By Phil Zinkewicz
It has been said that the human brain works up to only 10% of capacity; that is to say, the brain is capable of performing in ways that are as yet 90% untapped. The same thing might be said of independent insurance agency offices with management systems that are not being used to their full value. The fact is that, with the sophisticated technologies that exist today, it is possible for the head of an agency to travel extensively and never "leave the office." It is possible for employees to have more flexible work arrangements so that they can take care of children or the elderly and never "leave the office." The concept is called the "virtual office."
Edgar J. Higgins, owner of the Clayton, New York-based Thousand Islands Agency, has used his agency's management system to transform his shop into a "virtual office," which he defines as an office "like any other except that you can have complete control of your business from any place in the country." All you need, according to Higgins, is a management system that is capable of absorbing all the necessary information, a modem and a laptop with a modem.
"Most agencies have management systems which are capable of doing the job," says Higgins. "And yet, judging from my travels around the country and my conversations with agency leaders, I would say that only 2% of the entire agency force has established virtual offices. The virtual office is the answer to complete management oversight of the office environment wherever you are. If the system is capable of transaction logging, the owner of an agency who is on the road can review everything that happened right up to the end of the day and can issue instructions to his or her staff via e-mail. So, not only is the agency owner completely up to date as to what occurred during the time of absence, the owner has total control as to what must be done."
Higgins gives an example of how the virtual office can be a tool to retain clients. While on the road speaking at an industry convention recently, he received an e-mail from his office saying that one of his clients was playing telephone tag with an insurance company. The client was angry because of the lack of response on the part of the company.
"I got the call at 6 p.m. and called the company immediately. By 6:30 p.m. I called the client and reported that the situation had been resolved. The client was surprised that everything had been handled so quickly and the anger was gone. I have been away from my office for periods of up to 17 days and have felt as if I hadn't left the office," says Higgins.
Office efficiency also is improved, according to Higgins, when the virtual office takes hold. "If I see my colleague leaving his or her chair, I will ask that person why, not because I'm snooping or want to play "Big Brother," but because I want to know if there is a function being performed that can be put into the system. If it can, then that person doesn't have to leave the chair the next time."
Another benefit of the virtual office is that it serves as a recruiting tool, according to Higgins. "The talent pool is shrinking as the baby boomers grow older. In order to attract qualified talent, agencies will have to pay more. To do that, an agency has to generate more income, and the virtual office enables an agency to generate that income on a more efficient basis."
Higgins stresses that, in building the virtual office, a full customer and policy database must be included in the agency management system. Also, procedures for policy life-cycle and processing all must be standardized so that the same work is done the same way every time in the same sequence. "It's an on-going investment, because new material must be added every day," says Higgins.
In constructing the virtual office, Higgins says that the following must be done:
* Add documents and custom processing screens to facilitate agency specific work-flow needs;
* Help screens to provide work-station access to information not normally in your agency management system;
* Input company specific endorsement form details, company specific underwriting guidelines and company specific binding authority by line of business.
* Add non-management system software programs or systems for 24-hour claims service, voice mail computer board with paging, 24-hour voice mail access to clients, client message retrieval and/or delayed message delivery service and fax-on-demand document retrieval at client convenience.
Says Higgins: "With the virtual office, you can actually trick your computer into becoming your servant. You can offer the client plain language coverage summaries on line. Large client/special account detail is a keystroke away. You can measure the time interval for policies to travel through your office. You can record voice-mail to be your receptionist and clients will feel as if they have really reached your staff. And, you can add non-system software that allows you to export information from your database for a variety of applications."
According to Higgins, all this results in maximum customer service and high retention level, maximum employee productivity by eliminating the need to leave the work station to complete transactions, and improved employee morale by increasing the quality and quantity of the output while reducing employee stress.
Says Higgins: "The virtual office is a quality shop, a 'best practices' service model, an iron-clad E&O defense machine and, just as important, it's a fun place to work." *