helps your business optimize rates. His business is running more efficiently than ever and he’s back on the weekends.
- in front: One compliance officer described his company’s approach to compliance as “always reactive,” as his team had no choice but to submit license applications to states and check to make sure no critical information was left out.
- rear: The company was able to derisk its distribution pipeline, seamlessly transfer DRLP to 50 states within two weeks, and is now taking a predictive and strategic approach to growth. Missing data will become a thing of the past, and you can selectively apply for licenses only in the areas you need and divert your business to licensed providers in specific areas of operation without making a phone call.
Compliance teams using automated compliance systems that flush data no longer need to touch every application because alerts are set to flag only those applications that require attention. Healthy businesses are automatically promoted, only businesses with broken paperwork or red flags receive real attention, and businesses can dig into critical data.
If you continue, your business will gradually become exhausted.
If you’re suffering from manual compliance and inefficiency in producer management, we understand. Survival can feel like an accomplishment when you’re barely keeping your head above water.
However, barely succeeding is not the same as success. A team that can’t take a vacation without everything stopping is not a team that can play its best. A team that makes decisions based on what’s going on right now is not a team that plans to last.
Now think about what percentage of your effort this week was wasted. Was it a normal week? Multiply that number by 52, and this year, and every year, you’re stuck in an ever-hotter cauldron of hellish manual compliance, costing you with inefficient compliance.
Please stop continuing. This is a time when compliance matters, agents are willing to participate, and business data gives you an edge.the AgentSync time.
