Vertafore Insurance Podcast

InsuRant: Six ways to slay your sales in 2021

It’s a new year with new goals and a fresh start—making it the perfect time to talk about taking your sales to the next level. Whether you are a natural seller or not, this episode is for you. In this episode I outline six proven strategies for slaying your sales goals in 2021.  

Tech must-haves for 2021, with James Thom

We put a bow on 2020 and welcome the new year with James Thom, Chief Product Officer at Vertafore. James' industry knowledge runs wide and deep, and he's offering great, unvarnished advice for success in 2021. 

Last year brought numerous challenges and opportunities to adapt and pivot, and with that came a surge in tech-enabled solutions throughout the industry. This year is about capitalizing on that surge of technology and making the best of it long-term. 

Rick and James talk about: 

• Big takeaway from 2020 (3:50)
• Themes and trends for agencies in 2021 (10:30)
• The 3 most important tech solutions for any agency (20:00)

InsuRant: A year in review

Wow! It's hard to believe that we're already at the end of 2020. Time has simultaneously flown by and gone by slowly, but we made it through. In this week's rant, Rick recaps the year for us here at the #VIPodcast. He takes you through 2020 month by month chatting about all we got up to. Tune in to reflect on the year with us! 

We're all in this together, with Elizabeth Schenk

As we wrap up the year and look forward to 2021, Rick is excited to welcome Elizabeth Schenk, CEO of Agency Network Exchange (ANE), to the podcast! Elizabeth has a deep understanding of the independent agency and of the insurance industry and has some great advice we can all learn from. 

What is the most common thing she hears from the agencies in ANE about the state of the industry this year? People's concerns are all different, but one common theme: wanting support to navigate through challenging times. It's hard to be a lone wold, but you don't need to be when there are so many networks across the industry there to help you out. 

In this episode Rick and Elizabeth talk about:

• The state of the industry from a network perspective (7:30)
• What exactly is an agency network? (14:30)
• What to look for in an agency network (22:00)

InsuRant: Rick's six buckets of thankful for 2020

2020 has been a hard year all around, but Rick reminds us in this week's episode that we all still have a ton to be thankful for. Tune in to hear Rick's 6 buckets full of thanks for those that have made an impact on his year.

Building a better leader, with Nicole Smith

This week on the VIP we are excited to welcome Nicole Smith, founder & CEO of JMS Creative Leadership Solutions and author of 20 Leadership Golden Nuggets: Practical leadership lessons to use today. 

Nicole is an expert on all things leadership. She has built her career around helping others develop the tools they need to succeed and lead teams better. In this episode Rick and Nicole discuss:

• Understanding leadership (5:30)
• Emotional intelligence (9:35)
• Self-awareness (21:00)
• Affinity bias (26:50)

InsuRant: The time to plan is NOW

It's planning season! The holidays are right around the corner, so it's time to start planning for 2021. Now is the time to define business goals and make changes to accomplish them! Rick has six categories to think about for successful business planning:

1. Staff (4:56)
2. Sales (7:45)
3. Service (9:57)
4. Diversification (13:40)
5. Technology (17:14)
6. Culture (24:15)

2020 COVID-19 insurance insights and trends

As 2020 winds down we're evaluating lessons learned and planning for 2021! Rick's guest is Tom Super, vice president of insurance at J.D. Power, the nation's leading insurance customer intelligence and CX advisory company whose partnerships extend to the top 20 P&C carriers in the U.S. Tom shares insights into:

• COVID-19 initiatives for premium relief (9:15)
• Customized advice: Why agents are more important than AI and bots in this crisis (13:59)
• The impact of declining customer income (16:25)
• The benefits of carriers integrating agents into their digital processes (23:46)
• Key factors about today's consumers that independent agents should know (29:15)

This episode is full of insights to help you make informed plans for the upcoming year.

Re-energize in Q4 and finish the year on fire!

Q4 is when most people slow down and plan for the holiday season. How about doing it a little differently this year and end on a fantastic note? In this rant, Rick challenges us to re-energize, seize the moment, and end the year strong! Rick suggests:

• Sales: Set audacious goals, plan how to meet them, crush Q4, and set yourself up for an even better 2021 (4:06)
• Customer Service: Connect with your customers, work on surpassing your renewals goal, clear up your backlog, and finish this year strong (8:43)
• Leaders/Owners: Re-energize your staff, modernize your agency, and enter 2021 with a jump start (12:59)

Market connectivity in the insurance distribution channel

Market connectivity is a big topic of conversation in the insurance industry right now. The pandemic brought it to the forefront when members of the insurance distribution channel scrambled to find ways to connect when stay-at-home orders were in place. In this week's rant, Rick breaks down insurance market connectivity and gives tips on how you can start and modernize your connectivity processes.