Last week I attended my first Apple school session. My One-On-One session was great. Rachel, my instructor, was knowledgeable, had great teaching skills and was fully engaged in our session. However, it was a challenge to keep my people watching habit under control and pay attention to why I was there. This picture is not exactly representative of the two different groups I saw that morning. The 8AM group was entirely made up of over 65 students. One couple had brought in their desktop Mac and were working together with their instructor. Now sharing a computer is just not in my thought process. For a number of years Gene and I shared my laptop when we traveled together, but we rarely do that any longer. We usually travel with two laptops. I am not sure how you would negotiate who gets to use the computer when. In the 9AM group which I was attending there was a father and his teenage daughter who is being home schooled. However, I was the youngest of the other attendees. Again in this group there was a retired couple with their desktop Mac. There was more than one occasion when there seemed to be some dispute within the couple as to how they were going to set up different areas of their system. I have to say this may have been the quickest hour ever. I thinking I'm booking back-to-back sessions next time. There is still much to learn and master. Technorati Tags: technology, macbookpro, apple school, learning

I was taught long ago that without integrity my knowledge means little. Of late, roads that I have taken have caused a number of people to question my integrity. So I think it is time to address these issues.

As a consultant I work with insurance agencies on best practices and maximizing their technology that they have or may be considering. It is important that I keep up with what is happening with a number of systems. If you have been paying attention you have seen that I have attended the Brokerage Builder User's Group meeting, the Vertafore Industry Forum, the AMSUG Power User's Conference and two Nexsure User Group conferences this year. I have also been involved in looking at the new Impowersoft product Aspire, I have helped an agencies evaluate Microsoft Dynamics CRM, etfile, CSR24 and been approached by a couple of other vendors about working with them on their products. I also attend numerous other industry events where vendors exhibit their products.

Based on my relationship with each of these vendors I may or may not have signed a non-disclosure agreement. But having or not having a non-disclosure is not of significance to me. I handle the information I am privileged to acquire from interacting with each of these groups and their customers confidentially. I will not divulge to one vendor information about another vendor or the functionalities of their product information that is not public information. I have added a disclosures section on my website on my About page I have added a section for Disclosures and Relationships. I want to be as transparent as possible. Being an independent consultant means just that. However, to be the most effective for my client, I need a lot of knowledge. To acquire a lot of knowledge you must be involved. Technorati Tags: integrity, brokerage builder, nexsure, etfile, csr24, vertafore, amsug, technology insurance agency

I have been thinking about a new laptop for awhile. My current one is 4 years old and giving me a good deal of grief. When we visited with our granddaughter in September she had acquired a MacBook Pro. She is studying graphic arts and the classes require that she use Mac software. I enjoyed using her MacBook and added this to my list of considerations. I have spent a great deal of time researching what I want. I am tied to a windows computer in order to work with certain programs used by my clients. So who says I can't have two laptops? Here she is all dressed up and ready for the party(ies).

Last week I was privileged to be the facilitator for two sessions at the Big I of Nebraska's first Technology Day.  In the afternoon session we discussed the potential errors and omissions issues that using social medial my pose and then we looked at the different social media resources.  When we were discussing Twitter.Com, a lady said the following:  I have read that the majority of tweets are meaningless, so why would my agency want to use them?

I agreed that a very large number of tweets were meaningless to the majority of the world.  First I sighted the success of the Dell Twitter program.  But that doesn't exactly put it into perspective for an insurance agency.  As with any new tool a business is going to use, they need to understand the tool, what it does and how it can benefit the business.  Or maybe, more importantly, how it might benefit the agency's clients.  So here are a few examples of how an agency might use Twitter.

• Announce a new blog post.
• Provide links to changes in laws that might affect the client, such as new rules applying to the use of cell phones.
• Raise awareness to a civic event that needs support.
• Announce promotions within the agency.
• Announce special occasions within the agency, such as a wedding, birth, etc.

For this to be effective, you will need to let your clients and prospects know you have a Twitter account.  You might need to provide them with some education about how to sign up for Twitter and why your agency will be using this tool and what for.  This allows each client to decide for themselves if they want to follow your agency on Twitter or not.

Please share your Twitter success, ask your Twitter questions and let me have your feedback on social media issues you would like to hear about.

Happy Twittering!!!

I met Larry Linne several years ago at a Sitkins 100 meeting now known as Sitkins International.  He was a speaker and his subject was on sales management.  Who knew he was writing this wonderful book?  I so wish I had known all that is in this book when I owned a managing general agency.  Oh did I lose sleep and it was very noisy.  It would have also been helpful for those positions where I was second-in-command.

My review of this book is really redundant.  A forward by Ken Blanchard should say it all.  However, I have insights to share.  On page 48, Larry quotes Jim as saying "I have owned this business for sixteen years, and I can't tell you how many times I've watched employees walk out the door at five o'clock on the dot, leaving a huge problem behind for me to solve."  Jim also said earlier in the book that he was disappointed to learn that his employees didn't care as much about the business as he did.

I had these thoughts almost everyday I owned my own company.  I had these thoughts many days as the second-in-command.  I still have these thoughts sometimes when I am consulting with an agency.  I hear these thoughts in one form or another from every business owner I work with or know.  Another thing these business owners express as a frustration is not only the problems you know you need to solve but there are always problems hiding that no one has told you about yet.

My words to every business owner, no matter what your business, get this book and read it as fast as you can.  If you don't have a second-in-command get the right one, then do everything this book says.  If you have a second-in-command, you get the picture.

Larry, thank you for this new resource that I have added to my arsenal for working with my clients.

Are you in a dead end job that drains the life out of you each day?  When you arrive home at the end of the day you have no energy to be present for your family?  Almost everyone has been in this position at one time or another.  "Find Your Strongest Life" should be read by every woman of every age so that you know what action to take to propel yourself from this situation.

I wish this book had been written when I was 20 instead of 62.  I was hooked by the middle of the Ten Myths About The Lives of Women at the beginning of the book.  Some of these I knew, some applied to me and some didn't, but I see them everyday in the lives of the women I know and meet.  Marcus makes it so clear for you to find your strongest life by using the the online "The Strong Life Test for Women".  Each woman should take the test immediately upon ordering the book.  You will have some idea of what your focus should be as you read the book.

In a phone conversation with a colleague a few weeks ago, I said I was at a time in my life when I was trying to decide what to do when I grow up.  He laughed and thought I should really be thinking about retirement.  The timing of this book is so appropriate.  I like what I do, but I am assessing how I move to doing what I love to do.

I really like the "What to Take Away" at the end of each chapter.  A great way to focus on the points of the chapter.  Marcus has provided the tools for me to reassess where I am, where I am going.  I rarely write in a book or mark important information.  That is not the case here.  There are notes, earmarked pages, and post it notes.  I intend to use this book as a reference for planning my future.

Every young woman in my family will be receiving a copy of this book shortly.

Thank you Marcus.

One of the big issues I find that every agency I work with has is how to capture conversations the producer has with clients, underwriters, etc.  In some agencies producers aren't allowed to log into the agency management system to enter their documentation into an activity.  Other agencies that do have producers logging into their system don't get better results.  Unless a producer has a laptop configured for access to the agency management system, the chances of them to entering this information is nil to none.  Even for those producers with laptops and access to the agency management system, only a minority of them will update the system.

At Aartrijk Brand Camp Nibby Priest of Vaughn Insurance Agency, Henderson, KY asked me why agency management system vendors haven't developed a way to capture voice - converted text in an activity.  His example is that he currently uses a product PhoneTag which converts voice mails into text.  So why can't this same concept be used for capturing information into an agency management system activity?

The answer goes back to some of my recent posts about the lack of innovation on the part of agency management system vendors.  I have always believed that if we can think of something a technology should do that there is someone that can make it happen.  But alas agents do not have all the technology tools that they need to be effective in today's world.

What are other ideas you have about technology you would like to see in your agency management system?

I have previously outlined what I think are a number of issues relating to agency management system vendors not taking proper care of the software and not being future thinking.  I also covered what I think are the issues agencies have in resolving issues with their agency management system.

I promised in my last post that I would share with you some ideas I think will help you achieve better results with your system and with getting results from  your vendor.

1st Steps when there is a problem:

• Have you checked out help to be sure that the system is being used as intended by the vendor?
• Have you checked with the vendor to determine if this is a known problem?  Do they have a resolution?  If so, when is that resolution expected to be implemented.
• If it is not already a know problem, it needs to be reported.  Instead of just telling the vendor it doesn't work, you need to be specific about what is happening.  Some issues are specific to your installation of the system, some apply in all installations of the system.

So what if it is a know issue and there doesn't seem to be a resolution date?  What if the vendor says they are not going to do anything about the issue in question?  What if you have a new idea and the vendor is resistant?  Some points you should consider:

• Are you a member of the user's group? - This is a must.
• Are you active in the user's group? - This means attending every meeting and keeping up with what is going on.
• Does your agency have representation on the user group's product development committee? - If you want a voice, either have a representative on this committee or communicate with one or more of the members on this committee.
• Do you offer solutions to the issues or just complain?
• Does your issue apply to more than one user or is it something just your agency wants?
• What is the priority of your issue in the list of bugs and enhancements overall?

I learned a long time ago that complaining does not achieve anything expect mark you as a complainer.  When there is an issue, it is best to take one or two solutions with you to the discussion.  If the issue is too technical, find someone else in the user group that can assist you with crafting and understanding some solutions.  Think about where in the overall priority list this specific issue should fit.  If you are looking for an enhancement that applies to your agency only, you will probably be looking at custom work and that normally takes some time to fit into the vendors schedule.

Get your thinking cap on.  Think of solutions.  Network and work with others in the user group.  Become part of the solution instead of the complainer.

For the past few days I have been talking about the blind spots of the agency management system vendors.  While I feel that they haven't moved far enough fast enough.

Agency's spend thousands of hard dollars on agency management systems.  They waste thousands of dollars in using them inefficiently or not using them to their maximum potential.  What leads to this waste?

Poor or lack of definition of standards, procedures and workflows.  Thus everyone one uses the system differently or does not use it in some instances.  So when someone else needs to find information about the client, it may or may not be easily accessible in the system.  While these are huge problems in agencies, I want to concentrate here on the agency's interaction with their agency management system vendors.

As I previously said, every visit with an agency involves at least one conversation about an issue with their agency management system.  I am often asked to discuss the issue with the vendor.  While every vendor listens, answers questions and thanks me for the input, I have no power and nothing gets done.  Users are going to need to band together and put “REAL” pressure on vendors in order to get things done.

I am not aware of one agency management system that does not have at least one area that is used daily that doesn't need a "work-around".  In some systems, agencies tell me that there are one or more of these situations that have existed for one or more years.  Why in this period of time does such an issue get resolved by the vendor.  Sometimes there is not pressure from the users to get the issue fixed.  I find that agencies can't always effectively communicate the problem to the vendor.  Also, they can't always communicate how the functionality should work.  Or the vendor is getting conflicting information from various users.

Monday I will talk about some ideas on how to get your message to your vendors.  Please share this blog with others in the insurance industry and add your comments.