Vertafore Study Reveals That Insurance Agencies Without Role-Based Processing Are Leaving Money On the Table

Bothell, WA (PRWEB) September 10, 2013

Vertafore (http://www.vertafore.com), the leading provider of software that transforms the business of insurance, has released key findings from its “The Way You Work Today” survey in the 2013 Vertafore Executive Report.

The findings reinforce a similar theme Vertafore found at the 2013 NetVU conference, that technology is vital to an insurance agency’s growth. The survey suggests that the process for monitoring employee workloads will become increasingly challenging without the right technology in place. Particularly as agencies increase in size, without role-based processing they are leaving money on the table:

•     Smaller agencies with five or fewer employees have the most knowledge of their work pipelines.
•     Professionals in agencies with 26 to 75 employees often lack knowledge of work in the pipeline.
•     An average of 36 percent of large agencies with 76 or more employees don’t know if evidence of insurance has been requested but not issued.

Getting the right work to the right people at the right time is the basic premise of role-based processing. Agencies using Vertafore’s WorkSmart® solution can automatically route steps based on role and current workload. This gives customer-facing employees more time to service customers and potential to generate more revenue.

“The biggest savings we’ve seen by implementing role-based processing with WorkSmart are in soft dollars, because our people are doing the work that best fits their role. Over time I believe we will see savings of $350,000 through the efficiencies that we will gain and $500,000 in organic revenue growth through increased cross-selling opportunities, developing new business relationships and reduction in rework,” Ann Young, Director of Finance and Operations, Ag States Group.

WorkSmart tools that help facilitate role-based processing include:

•     Integrated Content Management – automatically track where documents are and who is responsible for them, using metadata to code, route and organize the documents. Leveraging these tools can help save thousands of dollars in costs associated with printing and mailing, enable staff to work faster and more efficiently, and increase productivity.
•     Real Time Analytics – examine performance through the WorkSmart dashboard and customizable reports to help teams make intelligent, fact-based decisions.

“In a highly competitive space, forward-thinking agencies are applying role-based processing to improve their bottom lines and therefore achieve new levels of growth and profitability – many are even able to acquire and integrate competitors without adding significant complexity or cost,” said Bruce Winterburn, Vice President of Industry Relations at Vertafore.

For more information about the WorkSmart solution or to access the Role-Based Processing Executive Report, click here.

WorkSmart is part of the new Vertafore Agency Platform™, the only comprehensive cloud-based solution that provides the capabilities insurance agencies need to simplify transactions, retain clients, and stand out from the competition.

Today’s leading agencies are moving beyond agency management systems embracing new tools and technologies to help them grow their businesses. Learn more here: http://www.vertafore.com/sitecore/content/more-than-a-management-system.

Notes to editors:

The survey of 2,151 insurance professionals was conducted through an online survey by Vertafore in December 2012. The survey includes responses from Vertafore customers and prospects. Rockbridge Associates, Inc. tabulated the data and prepared this backgrounder.

The margin-of-error for this survey is +/- 2 percentage points for numbers based on the entire sample.

About Vertafore

Vertafore delivers software and services that transform the business of insurance. Unique to the industry, more than 20,000 customers rely on Vertafore to provide integrated technology that connects the entire industry with the most complete source of solutions—agency management, rating and connectivity, content management and workflow, information solutions and producer lifecycle management—so their businesses run better and are more profitable. For more information about Vertafore, please visit http://www.vertafore.com.