WORK FLOW PROCEDURES IN AN AUTOMATED AGENCY
FOREWORD
PURPOSE
This manual is the culmination of many years of work and study with agencies operating within the American Agency System. Since there has been no blueprint developed to show agency owners how to start and manage their businesses, it is not surprising that each agency operates differently.
It is disturbing, however, that when we visit and consult with agencies, we find that there are no standard operating procedures in writing for the people to follow. This is a result of many years of 'Folklore' procedures. That is, practices passed down by word of mouth from employee to employee.
In order to formulate a series of consistent practices, this manual has been produced. Each individual procedure has been developed to address and provide the following items:
- Provide real consistent service to the customer
- Protect the agency from Errors and Omissions Losses
- Create a consistent approach to account development by the use of suggestive sales
ASSUMPTIONS
In order for an agency to receive the full benefit of automation, the agency must have an agency management system that will allow certain functions. While this manual can be adapted to your own specific agency, it will definitely be more efficient if your system has the following capabilities:
- Capability to retain general customer information
- Means for retaining underwriting and policy information
- Capability of issuing ACORD forms
- An automated note pad to document conversations and transactions (This also empowers the agency to incorporate transactional filing)