Do something great with the ePayPolicy InsurTech Award!

Do something great with the ePayPolicy InsurTech Award!

We’re less than a month away from closing applications for the ePayPolicy InsurTech Award!
ePayPolicy believes that great technology can change the insurance world. That’s why we are committed to recognizing the agency that has best adapted and leveraged technology to grow and improve their sales, marketing, and customer service in 2018.

Additionally, each applicant will receive an Insurance Technology Adoption Score (i.e. an “ITA Score”), a subjective measure of an agency’s tech adoption in the insurance space, along with comprehensive reporting including feedback, tips, and opportunities to improve that score.
If you haven’t entered yet, there’s still time!

Apply now to win $7,500 in prizes, including:

– A $1,000 cash prize
– $1,000 toward an insurance conference of winner’s choice
– Two FREE years of ePayPolicy’s Custom Plan
– Consulting time with Mike Stromsoe and Chris Paradiso
– Website services with Alicor Solutions
– A gift basket stocked with local treats from AustiNuts
– BRAGGING RIGHTS!

Do something great,
apply for the ePayPolicy InsurTech Award today.

InsurTech Takeover

InsurTech Takeover

Technology has the uncanny ability to influence and shape our lives. From the invention of paper in 105 AD to the unveiling of the first iPhone more than 10 years ago in 2007, great tech has the power to solve problems, altering the way we do things forever.

This is especially true for the insurance industry.

Insurtech, the practice of using new technology to help modernize the insurance space, is at the forefront of the industry, and changing the way agents, brokers, carriers, and insureds all interact with each other and do business. In an industry where so many processes are rooted in tradition and face-to-face interaction, the individuals that are utilizing technology are nudging the landscape towards more cost-effective and efficient practices.

Payments, for example, used to all be handled manually. Not long ago, if an insured needed to make a payment on their policy, the only available options were to pay either via cash, wire, or paper check. That was it.

But here’s the thing — Cash has to be handed off in person. Wire transfers can take as many as five days to be processed. And paper checks have to be handed off in person too, plus deposited at the bank.

What if the agent needed that payment immediately? Talk about inconvenient.

Today, however, there are more options. Electronic payment options, to be exact. Fueled by passion and empowered by tech, our team created a payment processor that simplifies the entire process of submitting and accepting insurance payments. Agents and brokers now have the luxury and ability to offer insureds the choice to pay electronically. And the positive implications of that are crystal clear for ePayPolicy customers.

“It used to be that if a policy was due to cancel that day, agents were scrambling to figure out how to get the funds to us,” said Teresa Hamm, Accounting Specialist for Towerstone Inc. “But now, agents can go online and immediately make payments. They’re helping their insureds’ policies from canceling, and I can turn around and get the funds to the carrier. It’s a win-win situation.”

Our integration capabilities also play a huge role in making things easier for agencies. ePayPolicy is integrated with several management systems, including Vertafore’s AIM, Sagitta, and FinancePro, as well as NowCerts, MGA Systems, and i-Engineering’s ALIS. These seamless system integrations mean that agencies, and more specifically, agency accounting teams, can process invoices faster and more efficiently. Gone are the days of paper checks and manual payment reconciliation.

“ePayPolicy has significantly improved the user experience for us as well as our clients,” said J. Archer Butler, Underwriter for Piedmont Premium Finance. “And, it saves our accounting team the extra work of going between multiple systems,” said Butler.

Insurtech has the power to improve communication in-house as well. Using a cloud-based service like Slack significantly cuts down on pesky back-and-forth emails between colleagues, for one, and offers a plethora of other bells and whistles to keep teams organized (i.e. Chat room “channels” organized by topic, direct messaging, search functionality, integrations with Dropbox, Trello, GitHub, and much more).

Google Drive, another cloud-based tool, is something we use in-house that continues to keep our practices up-to-date. Drive is a file storage service that comes with a suite of tools such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Think of these like the cousin to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, respectively. What’s great about these tools is that they are auto-saved to Google Drive, and, users can collaborate on projects together, in real-time.

For insurance professionals, the advantages of Slack, Google Drive, and various other tech and software applications are plentiful. We live in a fast-paced world where things are expected (and where we expect things) to happen immediately. Thankfully, there are mobile apps for Slack, Drive, and just about anything these days, making the desire for immediacy a reality.

Old habits die hard, but when electronic payment processors, mobile banking, messaging services, file sharing, and the whole darn world can fit in your back pocket, it’s hard to justify not adopting technology.

With insurtech, the question isn’t “why?” it’s “why not?”

The ePayPolicy team is so passionate about insurtech and the positive impact it has on the insurance industry, that we’ve launched our first annual ePayPolicy InsurTech Award. The award aims to recognize the insurance agency that has best adopted and leveraged technology to grow its sales, marketing, and customer service in 2018.

The winning agency will receive $7,500 in prizes, including a $1,000 cash prize, complimentary consulting time with insurance experts Mike Stromsoe and Chris Paradiso, a free two-year subscription to our industry-leading payment processor, and much more.

Additionally, each applicant will receive an Insurance Technology Adoption Score (ITA Score), a high-level score of an agency’s adoption of tech. Applications are free to submit, open to all agencies in the United States, and not exclusive to ePayPolicy customers.

For more information, or to apply for the ePayPolicy InsurTech Award, visit www.insurtechaward.com.

Who Run the World?

In honor of International Women’s Day 2018, the ePayPolicy team decided to compile a short list of some truly amazing women we think everyone should know about!

Whether you work in retail, at home, with children, or across the globe, the lovely ladies below (and millions more that we don’t have the space to list) are forces of nature to be reckoned with.

Who she is: Malala Yousafzai

What she does: The Pakistani native is an activist for female education. She is especially known for human rights advocacy, particularly for the education of women and children in her native home, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement.

Why she’s awesome: No list of kick-butt women would be complete without the seemingly fearless Pakistani activist. At just 20 years young, Malala already bears the title of youngest Nobel Prize laureate. She is also a survivor of an assassination attempt in retaliation from her activism, the founder of the non-profit organization, the Malala Fund, and a New York Times Bestseller for I am Malala, which she co-authored.

Where you can follow her:
Twitter
Website

Who she is: Alex Hisaka

What she does: Senior Manager, Global Content Marketing, LinkedIn Sales and Marketing Solutions 

Why she’s awesome: With one impressive track record (LinkedIn, SalesForce, PayPal), Hisaka is an inspiration to both men and women. An expert in all-things-marketing, Hisaka has built her outstanding career from the ground up, starting with her love of writing. That passion eventually lead to a career path in multiple industries, establishing her as an integral part of the success to any team.

Where you can follow her:
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn


Who she is: Eliana Murillo

What she does: Head of Multicultural Marketing at Google

Why she’s awesome: As a Harvard Graduate, Eliana not only heads up the Multicultural Marketing department at the most visible company in the world, she also founded it! Murillo places emphasis and passion for diversity in everything from customers and business owners to films in Hollywood. 

Where you can follow her:
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Website

Who she is: Bozoma “Boz” A. Saint John

What she does: Chief Brand Officer at 

Why she’s awesome: “I am a force of nature in fierce stilettos,” writes Saint John on her Twitter, and boy is she right! The NYC resident has a crazy, standout resume that is name-drop city. Previous positions include Apple (Head of Global Consumer Marketing), PepsiCo (Head of Music and Entertainment Marketing) and Ashley Stewart (an American plus size women’s clothing company and lifestyle brand) where she served as VP for over a year. Can y’all say HUSTLER?! Work hard, play hard.

Where you can follow her:
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn


Who she is: Kitty Ambers

What she does: Chief Executive Officer at NetVU

Why she’s awesome: For starters, we can’t overlook the fact that Kitty now lives in ePayPolicy’s home state of Texas! 

More than that, however, Ambers is the CEO of one of the most visible companies in the insurance space. While women make up 44% of the S&P 500 labor force, only 6% (SIX percent!) of those women are CEOs. That means, basically, Kitty Ambers is a freaking superhero! 

With an extensive and impressive background in the insurance industry, Ambers is leading the charge on, well, leadership. Whether she’s leading her team at NetVU or leading other women to reach for those coveted executive positions, she’s doing it with style, grace, and with that undeniable swagger that only folks from The Lone Star State possess.


Where you can follow her:
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

Happy International Women’s Day to everyone out there supporting the movement.


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ePayPolicy is an insurance payment processor that enables agents and brokers to accept credit card and ACH / e-check payments online. The Austin-based company was founded in 2014 and currently has over 600 national clients, with explosive growth continuing to rise.

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Why Great Leaders Are Great

One of our favorite speeches in the ePayPolicy office is Simon Sinek’s viral TEDTalk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.”

For almost 10 years, people have been quoting this 18 minute video, making Sinek a household name, and asking this deceptively simple question: Why?

Why do we buy what we buy? Believe what we believe? Why do we respect and trust those who lead us?

Why are Great Leaders Great?

Earlier this week I was in Charleston, S.C. at the Applied Client Network Leadership Academy and, after two very inspiring, very full days, my reasons Why were validated.

They Think Critically

Regardless of if they’re in the business of selling dishwashers or diapers, great leaders strike a balance between thinking with both their head and heart. No decision is made entirely autonomously. A great leader has to have a good head on his or her shoulders, and approaching obstacles ready to roll up their sleeves, and problem solve alongside their team, is imperative to success.

Cornell University and SC Johnson College of Business Professor Risa Mish. Kicking off Day 1 with an insightful and engaging keynote speech on The Critical Thinking Advantage.

They Encourage Others to Think Critically

As the old adage goes, “There’s no ‘I’ in team.

A leader will hone a skill. A great leader is great because s/he will hone a skill and teach & encourage others to do the same. They spread the wealth.

They See People, Not Employees

 
Thanks for the words of wisdom, Applied Client Network!

It’s true that it takes [wo]man-power to run an organization. Without that power, all that’s left is someone with ideas, but not enough resources to execute those ideas. We all need a little help making our ambitions a reality, and that’s where team members come into the picture.
It’s important to see the people behind the work. Everyone wants to be valued. To be a great leader, one must give credit and recognition for the incredible things their team does. But, they must also see that their team is made of people. And people are more than the work they do.

They Expect More

We all have people in our lives that demand more from us. These people are constantly improving and expecting those around them to also improve. These are the types of great leaders that believe it is everyone’s job to grow and learn.

Gregory Shiple embodies this belief. His journey with Applied Systems, Inc. (the principal sponsor of Applied Client Network) began in 1986, when he was hired as a programmer. Today, 32 years and multiple positions later, Shiple is the Vice President of Support at Applied, with an astonishing 95% retention rate. When asked how he maintains such an impressive rate, Shiple’s answer was concise and simple.

“Retention is the responsibility of all teams,” he said, “not just one.”

They Stay Hungry (& Foolish)

 

Why do you think great leaders are great? Comment below or Tweet to us at @ePayPolicy on Twitter.

The Leadership Academy is Applied Client Network’s annual gathering of chapter officers. This exclusive event is an opportunity for officers to discuss leading practices, learn about industry tools and resources, and network and exchange information with peers.

ePayPolicy is an electronic payment processor made by insurance professionals, for insurance professionals. They enable insurance agents and brokers to accept credit card and ACH payments while passing on transaction fees to the insured. To learn more about ePayPolicy, visit ePayPolicy or schedule a demo today.