AGENCY MARKETING TECHNOLOGY
Technology makes working off-site feasible;
innovative management makes it workable
By Steve Anderson
If today's producers are doing their job correctly, they will be out of the office and meeting face to face with clients and prospects. Yet, many agencies seem to encourage producers to be in the office and reward them for doing so by providing them with a comfortable desk and a nice window with a good view. On the other hand, the more a producer is out of the office, the more important it becomes to provide him or her with the tools to stay connected.
As technology continues to improve and as employees are more reluctant to spend time commuting, it becomes necessary to consider how to integrate off-site employees into the existing agency culture. A virtual office allows employees to access information from anywhere and at any time. Anywhere means from their home, in the car, at a client's office, at the local Starbucks store equipped with wireless Internet access, or anywhere else the employee might happen to be at any given time. Note, however, that a virtual office requires strong management and the efficient use of technology.
We recently received a call from an agency principal in Knoxville, Tennessee, asking if it would be possible to create a truly virtual agency. The lease on his office space is coming up for renewal at the end of the year, and he was trying to figure out if he could save the annual $40,000 he is spending on rent. The agency has nine employees who could be moved to a home office environment. This agency principal realized it was important for him to maintain some type of office presence, so he was considering keeping a small office with a receptionist to answer the phone and a conference room that could be used for face-to-face meetings with clients and prospects. The short answer to his question is "yes"-- a virtual office is possible. But, there are management and technical issues that will need to be overcome. Let's look at some of the management issues and technology issues.
Managing virtual employees involves a process that differs from the management of employees in an office environment. Every employee is not a good candidate for working from home or from a remote location. Questions to ask include: Is the employee a self-starter? Is he or she reliable? Does he or she require constant supervision to keep on task? How well organized is the employee? Is he or she easily distracted?
Clear expectations
Ensuring that both agency management and the employee have clear expectations is the key. For example, during what hours will the employee be available? If the employee plans to work at night, how will that impact the answering of clients' questions?
A performance standard should be agreed to and in place before the employee starts working off-site. One of the biggest issues is how to measure productivity. Most agency owners think in terms of paying for time. This is reinforced by the time clocks that we have seen in some agencies. In a virtual environment, measuring performance will not be as easy as checking the time clock. Employees in a virtual environment should be paid for results, regardless of how much time it actually takes them.
You also need to establish standards for the home office site. For example, does the office need to be in a separate area of the house that can be shut off from the other activities at home? Who will own the computer system at the house and who can use it? Who will pay for the additional phone line and/or the high-speed Internet service, and can other members of the household use it? What type of desk and chair are required?
Employee concerns
It takes a special kind of person to work in a virtual environment. If you want to work as a virtual employee, it is important that you remain flexible. One of the biggest issues you will deal with is isolation from your coworkers. You want to make yourself at home, by which we mean create an environment where you feel comfortable in your home work area. You will probably be required to come into the office at certain times, once a week or once every few days to pick up mail or attend meetings with the other employees. Learn to share space at the office with others. Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks will be to keep to a work schedule. It is often easy to continue working long after you would have gone home if you had been at the office.
Technology tools
Some of the technology tools that are available to help virtual employees include:
ASPs--Almost every vendor has some type of ASP solution that will help to create the infrastructure necessary to support remote connections into the agency database. These systems allow you to connect to the agency database from anywhere where you have an Internet connection. This means that a CSR could connect to the office from home, or a producer from a remote office, the home, or a client's office.
Telephones--New telephone systems make it easy to transfer calls received in the agency to a remote location without the caller knowing the person is outside the office. Cell phones are now almost a requirement for anyone working outside the office. The next generation of cell phones allows Internet access (although at a very slow 14.4 speed) and access to e-mail.
Laptops and PDAs--Many producers now carry laptops with them out into the field. We suggest that employees who are out of the office most of the time move their computing platform to a laptop. When they come into the office they can slide the laptop into a docking station to gain access to a full keyboard and monitor. Trying to synchronize data between a laptop and desktop machine just isn't worth the hassle anymore. PDAs, or personal digital assistants, are also a good tool. Many of you know these as your Palm(TM) handheld and or PocketPCs. These smaller devices help in keeping calendar, contact, task and basic e-mail information available to you in a device that fits into your jacket pocket.
Wireless networks are becoming more and more helpful for remote employees. Wireless networks allow connection to the resources on the agency network with a radio signal between an antenna in the laptop (or handheld device) and the network. This means that a producer can come into the office and be connected without plugging in any cables. This connection acts just like a regular connection so employees have full access to Internet, e-mail, files and printers connected to the network.
Salesforce.com--online customer management software. This is a Web-based application that provides producers with prospecting tools to help manage their relationships with their prospects and clients.
GotomyPC.com--This Web site functions a lot like the pcAnywhere remote connection software. The difference is access through an Internet connection. You can connect to and take over your office desktop using any PC with an Internet connection. Full security is built into the application. Cost is based on a monthly fee.
PaperlessPOBox.com--This Web site allows you to set up a standard P.O. box in San Francisco, California. Any mail that is received at the P.O. box is picked up each morning, scanned and e-mailed to you as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. This means that those people who travel a lot or have a hard time getting their mail can receive their mail on the same day, electronically. The concept is good; however, there are some drawbacks. Having to set up a post office box in California might not be worth the extra effort.
As the Internet continues to grow, as it is used as a means of communication, and as your staff becomes less willing to spend long hours commuting to your office every day, it may become necessary for you to look into creating a virtual office or at least determine which jobs in your agency could be accomplished remotely. The benefits include reduced overhead, improved staff morale, and a broader pool of potential new employees. *
The author
Steve Anderson has been a licensed insurance agent for more than 20 years. He is president of steveanderson.com, Inc., which provides products and services that help agents maximize profits using commonsense
technology. E-mails are welcome at steve@SteveAnderson.com or he can be reached at (615) 599-0085.