As with any other technology project, you should
secure senior management support to move the agency’s
workflows to Real Time.
Management should understand the benefits this tool
can bring to the agency. (See www.getrealtime.org for
the AUGIE Workflow Timer & Cost Savings Calculator
& AUGIE Real-Time Study.)
Talk to other agencies that have implemented Real Time
on the same agency management system your agency uses to
discuss how they have successfully implemented.
Make sure that your agency’s systems are ready to
begin using the real-time option.
Consult your vendor, your carriers, or www.acttech.org
for the real-time features and functions available on
your system. There may be real-time functions and/or
features that are only available if you are on the
latest versions of your system.
Verify that policy numbers in your system are
consistent with the carrier’s format (prefixes,
spaces, dashes, suffixes, etc.). If you are downloading
policy detail from the carrier system, your policy
number format should be correct.
When you are ready to begin real-time implementation,
contact your vendor for setup documentation. These links
are found at www.getrealtime.org.
Determine who will handle Carrier Website Password
Administration for your agency. This is a very important
issue and will have a significant impact on the success
of implementation. The real-time tools require that as
carrier website passwords change, the responsible
person(s) update the program accordingly.
Determine if there are alternatives from your agency
management system vendor. For example, will these
passwords be managed by the individual users or by a
central administrator?
Take advantage of whatever training that the agency
management system vendor, rating vendor or insurance
carrier has to offer on real-time tools!
Make someone in the agency RESPONSIBLE for the
real-time program. You will need an “expert” in the
office for people to go to if they have problems. You
should also consider having a “backup” to the expert
so that if the “expert” leaves the agency, the
realtime program is not forgotten.
Just before you begin, conduct a last-minute check of
your vendor-specific software releases and user group
training and message boards, so you are as up to date as
possible.
Tips for
successful implementation…
To begin, implement with a small group of users in
your agency so any problems can be worked out. It makes
sense for most agencies to begin with inquiries and then
move to the more complicated rating and policy issue
transactions. You might even consider starting with one
carrier that you have a good relationship with.
Monitor agent usage to identify any additional
training needs.
Include real-time adoption as part of employee job
descriptions and review criteria.
Reward employees who show quick and steady adoption of
Real Time (such as a free lunch program). Such
incentives can hasten adoption across all staff.
As with most technology implementations, know whom to
contact at your vendors and carriers should you need
help or encounter any problems. (See www.getrealtime.org
for vendor-specific troubleshooting procedures and
links.)
Recognize that if you do not have complete and
accurate policy data in your agency management system,
real-time quoting will not work as expected.
To further reduce data entry, establish policy
pre-fills for the forms and limits typically used in
your office.
Update your procedures and workflows to incorporate
the use of the real-time tools.
Ongoing
attention needed to keep your implementation as effective as
possible…
If you run into any problems after you have completed
the installation, you should contact your agency
management system vendor through the normal trouble
reporting procedure.
Keep up to date with new real-time carriers and/or
transaction types. Make sure to update your system as
these additions become available so that they show up on
the menu when you perform these transactions.
If real-time transactions from particular carriers are
slow, their workflows are inefficient or they do not
allow you to easily complete the transaction (i.e. move
from billing inquiry to make a payment), contact the
carrier and ask it to improve its application.
Use Real-Time Usage Reports where they are available
from your vendor and carriers, to determine who in your
agency is using the real-time tool and who is not. Train
or retrain employees who are not using the realtime
tool.
Continue to re-evaluate your procedures/ work flows to
take advantage of new real-time tools as they become
available.
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Brought you by the Real
Time/Download Campaign, which is dedicated to improving the
competitiveness of the independent agency distribution channel.
Participants include independent agencies and brokers, carriers,
technology providers, user groups and agent industry associations
