Every agent and every carrier I have encountered has great ideas for services that could differentiate them. (Most are far less differentiated than they think they are.) Few have the time to execute on a good idea consistently.
You can buy time, though. Delegation of routine, non-value added processing is the way. Find a quality remote staffing company who knows the insurance industry and get that work that clients don’t value (wouldn’t pay you a dime for) off the desks of your people. Then proactively manage their time to focus on responsiveness, delighting the customer, cross selling, etc. Your ROI will be very high.
I have to disagree with you on this one. My clients refer friends and family based on my response time. Speed of e-mail is one place where I set myself apart from the competition.
Keep in mind Scott Simmonds doesnt actually work in an insurance agency – he cant relate to the real world issues that we face in this ever changing industry.
Every agent and every carrier I have encountered has great ideas for services that could differentiate them. (Most are far less differentiated than they think they are.) Few have the time to execute on a good idea consistently.
You can buy time, though. Delegation of routine, non-value added processing is the way. Find a quality remote staffing company who knows the insurance industry and get that work that clients don’t value (wouldn’t pay you a dime for) off the desks of your people. Then proactively manage their time to focus on responsiveness, delighting the customer, cross selling, etc. Your ROI will be very high.
I’d take time to schedule my time, but I’ve no time to do it in. :)
I actually felt guilty reading this at work when I should have been prioritizing what’s on my desk….. : )
We should stop declaring war on things. Look at what happened to the War on Drugs and the War on Christmas.
That article was the biggest waste of time I experienced all day.
“Check e-mail inbox no more than every 90 minutes”? Really? What if you have co-workers and clients? And deadlines? I dunno about that one…
mbagolf,
You’re absolutely right! Thanks for commenting.
Scott
Crackberry,
Thanks for your comment on my column.
Nobody expects you to reply instantly to emails – unless you have trained them that way.
If you jump every time you get a new email you are stopping the task you are on. When you come back you have to regain momentum.
Start a task,finish it, then check email. If the task will take more than 90 minutes, take a break and check emails.
Don’t let your email inbox run your day. Work on the important rather than getting sidetracked by the immediate.
Scott
Check your e-mail inbox no more than every 90 minutes – scratch that – make it every 90 seconds!
I have to disagree with you on this one. My clients refer friends and family based on my response time. Speed of e-mail is one place where I set myself apart from the competition.
Keep in mind Scott Simmonds doesnt actually work in an insurance agency – he cant relate to the real world issues that we face in this ever changing industry.
“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries” A.A. Milne
Some good suggestions
In particular: hold meetings standing up
e…evaluate your day/set priorities
m…manage your priorities
i…intelligence applied to tasks-results
t…time in balance God/family/work