The U.S. is now experiencing soaring inflation, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical crises — indicators that the economy is heading for a recession. What can insurance companies do to prepare?
Should You Integrate?
The average company uses 100+ SaaS (software as a service) tools, according to the most conservative surveys. Some studies double that number.
Given this high usage of tools designed by different teams, integrations ideally help companies use these tools in concert. Or at least, a little more efficiently.
At ePayPolicy, we talk about integrations often. We want to make payments the easiest thing your business does. But payments don’t exist in a vacuum – there’s a lot of accounting and reconciliation work that comes before and after.
And integrations help make magic out of that process.
Why Integrate?
Integrations make sure all the data displayed on your payment page during the payment process is pulled directly from your accounting system, and the record of that payment makes its way back to the software your team uses to reconcile the payment to your invoices and accounts. Integrating connects your custom payment page to your open invoices, removing double work, human error and time-sucking manual data entry.
Integrations create time for you, and allow your teams to refocus efforts elsewhere.
Integrations also unlock specific features that make life easier for both your customers and your account team. Things like: AutoPay, Batch Payables, Invoice Notifications and more.
Who Should Integrate?
Without putting a firm cap on it, we’d suggest anyone taking more than 10 payments a month consider it. And if you’re in the 30+ bracket, it’s a no brainer.
How Easy is it to Integrate?
Before getting into particulars, we’ll mention that both our Support and Account Management teams do this for our customers all day, every day, and they love to do it.
A perfectly reasonable reaction for a customer might be “This sounds great, but I don’t know how or have the time to do it.” Great! Let us do it. If you can schedule a meeting with Support and respond to just a handful of email tasks (at most), we can help you do the heavy lifting.
In many cases, integrations can be handled entirely in 1-2 emails and in just a few minutes. We’ve built them (and continue to build them) to be as easy as possible to set up.
What Integrations does ePayPolicy offer?
A lot. We’ve built integrations with the most popular management systems, and we’re adding more all the time.
But even that isn’t the whole answer, as we routinely create custom API connections for customers using custom, in-house or niche solutions.
Why Don’t Customers Integrate?
We don’t know? But seriously, we ask ourselves this often, and can only assume we’re not articulating the value clearly enough. If you’re taking even a dozen checks, and looking for ways to bring efficiency to your operations, there’s value.
The feedback we do hear, though, is usually along the lines of “Oh, I thought this would be more difficult.” Our insurance customers often come with decades of manual habits, and it’s not just that old habits die hard; it’s that they’ve done enough business to see trends rise and fall, and some tech efforts fall flat.
We also understand, we’re talking about money. Revenue is the lifeblood of your company and we understand the reluctance to touch something so important.
Our advice – take it from the thousands of integrated ePayPolicy customers, and at least discuss it with your account manager so they can explain the specific value to your team.
We’re so confident Integrations will make your life easier, we’ll let you try it free for 60 days.
Just mention it when you schedule a chat with your account manager.
Want to learn more? Check out our integrations here, or read UIP’s story about how integrations made life easier at their agency.
Introducing: CheckMate
We had to change our mission. And get rid of a dinosaur.
When ePay began, our website boldly claimed that we were “on a mission to replace paper checks for all agency billing.” We commissioned a local mural artist to design a massive mural in our office, featuring a giant Godzilla-esque dinosaur burning paper checks across the city. Because, why not?
But like the age of the dinosaurs, that era has come to an end.
Our founders felt the firsthand frustration of slow, manual and delayed payments that relied on checks. That led them to create our first product – our custom payment pages and dashboard – that helped grow ePay to what it is today.
5,500+ insurance companies – carriers, agencies, PFCs, brokers and MGAS – trust ePay with their digital payments.
But unlike the dinosaurs, paper checks haven’t gone away. For many companies, it’s not a quick pivot directly into digital ACH and credit card options, as much as they might prefer it.
Some customers just prefer to pay with checks.
We sat with customers across the country to see how they handled check payments, and the results were all over the place. Some processed daily, others in weekly batches. Others had “check signing parties” (woo) where they blocked out hours of time on a scheduled basis to grind through the often very manual and tedious process of reconciling check payments.
And over the past year, we’ve worked to develop a solution that we’re now proud to introduce: CheckMate.
CheckMate solves the pain of paper payments with rapid and secure check routing and automated reconciliation to your accounting systems. In the same way our digital payment pages are integrated with the most popular management and accounting systems (as well as custom API integrations), CheckMate uses those same integrations to reduce manual, double-work.
Also, no more checks piling up for dreaded “check parties.” CheckMate batches and processes checks every day, and uses the same ePay dashboard as our digital payments. One hub for all your payments. Woo.
As we talked to customers, one of them joked that they’d like to “never touch a paper check again.” With CheckMate, that’s actually possible. You can leave the checks to us.
CheckMate is the next of several enhancements we’ll be announcing over the coming months. If you’re an existing customer, and curious, we’d encourage you to reach out to your account manager or schedule some time here. If you’re new to digital payments for insurance, there’s never been a better time to schedule a demo and see how much time it’ll save your company and your customers.
ePayPolicy ranked #1256 in 2022 Inc. 5000
Austin, TX Aug 16, 2022- Inc. magazine revealed today that ePayPolicy is No. 1256 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, one of the most prestigious and well-known rankings of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment— its independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. This was ePayPolicy’s first year to apply.
“Everyone that’s been here is well aware of the growth we’ve been experiencing,” said CEO Mark Engels. “We were optimistic we might make this list, and it was a real honor to see where we landed. Our ranking is a reflection of our amazing team’s tireless efforts in delivering and supporting digital payments services for the insurance industry.”
The COVID-19 pandemic helped accelerate the adoption of online digital payments for insurance, an industry that has lagged behind in more modern payment adoption and where the majority of payments still change hands in the form of paper checks. But even as a post-pandemic “normal” has set in for many Americans, growth at ePayPolicy has not slowed down.
“We were thrilled to hit our own 5,000 milestone last year, when we added our 5,000th customer,” said Engels. “And our pace of growth continues to accelerate, which allows us to invest in new digital automation services for the insurance industry, including agencies, managing general agents, brokers, carriers and premium finance companies.”
ePaypolicy’s upcoming product release, dubbed “CheckMate,” was built based on customer feedback, and is designed to help offload the burden of check payments for companies whose customers might be slower to adopt digital payments, all while keeping them on the ePayPolicy payment platform. Engels says the team has other enhancements and products planned for later this year.
“Our focus on the insurance industry allows us to have a deep understanding of the challenges our customers face as they transform the way they digitally engage with their insureds,” added Engels. “It’s this industry expertise that will continue to fuel our growth and allow us to compete for the Inc. 5000 list for years to come.”
About ePayPolicy
Built by insurance professionals for the insurance industry, ePayPolicy is the fastest, easiest and most secure way to move money for insurance. ePayPolicy’s products bring insurance payments up to speed for agencies, carriers, MGAs and PFCs, with secure online payment pages and automated check processing, with CheckMate. 5,500+ insurance companies trust ePayPolicy and their expert, live support team to handle their payments every day. Learn more: epaypolicy.com
More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000
Methodology The 2022 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2018 and 2021. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2018. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2021. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2018 is $100,000; the minimum for 2021 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 5000 are featured in Inc.’s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.
Simpler, Better Plans for Our Customers
Existing customers who have been with ePay for years may notice a change to our plans. We slimmed down from 3 plans (Basic, Custom and Integrated) to 2, and we simplified the pricing for both.
Why the Change?
It’s not lost on us that our customers pay a monthly fee to access the benefits that our online payments pages provide. When you take a monthly fee as a provider, the onus is on you to keep adding value to that subscription.
At ePay, we’re investing more than we ever have in upcoming features, and ongoing integrations and improvements to make payments the easiest thing insurance companies do, be it a large carrier, premium finance company, MGA or agency. The next logical step was to see how much more value we could add to our plans, to help our clients achieve better digital payment adoption.
What Changed?
Previously, our Custom Plan was the mid-tier option that unlocked features like Image Assist, Recurring Payments, Attachment Uploads and custom form fields and disclaimers. For many companies, these were “had to have” features when they otherwise might have preferred the Basic plan. After talking to those customers, we didn’t want them to feel held hostage to a plan just for compliance reasons.
We also just started asking “what could make ePay better?” for our customers who were not yet integrated, and still getting up to speed with digital payments. So, we took all the features from the previously $50 Custom Plan, added them to a new $25 Essentials plan.
Integrated Plans
We’ve worked for years to develop integrations with some of the most popular management systems, as well as building custom API integrations for companies using other tools. Integrations unlock massive time savings, reducing double work and manual data entry. Our integrated customers love them, and we’re always encouraging customers considering integration to try it free for a few months and see for themselves.
Seriously, our integrated customers have gone as far as describing integrating as “life changing.” I kid you not.
Some of our integrations require more setup and maintenance than others, so we previously offered tiered pricing depending on that effort. But, going back to the “what could make ePay better?” question, we didn’t want to put any pricing confusion in the way of our clients trying out something that could help as much as integrations do. So, all Integrated Plans are a flat $50 per month.
What About Customers on Basic Plans?
Current customers on the $20 Basic plan are not currently required to upgrade. If they wish to take advantage of the additional features in the Essentials or Integrated plans, we recommend talking with your Account Manager so you can try them for yourself and see if they add the value we believe they bring.
What’s Next?
Our expanded product and development team has several launches and enhancements planned for this year, all of which will help serve our goal of being the fastest and most secure way to move money in the insurance industry. And our customers will be the first to know and access the helpful enhancements. Thanks for staying with us, and we always want to hear your ideas and suggestions for how we can better serve you.
Building an Effective Local Marketing Strategy for your Agency
Quick disclosure – While our team has used most of the tools mentioned below, this isn’t referral content and none of these links have incentives for us. We’re simply sharing affordable or free tools and tactics that have proven to be effective.
Modern marketing can be overwhelming, especially for those who manage a smaller budget and don’t want to take risks on marketing tactics that are either hard to prove a return on, or less familiar to them. Too many professionals have been dazzled by marketing “consultants” who managed to drive up certain metrics that never led to an increase in revenue.
While some insurance companies might be more ambitious for growth than others, very few would turn down the prospect of additional business. Even if your desire is for growth outside your local market, there’s still a lot of value to be gained by expanding your reach within your city.
Effective local marketing is still a solid source for new business lead generation, and doesn’t require substantial upfront investments or steep learning curves.
Here’s a handful of ways to increase your local awareness, while spending little or no money.
Google My Business (free)
167 billion. That’s how many searches are performed on Google each month. And for businesses looking to be found in searches like “best insurance in ____,” Google has provided an effective platform aptly named Google My Business. Surprisingly, most companies rarely take full advantage of the opportunity.
Wordstream has an excellent post outlining a thorough (and free) approach to optimizing your GMB page, but here’s the 3 most important things you can do:
- Claim your business profile and fill out as many attributes as possible. Note that sometimes, there’s a slight delay here in claiming the business, as Google has to verify ownership, which (to date) involves a postcard in the mail with a verification code.
- Politely ask your best (or all) your customers to leave a review. Google gives priority to higher-ranking businesses, and/or those with a consistent stream of reviews. A straightforward email asking them for help often gets a surprisingly high response rate.
- Update the page occasionally with photos and posts, and respond to questions as they come in.
It should be no surprise, but Google will prioritize search visibility for those that take advantage of the tools they offer. Meaning the more thorough your setup and more frequently reviews or updates show up on your page, the higher you’ll show up in searches. This is critically important, as most studies show that 75%+ of searches never scroll past first page results.
Directory Listings (free, or monthly fee for services that streamline this for you)
Google isn’t the only source for showing up locally. Facebook, Yelp, Instagram and others create pins on the map, so to speak. HubSpot has a good article outlining the top 50 online directories, and you could go about the tedious, but mostly one-time, process of listing your business on each.
Or, you could consider trying a service like BrightLocal ($29 per month) for a period of time. BrightLocal will set up and monitor the listings, as well as detect duplicate or incorrect listings.
If you’re going the route of doing it yourself, prioritize Facebook, Yelp, Bing, and Yellowbook.com, to start.
Referrals (free, or monthly fee for services that automate this for you)
Every study on referral marketing agrees – word-of-mouth and peer referrals are some of the best leads you can get. Built on existing trust, they often close faster and remain loyal customers.
But it’s not always natural to ask for a referral at the close of a sale, so many companies have resorted to things like automated emails or texts soliciting the referral. If you’d like to try a software solution, ReferralHero is one of the better affordable solutions at $49 per month, without a contract.
If you don’t want to commit to a software, you don’t have to. Why not create a simple Google Form with the following copy?
We’re so grateful you’ve trusted us to take care of your insurance needs. As a local business, we rely on word-of-mouth referrals, and would love to share our services with someone you know who might be a good fit. Do you know anyone looking for (services you specialize in)?
You could set up a reminder to send this email at a certain point after the sale, or assign to a specific team member. It doesn’t have to be complex – just on time, and completed.
*Note – Some companies offer referral incentives when a referred client becomes a customer. This may be a compliance issue on a state-by-state basis, and should be researched.
Email (free)
Many businesses are far more cautious in regards to sending emails to their list of clients and prospects than they need to be. No one likes “spam” or junk mail in their inbox any more than their real mailbox, but it’s par for the course, and that “unsubscribe” button is always there.
But businesses that take the time to craft emails that add value to the reader often find email is their most successful outlet for new business and upsells. Email newsletters like The Hustle have earned literally millions of newsletter subscribers just because of the quality content they pull together.
But where to start? Well, what are you an expert on? Could you turn that expertise into a series of tips or learnings? Do you have new products for a particular segment of your customers, and can you articulate their value? Do you have any promotions, or seasonal considerations for your product?
Start there. It doesn’t have to be beautiful or overly designed. In fact, many of the best B2B emails are simple, plain text emails that get to the point. Gong offers a great guide on effective email crafting.
Tip – Be sure to segment out your existing customers, and prospects. You can send more frequently, and say more, to customers.
Local Blog Authorship (free, or one-time fees for copywriting assistance)
Speaking of expertise, it’s not uncommon to find other local blogs or business associations who would be happy to let you guest write a topic related to your expertise. You then get the benefit of them sharing your expertise with their network, linking back to your contact info.
Not a confident writer? That’s ok! You can often hire one inexpensively on services like UpWork for a low hourly fee. They can interview you and pull out the copy, or even refine rough drafts or bullets you produce.
What types of blogs might make sense? After checking with local and specialty business groups, look for entrepreneurial blogs or accounts, or even small business-focused blogs. Many of these rely on a steady stream of fresh content to keep their audiences engaged, and take no offense when receiving a sample offer for original content.
Why’d we write this?
We’re a payments company, right? Yes. And our passion is making your payments simpler, faster and more modern so that you spend less time managing cashflow and more time growing your business and delighting your customers. If you want to see how ePayPolicy can help you do that, feel free to look around our site, or book a demo.