Inside this month's issue:

Learn what the top underutilized features of your agency management system are and how to take advantage of them.

Slow changes over the past several years are changing how agencies need to interact with clients and prospects.

Here are six tips to help you determine whether or not you take your customers for granted.

Discover the best features of Gmail—including several tips and tricks.

Soon after the iPhone 4’s release in June, problems surfaced. So when is the right time to adopt new technology?

Ed Higgins discusses why he thinks the IIABA’s response to growth in direct writer market share falls short.

Learn how to consistently deliver great—followed by excellent—customer service.

Ramp up your referral activity with the A.R.T. (Ask, Reciprocate, Thanks) of gaining referrals.

State Farm unveils distracted driving app; Swype's new smart keyboard; Treutel launches iPhone app.

Microsoft 2003 and 2007 have a built-in command function that allows you to send merged documents via e-mail.

September 2010

Industry Watch

Steve Anderson

The Top Underutilized Agency Management System Functions

I've recently been working with the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Pennsylvania on a program for an annual management conference. One of the topics we talked about presenting was an evaluation of the most underutilized functions in an agency management system. As I was doing research on what functions would be appropriate to include in the presentation, I asked several industry friends and consultants to list their Top 5. I received some great feedback from several people. I'd like to share some of their thoughts and ideas with you.

An Agency View

Nibby Priest of Vaughn Insurance in Henderson, Ky. responded to my Twitter post with an e-mail. In it he said:

When I asked my co-worker and longtime insurance processing extraordinaire (Gina Gish, ACSR) the question, she answered very quickly with, "Well, if I knew that, I would be looking at how to utilize the feature."

That leads me to one of my 2010 goals for GoVaughn.com Insurance. One of my big goals for 2010 was to evaluate every piece of software ...

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