Celebrating Houston at IIAH's annual Houston Insurance Day

by Industry News & Company Updates

Celebrating Houston at IIAH's annual Houston Insurance Day

It’s been six months since Hurricane Harvey ripped through Houston (or H-Town, as we sometimes like to affectionately call it here in Texas). The city is far from being fully restored, but with the good people of Houston staying patient, and with the help of other countless kind-hearted cities, H-Town continues to stand strong and proud.

That was made even more apparent last week when our Product Expert, Ruben Arce, had the pleasure of attending the annual “Houston Insurance Day” (HID).  HID is hosted each year by the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston (IIAH) and was, according to Ruben, even more highly-anticipated this year.

It was packed!” said Arce. “I think a lot of agencies wanted to attend to show their support, which was really awesome,” said the Texas native. “If someone had told me that one of the worst storms in history devastated the city mere months ago, I wouldn’t have believed them. The positivity in the room was incredible.”

HID 2018 was Renaissance-themed this year, and judging by the pictures, some attendees really got into it! From costumes to props to swag, (to THE Zoltar fortune-telling machine from the ‘80s movie “Big”), the one-day trade show seemed like half party, half industry event.
“Everyone was living by the ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ mantra” said Arce.

From left to right: Zoltar fortune telling machine, Ruben doin’ the dang thing, and a live-action shot of HID 2018
 

This year’s HID was certainly an exciting one, with abundant and infectious energy. It may have been raining, but that didn’t deter attendees, Arce included, from having a great time.

“It really was inspiring to see so many people gathered in the city for the event,” said our Product Expert.  “It was a great reminder as to why I love doing what I do, and why H-Town is, and will always be, #HoustonStrong.”

Why Great Leaders Are Great

by Business Strategy

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.

4 Things We Loved About InsurPATH 2018

by Industry News & Company Updates

It’s hard to believe that less than a week ago ePayPolicy was jet-setting in California and rubbing elbows with some of the coolest cats in the insurance industry. Now that we’re back on our home turf in Austin, Texas, check out the top 4 things our team loved most about the InsurPATH 2018 conference!

#1. Cali.
As if we weren’t already excited about attending InsurPATH this year, the powers that be decided the conference would be held in sunny Fresno, California, which was just fine by us.

Cali was great for tons of reasons (other than the sun, of course). For starters, we were able to really take a deep dive into learning about the landscape of the insurance industry in The Golden State. We were privy to some pretty awesome and educational talks, like the California New Laws Briefing, as well as best practices for hiring in Cali.


“There’s so much opportunity in California,” said Todd Sorrel (ePayPolicy Co-Founder & Underwater Basket-Weaving World Champ).

With conversations underway with Big I Sacramento, San Diego, and Los Angeles, there’s no telling what the future holds for ePayPolicy.

“What we can achieve there — I mean, the sky’s the limit.”

#2. The familiar faces
Conferences can get a little overwhelming, so it’s always nice to see some friendly faces in the crowd. Some of our clients were also InsurPATH attendees, and we were pretty jazzed to catch up with them and make sure our product and services are exceeding all of their wildest dreams (spoiler alert: they are!).

Of course, we are also partnered with IIABCal (a.k.a the very kind hosts of InsurPATH 2018) who endorse us as their payment processor of choice. In fact, here they are telling a sold out InsurPATH crowd this very thing:

 

Thank you for your continued support and partnership, IIABCal!

#3. The UN-familiar faces
Catching up with friends and customers is great, but what would a conference be without making some new friends and potential customers?

“I think the benefit of that face-to-face interaction is really valuable,” said Ruben Arce (resident rockstar / ePayPolicy Sales Rep. extraordinaire). “You’re no longer just a phone number or email address. It really helps to build a relationship with people.”

At the end of the day, it’s about quality. ePayPolicy is committed to engaging with and building our community, and InsurPATH was an intimate event that really facilitated quality conversations.

#4. Texas Hold’em
I know, I know. This one is a given.

As the sun set on Day 1 of 3, IIABCal hosted a Sponsors Kickoff Party & Texas Hold’em Tournament, which was, of course, AWESOME! Our team was able to loosen up a bit after a long day of traveling to the West Coast, and they got to do so with other like-minded, insurance professionals! Attendees were able to grab a cocktail and have fun all while continuing to network in a unique way. Not a bad way to close the books on Day 1.

Bonus! #5: Being the only payment processor at the show
Whoop, whoop!

If you missed us at InsurPATH 2018, no sweat!
Schedule a demo today to learn about how ePayPolicy helps you speed up receivables, bind policies faster, and crush your business goals (and competition)!

 
Flying into The Golden State. View from the top! (Can you spot the Apple HQ?)

Who wouldn’t want to meet this guy?!

Swag & Poker Chips. Would you bet on ePayPolicy?

Texas Hold’em. Deep in thought.

Bonding over breakfast

U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc. is a specialty lines underwriting manager, wholesale broker, and awesome ePayPolicy customer. Great to see y’all! Until next year.

Introducing: Recurring Online Payments

by Industry News & Company Updates

Recurring Payments

So, what’s the deal with recurring payments?

Well, you guys asked, and ePayPolicy delivered. It’s that simple. (You can just call us your fairy Godmother.) We have an awesome video that details the ins and outs of the feature, but if you haven’t seen it yet, not to worry. We’ll break it down and get you up to speed now.

The Gist:
If you’re a Custom Payment page subscriber, you can now offer customers the option to set up recurring payments. Bonus: Customers can also set frequency and track all payments from a single view.

The Deets:
We embedded the feature where your customers are already making their payments, so they don’t need to navigate or sign up anywhere new.
It’s easy. All customers have to do is:
1.  Sign in (or sign up) to your company’s payment page
2.  Navigate to “Make a Payment”
3.  Fill out the info fields accordingly, selecting “Yes” when they reach the “Recurring Payments” field

4.  Choose a start date, end date, and how frequent they’ll make payments.

After customers are done with set-up, they can head to “Recurring Payments” from the navigation bar to track all payments from one page.

And you? You can sit back in your chair and track all of your clients’ payments by navigating to the “Recurring” menu in your dashboard.

The Perks:
Other than being totally awesome, the recurring payments feature has some pretty great perks that are beneficial to both you and your customers.

Improve Customer Relationships
Recurring payments typically lead to fewer late and missing bills. Which hopefully means fewer awkward late-payment conversations with your customers.

Simplify Life
Just as customers have the ability to track all their payments in one area, you too, can monitor all of your clients’ payments by clicking over to the “Recurring” menu in your dashboard.

Go Green
Making regular payments electronically helps to reduce your customers and your organization’s carbon footprint. Have a client who still can’t seem to ditch paper checks? You can spin recurring payments as a choice that not only benefits you, but also the environment.

The Big Picture:
ePayPolicy listens when our customers talk. When we got word that customers like you wanted this feature, we hustled hard to deliver. The bottom line for us – Continue to make insurance payments as easy and friction-less as possible.

To view a quick tutorial on recurring payments, navigating your dashboard, and more, check out our demo page, or set up a training with our team.