Goodbye Paper, Hello Ease
Email marketing is commonly used by many industries to engage with leads and customers alike. That’s why this week on the Broker Tool Belt, we’re listing out the top 5 emerging insurance agency email marketing trends to look out for heading into 2018.
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To thrive in a highly competitive environment like the insurance industry takes a lot of technical expertise, a thorough understanding of digital marketing, and a strong insurance agency brand identity.
Technology has proven to be an explosive, ever-evolving industry. It seems like just yesterday the world mainly relied on computers to communicate and source information. Smartphones now dominate the landscape. If you’re not utilizing a mobile-friendly marketing strategy then you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to grow your book of business.
Continue reading “An Agency Guide to Mobile-Friendly Marketing”
Let’s face it; everything has gone digital, and in this digital centric business-to-business (B2B) landscape, content marketing has become a significantly useful tool to generate leads. Insurance agency marketing content is a key factor in separating your agency from competitors to generate high quality leads.
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Cisco and Capita recently released a report in the UK titled, “Trends vs. Technologies 2016 report”. The study showed that while everyone agrees tech is important, there is a huge gap between having that knowledge and putting it into practice.
Continue reading “Tech Makes Sense… So Why Aren’t You Doing It?”
Leading insurance broker and consultant NFP adds Ease as a preferred technology solutions partner.
San Francisco – February 29 2016: NFP, the world’s fifth largest global benefits broker* has expanded their offering to include Ease’s online benefits administration and HR platform.
Continue reading “NFP Adds Ease as Online Benefits Administration Solution”
The new costs and challenges associated with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is causing employers to reconsider how to gain the greatest ROI provided by a Broker of Record (BOR). Technology solutions exist today that assist with the transactional requirements of ACA. Software is available to easily set up and manage benefit administration on behalf of clients. This is cutting edge technology that automates compliance testing and reporting. It can also provide a single point of entry for health data, if required, that populates multiple carrier quoting requirements. Some have developed this technology for the purpose of selling benefits even though it isn’t part of their core competency. With the cost of such software being less than 1% of the average commission earned per employee, this is no surprise.
New technology brokers are rapidly entering the market through a practice known as “broker of record change.” Employers sign existing insurance over because they believe the technology will take care of all of the intricacies around enrollment, HR and ACA compliance.Taken by surprise, many existing brokers lost business last year to the new technology broker. However, this model isn’t working for all employers.
New technology brokers are now under criticism because of a lack of quality service. Some of the largest technology brokers offer no onsite, personalized service. The ROI is compromised once employers realize that a BOR without personalized high touch support does little to improve actual benefits or fine-tune the cost of a company’s benefits program.Rather than taking a back seat to new technology brokers using novice agents with little or no industry experience, existing brokers need to incorporate technology that complements sound advice and guidance built on experience. This is the model that provides the greatest value to employers.
Business owners want to buy from a broker they trust, provides service and will be there when needed. It is far easier for an experienced broker to adopt technology than it is for a novice with software to start advising business owners about complex insurance needs.
The benefits industry may have been disrupted but for those that have chosen to adapt, the tables have turned quickly.With the incorporation of a centralized platform, it is possible to manage an entire book of business without increasing staff. It provides accurate insights into complicated ACA rate tables. As well, it maintains carrier enrollment, automatically maps employee data, presents correct documents for e-signature, and keeps a detailed and accurate audit trail every time an employee views or acknowledges distributed forms.
Our industry is changing. Brokers with the right technology solution can change with it. We just need to combine the advantages of technology with awareness and expertise. This provides the environment for brokers to thrive and grow.
Ease is a technology company built with insurance DNA dedicated to making easy to use software so agents can focus on what they do best, provide expertise.
