Vertafore Insurance Podcast

Diversify your professional portfolio

Join us to talk about the diversity in your network with author, speaker, and consultant Amy Waninger. Amy's career has twisted and turned from her childhood in small-town Indiana to working in IT within the insurance industry, to finally finding her passion in educating others on the importance of diversity and inclusion (that's the first 14 minutes of the episode). Then, we dive in with Amy to get her take on how you can actively improve your life and career by intentionally making connections with people who aren't like you (at 17:00) and how you can take it a step further to make your business stand out and earn the trust of different communities you may not have been reaching before (skip ahead to 28:00). If you like what you hear in this episode, you can get a free e-book with even more takeaways from Amy at https://bit.ly/37jXNH2 (look on the left side of the page for 21 Insights for Inclusive Networking).

Does retention matter? Let Rick do the math.

If your focus is strictly on "new business" you might be ignoring the incredible value to be found in retaining current business. Since most consumers are always on the lookout for a better deal, you can't take your existing customer base for granted. And you certainly shouldn't overlook how important recurring revenue is to your success. In this week's podcast, Rick gives advice and insight into some of the things you can and should be doing to work on your customer retention and explains in detail how improving retention directly impacts your bottom line. 

Lessons from Amazon's past

Wouldn't you like your business to be as successful as Amazon? Love them or hate them, you can't deny Amazon has built an enviable brand since its start as an online bookseller in 1995. This week our guest Steve Anderson shares some key points from his international bestseller The Bezos Letters, which uncovers and simplifies the wisdom found in Amazon's philosophy. Steve talks about the importance of failing successfully (at 4:45), how "customer obsession" worked for Amazon and can for you too (at 11:30), and the one idea that has kept Amazon relevant across decades (at 28:44). If you've been craving a podcast with action items you can put to work for you right away, look no further!

The early bird gets the good pricing

It's a new year and that means it's time to start making your plans for 2020 education and travel. Whether you're a long-time conference-goer or looking to attend your first industry event, starting with your personal goals and finding the events you'll get the most out of is key. In this edition of the InsuRant, Rick gives his advice on how to decide which events to attend, his top picks for networking and education, and what to do once you arrive. Pro tip: if you register early, you might save enough on your registration to help finance an additional trip this year.

Did the independent agent peak in high school?

Welcome to 2020! Our first guest of the year is Ryan Hanley, Founder and Chief Strategist at Hanley Media. Ryan is an industry veteran across both the insurance and marketing fields. Now he spends his time trying to educate and inspire others to use the most modern tools and methods to enhance their businesses. This week's episode starts out with Ryan's background (around 6:17), how he realized he could transform the way insurance agents sell with the power of storytelling (around 8:45), and leaves us with some strategic and tactical takeaways that you can put to work in your own business immediately (from about 24:32 until the end). 

The best of 2019: Angela Adams

With the VIP team still recovering from their busy end-of-2019, we've got one more week with a replay of the (second) most popular episode of the year. Angela Adams (President of Angela Adams Consulting) is an industry legend with over thirty years of experience. Before opening her own business to consult exclusively with Vertafore customers, Angela was the only female agency owner in Augusta, Georgia in the 1990s. If you listen, you'll see why this episode was our #2 hit across all of 2019.

The best of 2019: Agency Revolution

The VIP team is taking a holiday break, so we're bringing you the most popular episode of 2019. It's our conversation with the team from our Orange Partner, Agency Revolution, which took place at the 2019 Accelerate, powered by NetVU conference. Industry veterans Justin and Dave share their wisdom while relative newcomer Tim offers a fresh perspective on industry and technology trends. If you didn't tune in the first time around, or even if you did, this top episode from 2019 is a great listen. Check it out now! 

Plan, work, build, achieve

It's time for part two of our "time capsule" series with six more guests with great advice to share. At the end of each episode, we ask our guests for their one biggest piece of advice for the industry and now we're unpacking that advice with a little commentary from Rick to tie it all together. This week, Rick pulls answers from Doug Mohr (3:29), Ron Berg (6:29), Angela Adams (8:39), Bryan Bernier (11:56), Carey Wallace (15:25), and Patti Harman (17:40). Tips span from the importance of strategic planning and working on your business to projections about what agencies of the future will need to survive and thrive. Don't miss our collection of these valuable nuggets of wisdom. 

Yeah, but what does "customer first" look like?

It's all about the customer, right? You hear it a lot, but do you know how to back up those words with actions? This week we're talking to longtime industry veteran Troy Korsgaden who (literally) wrote the book on making customer service your differentiator. In this episode, Troy walks us through how changes to the insurance ecosystem have created new challenges and opportunities for agents (at 3:40), the number one way you can actually use your customer service to stand out (around the 9:30 mark), and some small steps you can take towards overhauling the entire customer service experience (jump to 15:50). Troy also tells you how to get a free copy of his book Discussion Partner if you email him and mention you're a "friend of Rick Fox."

Embrace technology without fear or delay

At the end of each episode, we ask our guests for their one biggest piece of advice for the industry. Now, it's time to open up the time capsule and see what we find! Throughout 2019, our guests have given excellent advice from their own personal and professional experience. So, we're unpacking this advice with a little commentary from Rick to tie it all together. This week, Rick pulls answers from Jason Keck (2:27), Chad Hawkinson (3:49). Dale Steinke (6:00), James Hobson (7:32), Clive O'Connell (9:56), and Dave Morton (11:52) and discovers they're all saying one really important thing: embrace technology! Listen to this week's InsuRant to get a reminder on how you can do this and why it's vital to your future success.