Agent Relationships Strengthen at EMC

For the past twenty years, EMC Insurance Companies (EMC) has collaborated with insurance software provider Vertafore to improve its agent collaboration strategy. The P&C insurer solely distributes through independent agents, which are increasing their adoption of new technologies.

“We see more and more agencies that are putting an emphasis on technology into their operations,” says Sara Richards, business technology analyst for EMC. “It’s critical that we are working with the vendor providers that our agents are choosing to build their business around. If that’s where agents are choosing to be, we need to be there as well.”

Three-quarters of EMC agents have implemented an agency management system, Richards explains, much more than the industry average of 62%. Agents with a strong foundational system are better able to focus on new tech projects, such as website building and data mobility, and write more business. About 83% of EMC’s written premium comes from agencies that use management systems, she says.

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Access to information is a primary issue for agent relationship management, says Richards. Vertafore, which 45% of EMC agents have implemented, addressed this with a recent update to its Activity Notes feature, which provides agents with information on policy activity that occurred the previous evening.

The upgrade aligns closely with EMC’s goal of being proactive in agent communications and providing information that clients need at the time and place it is required. Information management is key, Richards explains, and insurers faced with growing amounts of data must handle it with the right tools. EMC continues to invest in connectivity tools to better deliver information to its agents.

“Information isn’t any good if [insurers] don’t know what to do with it,” she says, noting that data must be packaged in a manner that helps insurers make the best business decisions.

Self-service and mobile are also among primary focuses for agents, explains Vertafore VP Bruce Winterburn. “For us to compete in a modern marketplace, there are certain underlying technologies that we have to be able to leverage,” he says. Vertafore has implemented mobile and social capabilities to improve agent interactions and is currently working on a client portal.

Richards and Winterburn describe password management as a key issue between agents and carriers. The requirement for multiple log-ins is a pain point among agents, says Richards. She notes that they should have access to single sign-on capabilities while working with multiple companies – something that would be "a huge leap forward" for the industry.

Problems in agent relationship management are best solved through collaboration, both agree. “I think that agents are not just looking for a system, and they’re not just looking for a carrier website,” Richards explains. “[They] need a vendor system, and carrier partners that provide the easiest way to do business that’s possible.”

Kelly Sheridan is the Staff Editor at Dark Reading, where she focuses on cybersecurity news and analysis. She is a business technology journalist who previously reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft, and Insurance & Technology, where she covered financial ... View Full Bio