Digital Broker Podcast
Episode 006 — The Digital Broker Podcast Measuring Growth
In this episode of “The Digital Broker,” Ryan and Steve examine one of the most important components of measuring an agency’s success: measuring growth. They examine the three typical ways in which agencies typically measure growth (new, retained, and lost business), and why it is so important to define and understand these categories. The hosts also offer guidance on how agencies can use data to gain better insight into growth— and to use that data to create simple, actionable plans for improving profitability.
Episode 007 — The Digital Broker Podcast Account Managers Are The Heart And Soul Of The Agency
In this episode of “The Digital Broker,” Ryan and Steve discuss why Account Mangers Are The Heart and Soul Of The Agency. They cover: What skills and traits today’s agencies should look for in a great account manager Why it is so important to empower account managers to contribute to an agency’s success in new and evolving ways Simple tactics and tools that agencies can use to help make this happen.
Episode 008 — The Digital Broker Podcast APIs and Why Your Agency Should Care
In this episode of “The Digital Broker,” Ryan and Steve explain APIs (and why agents and brokers should care about them). They discuss some of the simple ways in which APIs can be used to improve the customer experience, automate and refine agency processes, and save agencies valuable time and money.
Episode 009 — The Digital Broker Podcast Outsourcing Agency Operations: Why, When, and Where? (Part 1)
The first of a two-part series on outsourcing, Steve and Ryan discuss opportunities for agencies to maximize profitability through the outsourcing of operations. They look at why agencies should consider outsourcing, when it is appropriate, and review some popular platforms where agencies can connect with talent worldwide to enhance their capabilities and value proposition—all without needing to hire any new full-time employees.
Episode 010 — The Digital Broker Podcast Outsourcing Agency Operations: Why, When, and Where? (Part 2)
In the second part of a two-part series on outsourcing (click here to listen to part one), Steve and Ryan discuss how process outsourcing can both increase profitability and lead to happier, more engaged agency employees. They breakdown: The benefits that process outsourcing has on the company and employees Where to begin if you’re just getting started with process outsourcing Potential drawbacks of process outsourcing Major firms that provide process outsourcing for insurance agencies
Episode 011 — The Digital Broker Podcast Text Messaging For Insurance Agencies (Rules of Engagement)
In this first of a two-part series on text messaging, Ryan and Steve discuss why and how agencies should be implementing policies and procedures around this common form of communication – and why it can often be one of the biggest E&O holes in an agency’s documentation.
Episode 012 — The Digital Broker Podcast Text Messaging For Insurance Agencies (How To Implement)
In the second of a two-part series on texting (listen to part 1 here), Steve and Ryan discuss the “nuts and bolts” of using text messaging for agency communications and how to implement different use cases. By thinking creatively about the many ways in which this popular form of communication can be used, agencies can improve engagement and better serve their current customers –and possibly secure some new ones.
Episode 013 — The Digital Broker Podcast How To Measure and Improve Customer Satisfaction (Featuring Eric Wistrand)
In this episode of “The Digital Broker” podcast, Steve and Ryan talk with Eric Wistrand of Couch Braunsdorf Insurance Group about measuring and improving customer satisfaction. Eric explains how his agency utilizes a survey known as Net Promoter Score (NPS) to drastically improve their client experience. By listening to this episode, you’ll learn: How Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys work How NPS can measures customer satisfaction How NPS can positively impact agency employees and culture Best practices for getting started with NPS at your agency How to properly execute NPS and integrate it into your agency’s operations
Episode 017 — The Digital Broker Podcast Hiring and Retaining Quality Employees: How Effective Onboarding Keeps An Insurance Agency Afloat
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Ryan Hanley. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How Ryan Hanley parlayed stardom in the content marketing world into superstardom in the insurance industry. When and why things started falling apart. What Ryan Hanley had to learn, about himself and the world at large, to build himself back up and resume providing value to his clients—and which advice he gives insurance agencies who are also trying to figure themselves out.
Episode 018 — The Digital Broker Podcast How To Create A Culture That Keeps Employees Engaged
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan discuss what happens once a new employee is brought into the organization and how to keep that employee engaged and fulfilled so they remain happy with the organization. By listening to this episode, you’ll learn: What it means to have engaged employees What changes are within the industry and the workplace How to build a culture of trust The impact of having engaged and trusting employees on the bottom line How an organization can adapt to changing employee needs What factors need to be considered when effecting change Showing the importance of a position within the organization Disadvantages to an organization that is not engaging with employees Ways to understand if employees are actually engaged
Episode 019 — The Digital Broker Podcast Understanding The Critical Role of Human Resources Within An Insurance Agency (Featuring Michelle Trueblood)
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan speak with Michelle Trueblood, the Chief Human Resources Officer of The Horton Group, an insurance, employee benefits and risk advisory firm based in the Chicago suburb of Orland Park, Illinois. The Horton Group has offices throughout Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Horton is a mid-market broker with about 400 employees and 75 million dollars in annual revenue. By listening to this episode, you’ll learn: How the role of Human Resources has developed at insurance agencies Current and future issues that HR professionals will need to address in the industry How capital investment can create a better employee experience How a training team can have a positive impact on the organization How an onboarding process can be effectively developed How creative workplace practices increase employee retention How college recruiting and internship programs can positively affect an agency
Episode 020 — The Digital Broker Podcast How to Attract and Retain Millennials in the Insurance Industry (Featuring Nick Lamparelli)
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan speak to Nick Lamparelli, the Chief Underwriting Officer of reThought Insurance, as well as a Partner at Insurance Nerds. Nick has worked in the insurance industry for over 20 years in a variety of capacities including broker, underwriter, and analytics. As a partner of the Insurance Nerds website, Nick is passionate about introducing millennials to the insurance industry. By listening to this episode, you’ll learn: How millennials perceive the insurance industry How the insurance industry is perceived by the general public How the insurance industry can better communicate a positive image How millennials are perceived by baby boomers in the insurance industry Perceptions versus reality and what needs to change in the industry Whether agency technology helps or hinders millennials What agencies can do to attract and retain millennials
Episode 021 — The Digital Broker Podcast An Innovative Approach To Training and Onboarding Account Managers (Featuring Justin Goodman)
In this episode of “The Digital Broker,” Steve Anderson and Ryan Deeds speak with their guest, Justin Goodman of Goodman Insurance Services about how his agency responded to the challenge of onboarding, training, and retaining new staff by developing their own training platform – Total CSR. By listening to this episode, you will learn: The issues involved in creating an in-house training program The problems and costs that smaller agency face when training and retaining top talent How this new way of training can reduce the costs and time it takes to onboard Account Managers How the Total CSR training program works and why it’s changing the landscape
Episode 022 — The Digital Broker Podcast How To Develop and Communicate An Agency’s Value Proposition
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan discuss how an agency can identify, define and communicate the “value proposition” that it brings to customers, prospects and the industry as a whole. Ryan and Steve further discuss how developments in technology and business are resulting in fundamental changes for the insurance industry and what that portends for the future. By listening to this episode, you’ll learn: How to determine the actual value an agency provides to customers and prospects How an agency can answer the question as to why a customer should choose their agency Why it is critical for an agency to successfully articulate their value proposition How an agency can develop proactive services to deliver value and operational excellence How the insurance industry is experiencing a continuing metamorphosis from a focus on loss restoration to one of loss prevention
Episode 023 — The Digital Broker Podcast Designing and Implementing a Winning Customer Experience
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan discuss how insurance agencies must evolve from providing “customer service” to “customer experience.” By listening to this episode, you’ll learn: What’s the difference between “customer service” and “customer experience” Why it is important to provide more than the minimum expected service How a well-designed customer experience plan can grow a business How to design a customer experience program What specific things can be done to win the loyalty of clients
Episode 024 — The Digital Broker Podcast Ensuring the Perpetuation of the Agency – Growing Owners from Producers (Featuring Cooper Jones)
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan speak to Cooper Jones, the President of The Crichton Group, the largest independent insurance agency in Middle Tennessee. Together, they discuss the methods that agencies and brokerages can use to ensure their perpetuation over time. By listening to this episode, you’ll learn: What it is like to grow from being a producer to an agency owner What it takes to be positioned to buy an ownership role in an agency How to identify a successful producer How to transition and empower an agency to being service-oriented The different options for agencies to self-perpetuate
Episode 025 — The Digital Broker Podcast How New Technology and Data Are Changing The Insurance Market (Featuring Frank Sentner)
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan speak to Frank Sentner, the original founder of Sagitta ™ a legendary figure in the insurance industry. Frank is the owner of Sentwood Consulting and has been providing technology consulting and mentoring to individuals and companies in the insurance industry for 42 years. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How ACORD pioneered the development of data standards How data standards have developed over time Whether the insurance market still needs data standards About the growing importance of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) in the insurance market The latest developments in the insurance technology arena and the challenges faced by new players Tips to evaluate insurtech startups
Episode 026 — The Digital Broker Podcast How Should Your Agency Grow – Organically or Through Acquisition?
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan discuss the need for growth in an agency and compare the pros and cons of organic growth versus acquisitive growth. By listening to this episode, you will learn: The difference between organic and acquisitive growth How to determine the value of an acquired agency When the operations department should be involved The components of organic and acquisitive growth Problems inherent in each type of growth Distinct kinds of perpetuation models
Episode 027 — The Digital Broker Podcast The Need For Speed For Insurance Agencies
In this episode of “The Digital Broker”, Steve and Ryan discuss the growing importance of speed in the insurance industry as well as the difficulties and pitfalls incumbent in increasing the speed of processes. By listening to this episode, you’ll learn: How speed can add value to an agency How speed can serve as a powerful metric How to use speed as a competitive advantage What an agency can do to identify areas of improvement How increasing the speed of an organization is difficult
Episode 028 — The Digital Broker Podcast How Insurance Agencies Can Minimize The Productivity Lost From Email
In this episode of “The Digital Broker” podcast, Steve and Ryan discuss how the unrestricted use of email can lead to lost productivity within an agency or brokerage. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How Email can serve as a productivity drain How underutilization of email features and tools can contribute to loss of productivity The importance of being trained in email functionality The specific tools that are available in Outlook which can enhance productivity How to design an email reduction strategy
Episode 029 — The Digital Broker Podcast How To Utilize Email Technology To Improve Insurance Agency Operations
The following is a summary of Episode 29 of The Digital Broker, an Indio produced podcast hosted by industry veterans, Steve Anderson and Ryan Deeds. In this episode, we discuss email technology management. Specifically, you will learn: How a DMARC and an archive can save your company time and money. How to handle underwriters who refuse encrypted email. Noninvasive ways to monitor employee use of work email on personal devices.
Episode 030 — The Digital Broker Podcast Confronting Agency Fears To Step Outside and Try New Technologies
The following is a summary of Episode 30 of The Digital Broker, an Indio produced podcast hosted by industry veterans, Steve Anderson and Ryan Deeds. This week, the fellas discuss insurance technology, also known as Insurtech, in the context of InsureTech Connect 2018. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What InsureTech Connect is and what you can expect to find there Why you won’t find any brokers there, and why that’s a problem How to improve broker representation by taking a more inclusive view of technologies
Episode 031 — The Digital Broker Podcast Google’s Nine-Figure Investment in Applied Systems (Interview With Reid French)
In this episode of The Digital Broker podcast, Steve and Ryan talk directly to Reid French, CEO of Applied Systems, about CapitalG’s earth-shaking investment in Reid’s company. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What the deal represents, not only for Applied but for the insurance industry as a whole How Reid and Applied plan to leverage this investment for the benefit of the independent insurance channel What the practical implications of this might look like
Episode 032 — The Digital Broker Podcast Data, Culture, and Innovation In Insurance Agency Practices
In this episode of The Digital Broker podcast, Steve and Ryan unpack the contents of the talks they gave at the Executive Management Program of the Applied Net 2018 conference. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How to tell bad data from good and develop an eye for data quality. How to identify soul-sucking tasks and enlist the help you need to remove them. How to find and evaluate the solutions you might not even know you have, such as customized API’s.
Episode 033 — The Digital Broker Podcast Insurance Agent’s Blueprint For Digital Transformation
YOU’RE A BROKER—ARE YOU A FUTURIST YET? In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan continue to unpack the contents of the talks they gave at Applied Net 2018—this time by focusing on Steve’s presentation. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How to get a better read on the future by distinguishing between hard trends and soft trends How to chart your way to change, be it incrementally or transformationally How ideas, even the bad ones, fuel your organization forward How technology is changing the very nature of insurance, and what you need to do about it
Episode 034 — The Digital Broker Podcast How To Become The Leader Your Agency Needs
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan discuss the principles of leadership and how they figure into running an insurance agency. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What it means to lead as opposed to simply being in charge How to see the total picture and remove the blind spot that affects so many leaders in the insurance space How to minimize workplace arguments by understanding why they happen in the first place How to get the best results from your team by relating to them the right way
Episode 035 — The Digital Broker Podcast Remote Work: What To Weigh Before Going Through With It
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan examine remote work. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why remote work is taking off, and why you need to be considering it even if you don’t think your agency is ready for it How to do remote work right, by leveraging its oft-touted strengths while controlling for the effects of its lesser stated drawbacks What to keep in mind and contemplate when conceiving your remote work policy, and how to guard against unforeseen complications Which equipment and services help ensure a smooth transition between in-office and remote work
Episode 037 — The Digital Broker Podcast The World Through The Eyes Of An Insurance Account Manager (Featuring Melissa Wilder)
A CONVERSATION WITH MELISSA WILDER In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan interview Melissa Wilder, soliciting her advice on operational excellence and how to keep the peace between account managers and producers. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How Melissa stays focused despite onslaughts of requests for her attention Why producers and account managers see the world so differently How to get them to work as a team, for the good of the entire agency
Episode 038 — The Digital Broker Podcast Document Management: When To Store And When To Let The Carrier Handle It
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan take another look at document management, this time by focusing on what accounts for so much of its complexity and what you can do about it. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How the voluminous exchange of documents between you and the carrier is slowing you down How to relieve your agency of a massive amount of work by leveraging the Real-Time feature of your agency management system Why it’s not a good idea to keep a document forever
Episode 039 — The Digital Broker Podcast Agents’ Paradise: Designing A Work Environment For Insurance Agencies
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan discuss how physical space reflects and supports office culture. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How practically everything inside your office says something about your company How this affects your employees and visitors What to keep in mind as you prepare to rethink and redesign office
Episode 040 — The Digital Broker Podcast Anatomy Of The Perfect Workstation For Insurance Agents
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan discuss workplace optimization with an emphasis on the desk. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How the workstation has evolved to accommodate different preferences The ins and outs of every one of these variations—monitor, keyboard, mouse, desk, etc.—and why they’re designed that way How to give your employees a choice without halting or slowing down operations
Episode 041 — The Digital Broker Podcast How Insurance Agencies Can Profit From Small Commercial Lines
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan confront the challenge of profiting from small commercial accounts at insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What makes small commercial lines hard to profit from in the first place Why you shouldn’t leave that money on the table just because the profit margins are low How you can automate, reduce, eliminate, and outsource your way to profitability in this niche
Episode 042 — The Digital Broker Podcast Building Your Insurance Agency’s Operational Team: Who To Hire And When
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan analyze operational teams. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why operations are inseparable from growth, and what an operational team ought to look like depending on your agency’s size What to expect from every member of your operational team, and how to choose the most qualified or appropriate members for your agency How to communicate your goals and vision to your operational team
Episode 043 — The Digital Broker Podcast Leveraging Checklists To Streamline Insurance Agency Operations
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan examine checklists. By listening to this episode, you will learn: ✔ How a checklist is the basis of standardization and therefore a path to operational excellence ✔ How to focus on the essential and keep out everything else to create the checklist your agency needs ✔ How to foster the adoption of your checklist and deal with pushback ✔ How to format and distribute checklists to everyone whenever they need them
Episode 045 — The Digital Broker Podcast Unlocking Agency Data: How Indio Uses Data To Help Agents Improve Customer Experience (Featuring Adam Bratt)
This episode was originally recorded on December 27th, 2018. In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan talk to Adam Bratt, co-founder of Indio Technologies, to learn more about how Indio is already helping agents and brokers and will continue to do so by introducing new features. By listening to this episode, you will learn: A bit about Adam’s background and how Indio got started How Indio’s existing features help the insurance industry as a whole, saving agents and brokers time, keeping clients happy, and directing more business to carriers How Indio plans on stimulating even more operational excellence by introducing new business intelligence features How insurance agencies at large are dealing with pressure to keep up with data technology, where they have made progress, and where there’s still work to be done
Episode 047 — The Digital Broker Podcast Chatbots: The Insurance Agent’s Friend And Part-Time Rival (Featuring Duke Williams)
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan talk to tech entrepreneur Duke Williams about chatbot technology and how it applies to insurance operations. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How chatbots basically work and why they’re useful inside an agency Why some chatbots are popular and others aren’t Where a chatbot does and doesn’t threaten an agent’s job
Episode 048 — The Digital Broker Podcast Making Goals Happen: Strategic Planning For Insurance Agencies
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan talk about goals and strategic planning. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What kinds of goals insurance agencies typically set for themselves Why goals break down in the absence of strategic planning How strategic planning works and how it helps you achieve your goals, even in the face of unexpected change
Episode 049 — The Digital Broker Podcast Operationalizing Sales And Marketing: First Steps For Insurance Agents
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan talk about sales and marketing as an operational process. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How the sales and marketing processes differ, and where they intertwine How the processes tend to fall apart in the absence of operational oversight How an operational makeover of sales and marketing makes the processes sustainable, repeatable, and scalable, ensuring growth and the survival of the agency
Episode 050 — The Digital Broker Podcast Sales and Marketing: Successful Processes For Insurance Producers
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan talk about the challenge of holding producers accountable to a process. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why producers are inclined to resist any process Where the interests of producers clash with those of everyone else at the agency, and where they converge How to get producers on the same page as everyone else When it’s wise to let producers do their own thing
Episode 051 — The Digital Broker Podcast Outsourcing Done Right: The Insurance Agent’s Guide To Upwork
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan discuss the benefits of outsourcing via freelancing platforms like Upwork. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why freelancing platforms are the way to go for any agency looking to outpace the competition by achieving more goals The basics of putting together a job listing, posting it on Upwork, filtering applicants, and selecting who to work with Which issues come up most often—transparency, accountability, and payments—and how to deal with them
Episode 052 — The Digital Broker Podcast Compensation Structures: How To Pay Insurance Agency Staff Fairly
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Steve and Ryan examine compensation structures and the impact they have on insurance agency operations. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How the compensation structure makes or breaks an agency What a typical compensation structure looks like inside an agency How increasing or decreasing different commission points incentivizes different behaviors How to design a compensation structure that scales, maximizes potential and pays everyone fairly
Episode 053 — The Digital Broker Podcast Account Manager Burnout: Is Your Insurance Agency Afflicted, And What To Do About It
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder confront the day-to-day challenges affecting so many account managers, how they often lead to burnout, and what to do about it. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why the account manager’s job has become more challenging in recent decades, even as technology has made everybody else’s job easier Why account managers tend to inherit everybody else’s tasks and mistakes, and how to correct this injustice How to separate account manager responsibilities from everyone else’s at the agency by applying the principles of operational excellence, relieving account manager burnout and restoring passion and purpose to the job
Episode 054 — The Digital Broker Podcast Account Manager Technology: What Is Useful, What Isn’t For Your Insurance Agency
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder review the technological options available to account managers. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How to be judicious when evaluating technological solutions for account managers, beginning with the agency management system (AMS) How to leverage other, less agency-specific productivity tools like Slack and Power BI How different clients will relate to your solutions differently, and what this means for the future of your agency How to keep any technology from being abused or misused by observing technological etiquette Why teamwork is key to selecting technological solutions that last and make sense
Episode 055 — The Digital Broker Podcast Measuring Performance For Insurance Agency Account Managers: Qualities To Look For
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder look at the ways account manager performance is evaluated. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why there’s often a communication problem between account managers and the rest of the team, and what the agency can do about it What a day at an account manager’s desk typically looks like, and how there’s no getting through the grind without passion How humility is key for building the teamwork that your agency relies on When it’s time to put the metrics aside and judge account managers as people
Episode 056 — The Digital Broker Podcast Employee Incentives That Work For Insurance Agencies
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder look at employee incentives within insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What an incentive is supposed to do, and which incentives are best at achieving it How to deal with incentives that are commonplace but don’t work How to measure an incentive from the employee’s point of view How to make incentives work even when you’re short on cash, by providing time off, remote days, and validation.
Episode 057 — The Digital Broker Podcast Performance Reviews For Insurance Agencies: Instruments Of Operational Excellence
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder examine performance reviews and how they are administered at insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why so many performance reviews are terrible, and how they came to be that way How performance reviews done wrong aren’t just inefficient but hurt your agency What a performance review is supposed to do and how you can do it down to the questions that you should ask Whether you’re better off administering several performance reviews throughout the year instead of a single annual one
Episode 058 — The Digital Broker Podcast Getting Serious About Niching: Introduction For Insurance Agencies
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Olivia Schmitt discuss the practice of niching at insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What a niche is: a class of clients who consistently show the same risks and require the same expertise. What a niche isn’t, and why you can’t make one up based solely on revenue or volume. How niches drive profitability at many agencies by mandating the wisest use of resources, multiplying the value of marketing spend, and educating incoming employees about the coverages they’re supposed to sell. What success looks like at a real-life insurance agency that has properly niched out.
Episode 060 — The Digital Broker Podcast Understanding Value From The Customer’s Point Of View
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Olivia Schmitt explore how insurance agencies can define and understand value from the customer’s point of view. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How to determine what your customers consider valuable in the absence of a universal definition of value How you can talk about value with your customers by creating a culture of conversation inside your office How to act on what you learn and how to endure the challenges of the innovation that follows How stewardship reports work, what they’re meant to do, and how to put one together to retain top customers
Episode 061 — The Digital Broker Podcast Five Indicators of an Insurance Agency’s Well-Being
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Eric Wistrand list the five questions you should ask to assess the state of an agency’s operations. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How seemingly small details like compensation structures reveal a lot about an agency’s attitude toward standardization How your workflow shapes the role definition of your employees What a change management strategy ought to look like, and why your agency needs one How you can streamline communication by choosing the right platforms How the human resources department can prepare employees to make fewer mistakes and become better managers
Episode 062 — The Digital Broker Podcast Work-Life Balance in the Insurance Industry
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Olivia Schmitt talk about the challenge of finding and maintaining work-life balance in the insurance industry. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How the perception of work-life balance is changing What the agency can do to assist the work-life balance of its employees, and why it’s in the agency’s best interest to do so How a few key principles of operational excellence apply to work-life balance as well
Episode 063 — The Digital Broker Podcast Customer Touchpoints That Your Agency Might Be Overlooking
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Milan Malkani talk about customer touchpoints, specifically the ones that are often overlooked by insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How to cross-sell and upsell more successfully by leveraging the right email marketing platforms and strategies How to visualize customer touchpoints with the help of a funnel How the payment process is a gateway to more customer touchpoints, not the conclusion of them
Episode 064 — The Digital Broker Podcast IT Support: Common Issues Affecting Insurance Agencies
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Brad Ruben, founder of Archway, talks to Ryan Deeds about IT issues that affect insurance agency operations. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why so many agencies don’t get the most out of their agency management system How to guard against ransomware and other threats by choosing the right technology and coupling it with Security Awareness Training (SAT) How to optimize compliance by getting data out of your office
Episode 066 — The Digital Broker Podcast The Renewal Process: Timing, Teamwork, And Communication
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder discuss the perfect renewal process of an insurance agency. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What every stage of the renewal process looks like, when it ought to begin, and who ought to take the lead on it At what stage(s) the renewal process typically falls apart, and what to do about it What to keep in mind when deciding whether to remarket
Episode 067 — The Digital Broker Podcast Coverage Problems: How “Little” Things Make a Big Difference
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder talk about details that complicate coverages and how to spot them. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What kind of “little” things can wreck a coverage; where to find them; and how they vary from niche to niche How to protect yourself against oversights by inviting the perspectives of your team, your mentors, and carriers Which other resources you can consult to make sure you’re up-to-date on coverage details
Episode 068 — The Digital Broker Podcast The Digital Producer: How David W. Clausen Built a Lead Engine Online
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews David W. Clausen about David’s successful history of generating leads online. David is the CEO of Coastal Home Insurance Solutions. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How you can grow your own digital presence by sticking to the very basics: create a landing page and couple it with a call-to-action How Google Ads can help you grow the reach of your landing page Why you should test your way to success, being on the lookout for what works and what doesn’t
Episode 069 — The Digital Broker Podcast Growth Is a Choice: How Insurance Agencies Make It
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and David W. Clausen talk about how growth works at insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How insurance agencies grow in leaps, and how every leap is preceded by an inflection point that forces leadership to make a decision What to take into account when making those decisions How partnerships and technology assist in the growth process How to keep your eyes open for growth opportunities
Episode 070 — The Digital Broker Podcast Millennial Employees: How To Hire Them, How To Keep Them, How To Motivate Them
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Azia Hurley talk about millennial employees at insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why millennial and non-millennial employees sometimes don’t get along How a mentorship program is key to integrating millennial hires How career pathing helps millennial talent develop Other ways to motivate and incentivize millennial employees
Episode 071 — The Digital Broker Podcast Duds, False Starts, and Other Disappointments: Getting Technology To Work and Keep Working
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds examines the challenges of implementing technology at insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Which biases prohibit insurance agencies from implementing new technology effectively How to reset your expectations of technology How your operations team figures in the implementation of any technology How to define the problem and the solution in terms of a quantifiable metric
Episode 072 — The Digital Broker Podcast InsureTech Connect Embraces Agencies: Interview With Jay Weintraub
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Jay Weintraub, CEO and co-founder of InsureTech Connect, about the brand new Agency Connect event at this year’s InsureTech Connect conference. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How the magic of getting people together remains the lifeblood of InsureTech Connect. Why the show has historically lacked in insurance agency representation, and what Jay has decided to do about it. Everything you need to know about Agency Connect, InsureTech Connect’s brand new event focusing entirely on insurance agency issues. What you can expect to get out of InsureTech Connect 2019 and Agency Connect.
Episode 073 — The Digital Broker Podcast How Innovation (Really) Happens: Interview With Ron Glozman of Chisel AI
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Ron Glozman, CEO and founder of Chisel AI, about the company’s journey from inception to present-day operations. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How a textbook-crunching app became a policy checking tool, and what this transformation says about how innovation really happens How artificial intelligence, specifically natural language processing, can help insurance agencies expedite processes such as policy checking, saving the agency time, energy, and money
Episode 074 — The Digital Broker Podcast How Artificial Intelligence Creates Jobs, Protects The Insured, and Saves Insurance Agencies Money
In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds talks to Ron Glozman, CEO and founder of Chisel AI, about artificial intelligence and its applications in the field of insurance. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How artificial intelligence subdivides into specific AI’s, what each of these specific AI’s does, and how they differ from a general AI How specific AI’s are already helping people in other industries, and what they can do in the insurance industry in particular How specific AI’s create employment opportunities by relieving human beings of soul-sucking work
Episode 075 — The Digital Broker Podcast The Story of Indio: Why Indio Bet On The Independent Broker
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Michael Furlong, CEO, and co-founder of Indio Technologies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How the company was born, in part, out of Mike’s personal struggles with the insurance application and renewal process Why, when everybody wanted to replace agents and brokers, Michael and his team started a company to empower them Why Indio succeeded whereas many others failed: which key decisions and turning points have set the company apart What the company’s plans are for the next 3-5 years
Episode 077 — The Digital Broker Podcast Leadership, Revisited: Key Responsibilities of a Leader
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds reflects on leadership and the key responsibilities of a leader. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How employee engagement is a function of leadership How favoritism, absenteeism, and hypocrisy tarnish the credibility of a leader and destroy office morale and engagement Which responsibilities are exclusively a leader’s, and what to do to live up to them
Episode 078 — The Digital Broker Podcast The IT Dilemma: New Challenges, Old Habits
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Mark Alberto talk about the role of an IT department at an insurance agency. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How the expectations and responsibilities of the average IT department have grown even as the number of its employees has stayed the same Which challenges, old and new, continue to affect an IT department How information silos inhibit the spread of solutions and ideas How to mitigate these issues with better hiring, better leadership, and better training
Episode 079 — The Digital Broker Podcast Onboarding Agency Staff Made Easy: The Story of Total CSR
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Justin Goodman, founder of Total CSR. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Which operational problems forced Justin to develop Total CSR How the platform grew to help insurance agencies train CSR’s, producers, and employees in any position How a good onboarding process helps insurance agencies at large attract more employees and keep them in jobs longer
Episode 080 — The Digital Broker Podcast Virtual Assistance: Reinforcements of Operational Excellence
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Andy Priesman, founder of Cover Desk, about virtual assistants. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How an assortment of back-office work and soul-sucking tasks eats into your employees’ time, decreasing your agency’s output How virtual assistants, and Cover Desk specifically, are capable of relieving your agency of these tasks, enabling your employees to concentrate on their work Which of your agency’s tasks you could consider outsourcing to virtual assistants, and approximately how much it costs
Episode 081 — The Digital Broker Podcast “What’s Next?” Forward Thinking In Insurance Agency Marketing
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Justin Lair of Agency Revolution about the digitization of an insurance agency’s marketing process. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Which outdated habits of classical agencies are their downfall What sets forward-thinking agencies apart from classical agencies How forward-thinking agencies drive retention and close more business thanks to social media, email marketing campaigns, and website design How to take customer touchpoints more seriously
Episode 082 — The Digital Broker Podcast Optimizing Insurance Field Inspections: How Technology Can Help
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Jim Gardner about how Jim’s company, ViewSpection, uses digital technology to optimize field inspections. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How traditional field inspections cause operational friction that wastes agency resources, delays the binding process, and frustrates the customer How technology can streamline field inspections by delegating them to policyholders or agents, guiding everyone through the process, and assembling a report on the go, saving time and money
Episode 083 — The Digital Broker Podcast Weather Damage: How To Help The Insured Before and After
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Demetrius Gray talk about preparing an insurance agency to handle weather-related claims. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How insurance agencies typically react to weather-related claims. What insurance agencies could do to handle weather-related claims more proactively. How Demetrius’s company, WeatherCheck, helps insurance agencies assess exposure to weather damage, alert the insured before disaster strikes, advise the insured afterward, and generally write better business.
Episode 084 — The Digital Broker Podcast Net Promoter Score: Why Insurance Agencies Need It
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Matthew Smith of Rocket Referrals, a company that helps insurance agencies discover and get value from their Net Promoter Score. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why a Net Promoter Score is superior to other measurements of customer satisfaction How to find your Net Promoter Score and improve it How doing so will transform your business for the better
Episode 086 — The Digital Broker Podcast Ryan Hanley: Figure Out What Your Product Means to Customers
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Ryan Hanley. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How Ryan Hanley parlayed stardom in the content marketing world into superstardom in the insurance industry. When and why things started falling apart. What Ryan Hanley had to learn, about himself and the world at large, to build himself back up and resume providing value to his clients—and which advice he gives insurance agencies who are also trying to figure themselves out.
Episode 087 — The Digital Broker Podcast Introduction to Video Marketing: Overcoming Initial Obstacles
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Chris Greene about video marketing. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Which myths and misconceptions keep insurance agencies from getting started with online video. How Chris Greene’s experience defies each one of those myths. How Chris has leveraged video marketing to connect with customers, and how your agency can do the same.
Episode 088 — The Digital Broker Podcast Appreciation: Inspiring Employees to Do Their Best Work
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds celebrates appreciation. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why appreciation is essential to keeping a company together. How to avoid showing appreciation in ways that can backfire. How to design and implement a culture of appreciation that consistently motivates and inspires employees.
Episode 090 — The Digital Broker Podcast Surviving the “Wild West” of Insurtech: Tips from a Big Data Chief
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews David Davis, a 20-year veteran of Intel and now the Chief Technical Officer at Fudge Insurance. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why Davis decided to transition from a career in data technology to a career in the independent insurance agency channel. Which parallels Davis sees between the challenges now faced by insurance agencies and the challenges overcome by other businesses he has worked with. Which opportunities for innovation Davis is most excited about.
Episode 092 — The Digital Broker Podcast Focus on the Customer: There Is No Scaling Without It
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Chris Frankland, Head of InsurTech Partnerships at ReSource Pro, about the impact of technology on customer experience. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How technology can affect the customer experience either positively or negatively, and what to keep in mind to avoid alienating your customers. Why even the best technology in the world is useless if you don’t understand your customers. What the banking industry and others can teach us about how to discover and develop customer-minded solutions.
Episode 093 — The Digital Broker Podcast Values Help Insurance Agencies Deliver Value in Uncertain Times
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Trevor Baldwin, CEO of Baldwin Risk Partners, about the effect of values on value. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How a clearly articulated set of values helps insurance agencies stay consistent in a period characterized by inconsistency and uncertainty. How Baldwin Risk Partners has distilled its core values into the Azimuth, a document available to everyone inside and outside of the organization. How insurance agencies can continue to deliver value even as customer expectations of it evolve.
Episode 094 — The Digital Broker Podcast Booked vs Estimated Revenue: Which Is More Useful as a Metric?
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds compares booked revenue to estimated revenue and weighs which metric is more useful for insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why booked revenue can only give an incomplete idea of a policy’s value, whereas estimated revenue provides a much bigger picture. Why so many agencies remain partial to booked revenue. What you can do to get a better idea of a policy’s estimated revenue.
Episode 095 — The Digital Broker Podcast Making Culture Real: How to Build a Culture You Can See
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Heather Smyrl, co-founder of Highpoint Insurance Group, about how to design and build a culture that can help insurance agencies grow. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How culture drives insurance agency growth by keeping employees focused and united, attracting like-minded talent, and even driving more business by exciting and impressing customers. How invisibility makes a culture tough to see and hard to build. How to make a culture more real, visible, and tangible by associating tangible experiences to successful outcomes
Episode 096 — The Digital Broker Podcast Can You Name The Three Types of Retention in Insurance?
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds examines retention and its influence on the growth of an insurance agency. By listening to this episode, you will learn: Why it is important to split “retention” into three different types: customer retention, revenue retention, and policy retention. How each type of retention is measured, and why success in one doesn’t guarantee success in all the others. How to do a better job assessing and comparing each retention rate inside your agency.
Episode 097 — The Digital Broker Podcast How To Think Like Billy Williams
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Billy Williams, Founder of Inspire A Nation Business Mentoring. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How Billy Williams went from Army recruiter who knew nothing about insurance to one of the most sought-after thought leaders in the insurance industry. Which experiences have shaped the way Williams thinks about insurance, business, and life in general. How these experiences became heuristics, principles, and rules of thumb that Williams uses to grow his business and help insurance agencies become more efficient.
Episode 098 — The Digital Broker Podcast Offboarding: How to Leave an Agency Without Causing Damage
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and special guests Azia Hurley and Melissa Wilder look at the process of offboarding employees at an insurance agency. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What the mood is like at an insurance agency when an employee is leaving, and how it can affect the agency’s workflows and operations. Why the offboarding process should be taken just as seriously as the onboarding process. What an agency can do to make an employee’s offboarding experience smooth and manageable, for the benefit of the employee, the team, and the customers.
Episode 099 — The Digital Broker Podcast Bad Days at the Office: Why They Happen, How to Deal with Them
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and special guests Azia Hurley and Melissa Wilder recall the worst days they’ve ever had at the office. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What a bad day at an insurance agency looks and feels like. Why the insurance industry is especially vulnerable to bad days. What an insurance agency can do to minimize the incidence of bad days and reduce the negative impact of the ones that happen anyway.
Episode 100 — The Digital Broker Podcast Remote Work Made Simple: Getting Started Right Away
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds recommends ways to start remote working on short notice. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How communication and collaboration are essential to the office experience and must be replicated in any long-term remote work environment. Which collaboration tools you can start using right away, without having to sort through hundreds of options. How to keep employees from putting sensitive information at risk when they use their personal computers.
Episode 101 — The Digital Broker Podcast COVID-19 and Insurance: What Your Agency Can Do
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on the insurance industry. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What kind of stress COVID-19 is putting on insurance agencies and their customers. What you can do to put your agency in a position to keep helping customers during this time.
Episode 102 — The Digital Broker Podcast Staying Productive During Lockdown: Advice from Olivia Schmitt
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds talks to Olivia Schmitt about how she built her presence on LinkedIn. By listening to this episode, you will learn: When and why Olivia Schmitt began to post consistently on LinkedIn. How she organized what she would post about and how often. How she grew her online presence this way and landed her dream job.
Episode 104 — The Digital Broker Podcast Great Days at Work: How They Happen, How To Keep Them Coming
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and special guests Azia Hurley and Melissa Wilder recall the best days they’ve ever had at work. By listening to this episode, you will learn: What a great day at an insurance agency looks like. What makes a great day so powerful, capable of wiping out the stress of many previous bad days. What the agency can do to help great days happen.
Episode 105 — The Digital Broker Podcast Leadership in Times of Crisis: Flexibility, Conviction, and Courage
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Brian Comerford, host of the Lead.exe podcast, about how to lead in times of crisis. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How leadership in times of crisis differs from leadership in regular times. Which leadership challenges insurance agencies are facing because of the COVID-19 crisis. Which leadership adjustments you need to make in order to lead your team through a crisis.
Episode 106 — The Digital Broker Podcast The Power of a Podcast: Visibility, Authority, and Opportunity
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds interviews Jason Cass about podcast production. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How Jason Cass launched two successful podcasts while running his own insurance agency. What a podcast can do for your agency despite being challenging to produce. How Jason Cass refined a process that makes podcast production less challenging, and how he’s putting that process to work for other agents and brokers who want to produce their own podcasts.
Episode 107 — The Digital Broker Podcast Producer Compensation and the Impact on the Agency
On this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds examines producer compensation. By listening to this episode, you will learn: How producer compensation is typically structured. Which adjustments to producer compensation are likely to influence producer behavior. Why a universal compensation structure can’t exist, but what to keep in mind when designing a producer compensation structure that makes sense for your insurance agency.
