From the Front Line
Are you taking advantage of everything your Smart Choice® relationship offers you? Our buying power has allowed us to secure significant discounts on many products and services that can benefit your agency. We affectionately call them “Business Savers”! Whether it’s a cutting edge agency management system, comparative rater, user-friendly website, or group errors and omissions program, we offer a full line-up of Business Savers critical to running your independent insurance agency.
The most successful and valuable agencies are those that embrace technology and change. Gone are the days of keeping client files in an old steelcase file cabinet in the back room. Successful agents no longer log-in to multiple carrier websites to determine the most competitive quote. If your sister’s seventh grader designed your website, it might be time to upgrade. For that matter, if your customers can’t currently self-generate a quote from your website any time of the day or night, you are starting to fall behind your competition.
If you are not using an agency management system to help you cross-sell your customers, you should be. It’s easy to do with the right technology. Using tools like these will help increase your retention, enhance your profits, and allow you to run your agency at maximum efficiency.
Our newest strategic partner is Live Oak Bank. They are a leading small business lender with a division dedicated to providing funding for insurance agencies.
Below, you will find an overview of some of our ancillary products and services. Also, if you would like more information on everything that Smart Choice® has to offer you and your agency, please visit our Agent Services page.
Comparative Raters
- EZLynx: EZLynx is a single data entry point comparative rater for multiple real-time quotes. Using the “Consumer Portal,” an agency can receive quote requests directly into their Smart Choice® raters any time, day or night.
- Applied Rater: There is no set fee, no contract, and you can receive a free trial. Not only are there daily prospecting and sales workflow features, but there is also seamless integration with many agency management systems.
To find out more about these products, visit our Agency Software page.
Agency Management Systems
- EZLynx Agency Products and Suites: EZLynx Agency Products & Suites combines the best insurance software technology in packages that strategically position your agency for maximum efficiency with greater results.
- QQ Catalyst (By: Vertafore): This agency management system is completely web-based so therefore there is no software to install AND it runs on any device with online access. With the “Your Business At A Glance” dashboard you are able to see how your business is doing and it is also customizable for each user because of the various widgets and drag-and-drop features.
To find out more about these products, visit our Agency Software page.
Agency Websites
- Smart Choice® Websites: Smart Choice® agency partners can create a premier agency website solution with over 75 quote and policy maintenance forms right on the site.
Continuing Education
- CE Authority: CE Authority (RegED) offers an extensive online course catalog. CE and other designations are supported.
- From the Front Line
Topics
Hard to Place Risks
Not every risk is worth taking. But this issue of the Smart Choice Magazine encourages you to become a more well-rounded agency by challenging yourself to break out of your comfort zone and educate yourself so you’re comfortable writing excess & surplus and specialty lines of business. Check out the 2017 Issue 1 of Smart Choice Magazine for all of the tips you need to know about hard to place risks.