Vertafore Insurance Podcast

From Scratch to $36 Million using these sales strategies.

Andrew Filar is the CEO and Managing Partner of Peachy Insurance, the fastest growing Allstate agency in the U.S. Andrew is focused on building the best team in the insurance industry. He has acquired seven Allstate agencies and has organically grown them from $0 to $36,000,000 in annual premiums in just 5 years. Additionally, Andrew is involved with Next Call Club, where he helps businesses turn cold leads into warm leads, close more clients, and improve ROI through effective outbound calling.

Listen in as Andrew talks about:

His journey and how he got to be the fastest-growing Allstate agency
His training for unlicensed callers, and the steps to take before passing them to a licensed sales agent
A live role-play with Heath to demonstrate an outbound call process
The importance of understanding the client journey and the tools he uses for follow-up
The lead scoring model and how he optimizes his process using this model qualification and verification for lead sources 
A data-driven approach to not only optimize the funnel but also leverage the digital footprint
A closer look at how the cost moves through the process as opposed to the sticker price
A playbook for implementing an outbound calling strategy in your agency

The myth that online leads don’t stick around and how he shares his retention rate to respond to the judgmental bias
Next Call Club works and how to learn more about the service.

The Accelerate 2024 Keynote Panel

The highlighted main stage session on Wednesday was a panel discussion led by Vertafore’s CFO, Teresa Chia. We dove into topics that ranged from the current state of the market for independent agents, carriers, and MGA’s to current technology trends such as Artificial Intelligence. Let’s just say….there weren’t any quiet moments!

Hear the leaders below challenge each other and the industry:

• Charles Symington, CEO of Big I
• Bobby Reagan, Executive Chairman of Reagan Consulting
• Stephanie Bush, Former Head of Small Commercial & Personal Lines at The Hartford
• Drew Aldrich, Managing Partner at Viewpoint

 

Accelerate Main Stage Featuring Amy Zupon & James Thom

Accelerate by Netvu in 2024 was hosted by the great city of New Orleans, and widely attended by independent agents and vendors from all over the country. With over 85 thousand hours of learning across those in attendance, over 250 techhub appointments, over 100 exhibitors, and so much more. This year's mainstage sessions were highlighted by two of our executives, CEO, Amy Zupon, and Chief Product officer, James Thom. They had the audience on the edge of their seats as they discussed 5 exciting product enhancements, gave away some amazing door prizes, and so much more.

Listen in as Amy and James talk about:

• How proud they are to be a part of the Netvu community 
• Vertafore’s commitment to the indie channel by Investing record amounts back into our products
• Amy’s top 3 trends insurance industry as she sees it – Security, Data, Artificial Intelligence
• James discusses our desire to give back time empower to success by streamline process, eliminate manual tasks, equipping agents with the tools they need
• 5 product highlights that exemplifies our relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence
• Project impact, a project that shadows 72 agents and how we are identifying tons of opportunities to improve day to day processes
• James talks about the launch of the bind button on PL Rating
• Amy addresses the misconception that AZ is only for the small agency

All this and so much more…

We built bind

We have a big announcement to make here at Vertafore! We made a promise 6 months ago and we are making good on our promise. The buy button is here. This is a story of passion and persistence that peaked at our Sales Kick-off Meeting.  The buy button is not just about efficiency, it’s about giving the power back to the agency.  With this new feature, your account managers, producers, and all other staff in your agencies, have the power to start and end a quote process without leaving the system of their choice.

It is about building trust. We built this buy button with both the agency and the carrier in mind.  This is a big milestone for the industry, but we aren’t done yet. We will continue to evolve and continue to enhance this technology with you in mind.

In this special episode, we discuss: 

• The history of this project and the impact it will have on our industry 
• How important it is to build trust with your clients and how important it is for us to build that same trust with you
• The idea that this button goes far beyond efficiency. 
• We also acknowledge that, while this is a big announcement, there is still more work to do, more enhancements and more to evolve.

There's a lot to unpack in this episode.

Click below to dig in.

Data is a journey, not a destination.

Brian Comerford is an accomplished digital transformation strategist with a diverse background who began his journey in tv and radio. Brian’s specialties include innovation strategy, enterprise technology, and creativity. His work involves staying at the forefront of digital transformation and driving innovative solutions. Brian Comerford’s expertise and contributions play a significant role in shaping the insurance technology sector,and his, and work at Vertafore reflects a commitment to advancing the industry through technology and creative thinking.

Listen in as Brian sheds light on:

• The necessary mindset change that needs to take place in many agencies
• The reason he returned to Vertafore
• The evolution our industry has taken, from an order-taking mentality to one centered on consumer demand
• A strategic plan to cleanse your agency’s data
• Data Maturity and quality begins with self-awareness
• Navigating the challenges of change management in an agency.

Orange Partner Feature Episode

Episode 11 of Season 3 on the VIP Podcast is now LIVE! 

Each agency, carrier, and MGA has unique tech needs. That’s why we created the Vertafore Orange Partner Program—leveraging our open platform and APIs to create integrations with best-in-class solutions that complement your Vertafore suite of products. In this episode of the VIP Podcast, we went live at our annual Sales Kickoff meeting to meet some of our Orange Partners. 

 

Listen in as we: 

• Introduce our Orange Partner Vendors 
• Discuss what being anOrange Parner program means to them 
• Showcase their products and solutions  
• Find out how to contact each vendor 

There's a lot to unpack in this episode. Click below to dig in. 

Do you have your finger on the pulse ?

Dustyne Bryant of The National Alliance for Insurance Education definitely has her finger on the pulse, when it comes to our industry. Which is why she was a perfect guest to bring on for this episode. Dustyne Bryant sits down with, good friend and host of this episode, Heath Shearon, to talk all things state of the industry. She shares her experience and her advice on so many different topics on this one. 

Together, we discuss: 

• Dustyne Bryant's journey go get into the industry and where she is today.
• The Hard Market, and Why she believes we are where we are experiencing this type of market
• Insuretech and the State of the industry from a tech perspective
• Buzz words in the industry 
• The future of our industry with regards to Artificial Intelligence
• Trending Coverages such as Parametric Insurance, Cyber Insurance, etc 
• Finally we wrap up the podcast discussing the National Alliance- Practitioners Teaching Practitioners

 

The State of the Industry

Mike Becker, CEO of the National Professional Insurance Agents has his finger on the pulse of what is going on out there in our industry, discuss, which is exactly why we invited him to come on the show today and the state of the industry with, the Mayor, Heath Shearon. Mike Becker has connections all over the country inside insurance agencies big and small as well as significant connections on Capitol Hill.  Mike share with us how PIA is advocating for insurance agents every day and also bridging the gap between agencies and technology, 

Together, we discuss: 

• Mike Beckers story on finding his way to the PIA of Arkansas 
• What Pia is doing every single say to fight on behalf of the Small Business owners of our industry.
• How they are tackling the numner one issue facing PIA members today ... Finding and Keeping Talent.
• The importance of the Relaunch of the PIA Tech Council. 
• The Experience of Joining Amy Zupon and others on the CEO panel at the Indie Tech Conference last year. 
• How PIA is addressing the topic of AI

There's a lot to unpack in this episode. Click below to dig in.

Communication Is The Key!

Chris Paradiso of Paradiso Insurance is the guru of the customer journey. He gives us a peek behind the scenes and walks us through what makes his agency' so special as it relates to the customer journey.  He talks so highly of his staff and how important it is to train your staff up and lead with proper communication. His agency has a robust touch point system post bind, and he has been very intentional every step of the way to ensure that each of his clients have a great experience with the Paradiso Agency....

Together, we discuss: 

• Chris Paradiso's story of successes and he even shares with us his mistakes too. 

• How Speed and Price are not the most important thing
• He talks about educating and training your team. 
• Process and Procedures and how important it is to be intentional in setting those up
• Chris walks us through step by step through what they do at his agency.
• The importance of training your staff and communicating effectively.
• Email is about information-Phone calls are about communication.
• How important Flag Day is for his agency, and it sets the tone for the culture of his agency. 

There's a lot to unpack in this episode. Click below to dig in.

...Get more out of your team...

David Watson, CEO and Founder of RiskAdvisor and Equity Partner of Mappus Insurance Agency, is a thought leader in the industry, as it pertains to processes and procedures in your agency. He talks us through the impact of the customer journey, and how important it is to have a Customer Journey enhanced and driven by technology. Not only does he walk us through what he is doing in his agency at Mappus, but also talks to us about RiskAdvisor and how he's found a way to improve the quoting process.

Meet David Watson and hear:

• David Watson's story of how he got in the industry and where he is today.
• How important David feels that it is to have Processes and Procedures set up for your agency.
• How he has leveraged automation in his agency's customer journey.
• A walkthrough step by step of his customer's journey, and the tech he uses to power this journey.
• A walk through RiskAdvisor and how you can use his product to enhance your agency process for quoting.