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Please note below: Differences from the Competition Vertafore Testimonials Applied Testimonials Miscellaneous Testimonials Feel free to contact any agency noted below. If you have any questions whatsoever, please contact us at 800-896-4226 or gracebauer@aol.com. DIFFERENCES FROM THE COMPETITION Only Company that: Has a Property and Casualty 2-20 License.
Has Been in Business Now for 20 Years. When started there were no other consultants that offered this service. Works with Procedures Only. All other consultants a part of what they do is procedures Works Exclusively with the Owner. All other companies have other employees that may oversee this process with you. Offers a Maintenance Program Once Procedures are Established to Keep Procedures Up-to-Date and Continue to Save Time on Training Offers a Full Auditing Program Along with Tracking to Continue to Keep Employees on the Same Page and Prevent E & O Combines Commercial Lines’ and Personal Lines’ Procedures for E & O purposes. Most procedures are exactly the same. The only difference is in Commercial Lines there are audits, certificate, loss runs and the new business and renewal workflows are a little different. Otherwise, all else is pretty much the same; i.e. notes/activities, voicemail, faxes, e-mail, suspense, telephone, etc. Even data processing areas as binders, cancellations, claims, etc. are the same. The only major difference is in the companies because each company has a different way they want things done; i.e. applications, endorsements, rating, etc. so charts are placed in these areas to document the differences. Involves all Account Managers/Customer Service Representatives and Assistants/Processors, again, to prevent E & O. Remember, your employees are the experts and processes need to be agreed on by all employees to secure consistency and, again, prevent E & O. Document what is happening right now in your agency to check if there are any major concerns that need to be addressed. If necessary, these major concerns are reviewed, principals are made aware of these issues, solutions are discussed, and then all employees agree on one solution to, again, prevent E & O and increase efficiencies. This step is very important to make sure all employees buy in procedures and follow-through. Has Worked with Over 2,000 Independent Insurance Agencies. All processes are very streamlined. Is Endorsed by the NetVu (Vertafore Users Group) for 10 Years Now One Month Guarantee. If at any time you do not feel comfortable with process during the first month, your agency will receive a full refund. Reviews Procedures Ahead of Time Individually. Procedures are reviewed five at a time each week and written recommendations are provided to the Facilitator, Backup, and Agency Principals. |
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VERTAFORE Jamie Esquibel The Agency, Inc. P. O. Box 27 Lakin, KS 67860 620-355-6789 Staff of 10 AMS360 “Going through the procedural process has helped our two offices get on the same page.” Benjie Bates Ben Bates Bates Hewett & Floyd Insurance 3400 Crill Avenue Suite 2 Palatka, FL 32177 386-328-1100 Staff of 26 AFW “The biggest benefit for me has been learning a lot. Going through the procedural process made employees think about how procedures affect the agency, exposures, and how to do things. Employees have a better understanding of procedures and are more on the same page.” Benjie Bates “The biggest benefit is that employees now have a clear road map on how to operate. The procedures serve as a reference and get employees on the same page doing everything to be done and operating more efficiently.” Ben Bates Jim Shriver Joseph Shriver Chancellor Insurance Agency P. O. Box 164 Parkersburg, WV 26101 304-422-3563 Staff of 4 AMS360 “These procedures are a starting point for us. If we have turnover our employees can now be trained quicker.” Jim Shriver “Our major benefit is now we have something in place. We did not have any type of procedures in place. We have a reference point now.” Joe Shriver Monty Dise Jennifer Hartman Asset Protection Group, Inc. 10800 Midlothian Turnpike, Suite 2 Richmond, VA 23235 804-423-7700 Staff of 5 AMS360 “I am very, very happy we have done this. We have had a dramatic change in our documentation on the system.” Monty Dise “This process has really helped with accountability, record-keeping, and documentation within the system.” Jennifer Hartman Veronica Edwards Jennifer Koehler Hugh F. Miller Insurance Agency 801 First Avenue Rock Falls, IL 61071 815-626-1300 Staff of 12 AMS360 “”I feel the major benefit has been that we are more efficient now. Employees do not have to interrupt me on questions any more. The procedures make everyone know now that there is one way we want things done.” Veronica Edwards “Employees are a lot more aware of what should and needs to be done now.” Jennifer Koehler Tommie Bowman TomRan Insurance Agency, Inc. 3159 Highway 70 SE Newton, NC 28658 828-465-2431 Staff of 4 AMS Prime ”I wanted to take a minute and let you know how thankful I am that I have been working with you on our agency procedures. Not only is it improving our E & O exposure, but it has made us focus on efficiency also. Since working with you and discovering new avenues of procedures, we have gone from transactional filing to PAPERLESS!!! This alone has improved our efficiency so much that we are able to do more with less payroll dollars. We were able to eliminate 40 hours of payroll per week and are more up to date and current than we were before. In this day and time, everything counts. I am actually projecting more profit this year than the years before. Thank you so much. Working with you has definitely changed our world in this agency!” Kathy Isbell Brenda Harm Argonne Agency, Inc. 324 North Mullan Road Spokane, WA 99206 509-921-6809 Staff of 8 AFW “I am really excited just to have people on the same page. If a question comes up where someone states that is the way we have always done something, I can ask what was actually agreed upon. They created and did the procedures. If they do forget, I can remind them that this is what they have created themselves. I am very, very happy that we did it.” Kathy Isbell “The process brought us closer together. I have learned so much about AMS. It has been exciting.” Brenda Harm Megan McKay Ziller McKay Insurance Agency, Inc. P. O. Box 151 Knoxville, IA 50138 641-842-2135 Staff of 12 AMS360 “The process was extremely helpful and really opened up a lot of communication and how people were doing things. This will be even better once we start the auditing process. It has been a really good experience and everybody saw the value in it.” Betsy Jansen CPCU ARM Debi Blue Nonprofit Resources 455 Sherman Street Suite 207 Denver, CO 80203 303-894-0298 Staff of 10 AMS360 “The process pointed out some areas where we had some problems and made it a lot easier to talk about it. It gave us the opportunity to get us all on the same page. The process made it a lot easier to attack our issues. It also pointed out areas with AMS that people did not know how to do. We were able to learn more about the management system.” Betsy Jansen “The process has been fabulous. I was able to learn things that before I did not know how to do. I did not know how to do certificates and now I can easily process them following the formatted steps.” Debi Blue Lauren Jones Keane Insurance Group 10777 Sunset Office Drive #200 St. Louis, MO 63127 800-966-7731 Staff of 35 AMS360 “It has been incredible. We have grown so quickly. People were doing things all kinds of different ways. It has helped formalize ways of doing things. Glad we were able to do it. It was also interesting to see people’s strengths come out. This has helped from a management perspective as well.” Lauren Jones Rhonda May Bev Radney Beverly Onley Insurance Agency P. O. Box 810 Winnsboro, TX 75494 903-342-3722 Staff of 15 AMS360 “I heard from the staff that they feel they know now how things need to be done in the office. The process helped us get the AMS360 steps down and get everyone on the same page. In the beginning we all had different ways of doing things. It got me to learn more about the system as well.” Rhonda May “We are all headed now in the same direction.” Bev Radney |
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Pat McManamon McManamon Insurance 1991 Crocker Road Suite 215 West Lake, OH 44145 440-892-8308 Staff of 6 AMS360 “It definitely helped our agency. It brought out some things. We had five people in our meetings and four different opinions on how to do things. We were able to discuss issues which we would not normally have done and come to one decision. That was the most important! It also brought out our weaknesses and issues that we did not think of.” Pat McManamon Laura Tsangeos Sirak Moore Insurance Agency 4700 Dressler Road NW Canton, OH 44718 330-493-3211 Staff of 30 AMS360 “It has helped by everyone being on the same page – everyone doing everything the same way. It forced us by the review process to confirm we are doing things the same way. It has also been helpful for new employees. Here it is! Here is the book! This is how we do it. New employees do not have to write long extensive notes. We also seen some areas we were open to possibly an E & O that we are working on correcting.” Cole Richardson Jane Luttrell Jackson Barton Insurance Agency P. O. Box 12120 Oklahoma City, OK 73157 405-947-8751 Staff of 7 AMS360 “This process gave us the opportunity to get everything documented and get us all on the same page. We were also able to address those areas we never thought of. I am real happy. It is organized and extremely well documented. We are a better agency which is vitally important as far as I am concerned.” Cole Richardson “We were able to think through each process and decide on the best way to handle each procedure.” Jane Luttrell Bob Jones Janet Williams The Heritage Agency P. O. Box 1806 Covington, GA 30015 770-786-9213 Staff of 6 AMS360 Steven Parker Paula SCP Insurance Services P. O. Box 8684 Redlands, CA 92375 909-794-9700 Staff of 4 AMS360 Mark Thune Jeff Skaar Thune Insurance Network Inc. P. O. Box 10 Thief River Falls, MN 218-681-1714 Staff of 16 AMS 360 "The process brought us apart and together and created a lot of communication. We are doing a better job than we were before. Now, we need to roll it out and make sure everyone understands what we have been working on for 6 months. Has it been worth it? No Question!" Mark Thune "There were certain things that people were doing different ways, and there never has been any consistency. Now it is happening. That is a big plus right there!" Jeff Skaar Dan Mercure Jr. Dan Mercure Sr. Tracy Chinavare Darlene Mercure Agency P. O. Box 250 Rickwood, MI 48173 734-379-9611 Staff of 7 AFW “The process made us look at a lot of workflows and re-think areas. It made us look at what we are doing and why we are doing it to increase efficiencies.” Dan Mercure Jr. “The process helped us to look at things to determine the best and smartest way.” Dan Mercure Sr. “It brought everybody together. The process brought to light the things we did not think about and, also, put us all on the same page.” Tracy Chinavare Curt Stephenson Kim Arnold First Merchants Insurance Services, Inc. P. O. Box 2279 Muncie, IN 47307 765-213-3400 Staff of 35 AFW On Line Jack Eggert John W. Eggert Insurance Agency P. O. Box 325 Lansing, IL 60438 708-474-1616 Staff of 6 AFW Ed Pokrywka Joan Gallo Heritage Insurance Services, Inc. 826 bustleton Pike, Suite 203 Feasterville, PA 19053 215-322-8705 Staff of 20 AFW “The process made our employees think there is somebody that cares about what they do. We built the procedures. Now we need to move in. Again, our true benefit will come out as we go through the maintenance.” Joan Gallo “Our biggest benefit was in the weekly meetings. We had a good time. It gave us a chance to see how our staff thinks. It gave our staff to participate ina positive way. Review reasons why we do things. We were able to find out who the leaders are. The process brought up a lot of issues. We had some interesting talks. Our true benefit will come out as we go through the maintenance part.” Ed Pokrywka Allan Meadors Jeff Utecht Lisa Thomas Meadors, Adams & Lee, Inc. P. O. Box 3456 Little Rock, AR 72203-3456 501-372-5200 Staff of 22 AFW “It is absolutely a tremendous asset and of enormous value to our agency. We can get into more trouble with audits if they are not handled properly. We were able to review files to protect us from E & O claims. We are doing a better job for our customers. Our employees are better and more responsive people.” Allan Meadors “It has absolutely helped to increase efficiency and help new employees.” Jeff Utecht “The process was a lot easier than I thought. We have tried to take on this project in the past and never got started. It got overwhelmed. With the way you had this lined out, it made us dedicated to be there and have our meetings each week.” Lisa Thomas Mary Wade Janice Godfrey Wade & Egbert Insurance P. O. Box 150229 Nashville, TN 37215-0229 615-383-9061 Staff of 18 AFW “Our employees realize there is now a set way to do things. We noticed one group knew some things and another group did not. Also, having defined weekly meetings made us realize it paid off to take the time to get together.” Mary Wade “The process helped everybody to do things the same way.” Janice Godfrey Bruce Bottolfson Julie Newville New Richmond Insurance Agency P. O. Box 367 New Richmond, WI 54017 715-246-6988 Staff of 12 AFW On Line “Going through the process was of value to our agency. It helped us to identify steps that we were missing as well as helped us to eliminate redundancy.” Bruce Bottolfson “Going through the process increased communication and helped get everyone on the same page. I hope to continue to improve our processes as we continue to go through procedures.” Julie Newville Robert Turner Tracy M. Goodwin Turner & Associates Insurance, Inc. P. O. Box 40 Brunswick, GA 31521 912-265-2840 Staff of 8 AFW On Line “It has helped me learn what people either do or do not do.” Robert Turner “It has put us all on the same page. It makes it easier to start a process and for someone else to finish if they need to.” Tracy M. Goodwin Cheryl Huff Chastain & Associates Insurance P. O. Box 6628 Athens, GA 30604 706-433-1702 Staff of 24 AFW “We got to put it in place and it worked! I was very pleased! The benefit was having three new employees come in and everything was there written down in black and white. It was very, very beneficial! Also, having input from everyone on, this is how I do it; this is how I think it should be done; and then deciding what would be best for the agency, I thought that was very good. Overall, it was good to have everyone in the agency involved in one project. They all took it very seriously. It cemented the fact we are team whether personal lines, commercial lines, or marketing. I am really glad we did it! Andrea Bates Daniel J. Bates Insurance Agency, Inc. 92 High Street, Suite B1 Medford, MA 02155 781-3964985 Staff of 6 AFW “Definitely it has helped. Now we have to make sure to audit and continue with the maintenance. This has to be driven home. We have to make sure everything that has been implemented is being done. You will get your money back with the E & O discount, increased sales, morale, and increased efficiencies. This is an investment. Don’t just do it! Do it because you mean it, and you are going to use it.” Cheryl Huff Ricky Chastain Chastain & Associates Insurance P. O. Box 6628 Athens, GA 30604 706-433-1702 Staff of 24 AFW Matt Dolliff Dan Hoffman Debbie Thurner Dolliff Insurance 6465 Wayzata Blvd. Suite 850 St. Louis Park, MN 55426 952-593-7400 Staff of 18 AFW Scott Senise Empire Company P. O. Box 5400 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729 909-476-0600 Staff of 35 AFW On Line Andrea Bates Daniel J. Bates Insurance Agency 92 High Street, Suite B1 Medford, MA 02155 781-396-4985 Staff of 5 AFW Ross MacLennan Eric Mehlberger MacLennan & Bain Insurance 214 Aberdeen Drive Valparaiso, IN 46385 219-464-0100 Staff of 12 AFW On Line “No question – the procedural process created a team environment.” Ross MacLennan “We have worked toward getting all employees to do things the same way and educated ourselves on easier ways to do things. The process was most helpful in training and in increasing the knowledge of our employees.” Eric Mehlberger |
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Staci Moles Bill Love Rodes-Roper-Love Insurance Agency 158 North Harbor City Boulevard Melbourne, FL 32935 321-757-6181 Staff of 28 AFW “It has shown all employees that we were serious in setting up to do this. We really accomplished the end result. People have used it. It is a continuous process. Everyone that participated in the meetings has always walked away saying “I did not know that.” It was an opportunity to know more – to find a better way or a more efficient way that they were not aware of.” Staci Moles “It definitely helped to bring about more of a team spirit - one of the things we set out to do. It helped to bring unity and generate a safe and stable environment that has brought about a positive effect.” Bill Love Neal Rabedeaux Karen White RCS Group P. O. Box 71366 West Des Moines, IA 50325 515-225-1444 Staff of 8 AFW On Line "The process gave us an awareness. We now have specific guidelines to actually implement procedures." Neal Rabedeaux "Thank you so very much for your patience and directions as we took upon this huge task. It is more valuable than you could ever know. We were able to put things down on paper. It is something we really, really needed to do." Karen White Tonja Jarrett Liberty Company Insurance 7115 1/2 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90046 232-878-2800 Staff of 20 AFW On Line "We have new procedures in place now that will streamline the workflow. When questions are being asked we have a good reference." Tonja Jarrett Jerry Lewis Sheryl Jones Lewis Insurance P. O. Box 1378 Tulare, CA 93275 559-688-7711 Staff of 19 AFW "The process has definitely helped us. We really know where our weaknesses are now. We had to do some real hard thinking. We are finally heading in the right direction. We could not have done this on our own. By your making us accountable, we have been accountable. Our employees now have more of a caring spirit to do things the same way rather than everyone doing their own thing." Sheryl Jones "The process opened everyone's eyes. There are reasons why we want things done not just that I said so. This process would have fallen if we continued on our own. With you giving us the framework and working with us every week, we were able to get this project done." Jerry Lewis Marylea Gazette Sherry Burgener CIC AU First Arkansas Insurance P. O. Box 251956 Little Rock, AR 72225-1956 501-666-6653 Staff of 13 AFW "The employees are working better now than they have had in a long time. There are less questions on how to process something. Also, I have been here twelve years and I even have learned things." "I just wanted to say THANK YOU. We hired a new CSR last Monday and training is such a breeze with the manual in place. Last week we covered a lot of computer entry on our system, and this week she is able to complete a large amount of the entry process by following the steps in the manual. Thank you again." Sherry Burgener CIC AU "Thank you Grace for your help. This was a much more pleasant experience than I originally thought it would be and I think your expertise and having a beginning helped make it that way. As I stated on the phone, we developed more teamwork than we have had in the past. It seems people are working together more. Thanks again and I hope your new year is all you wish for." Marylea Gazette Debbie Kale E. R. Munro and Company 14 Wood Street Pittsburgh, PA 15222-1921 412-281-0673 X135 Staff of 50 AFW "Absolutely! It has helped us 100%. We have implemented new procedures we have never thought of before. The process brought our two departments together. It made us aware, as an agency, that there is a large window of improvement that needs to be done on daily workflows, maintenance, efficiencies, and getting things done accurately and quickly. I can see that our growth process will definitely happen. We will not have to constantly oversee the staff. Employees will be familiar with how things need to be done as an agency and allow us to better manage as a whole." Barbara Heidrick Lisa Gunkel Cindy Vanderpoel Consolidated Insurance Agency 3108 North Lamar Boulevard Austin, TX 78705-2028 512-453-0031 Staff of 35 AFW "Personal lines has become more secure since we completed our procedure manual . They have talked about it very positively. They now have someplace to go for an answer. It opened up a lot of dialogue. The biggest plus is they are no longer procrastinating against things that are out of the ordinary such as the processing of substandard business. They know where to find answers to procedural questions that are seldom encountered as well as day to day workflow questions. They feel more confident, and are getting things done quicker." Cindy Vanderpoel "It helped us identify lots of different things going through this process that we thought about doing. Now there are lists that will help us work more effectively. It was very interesting for me to watch the way people reacted and did the process. This was an added benefit. It brought some people to work on something that normally they would not talk about between personal and commercial lines. It helped us be more consistent. We found areas we thought were okay but were not." Barbara Heidrick "It has created a whole lot of dialogue in looking at the way we do things multiple different ways. We are getting more consistent. It gives us a tool to work with to address problems of consistency." Lisa Gunkel Louis Atti M & W Agency, Inc. P. O. Box 111 Angola, NY 14006-0111 716-549-3500 Staff of 40 AFW "Money well spent. It opened our eyes. We thought we were following procedures. There were a lot of things we overlooked. The process brings those little things to the surface - the things we overlooked." Louis Atti Derek Martin-Vegue - Principal Richard R. "Bob" Rosier - Principal Grimi Betancourt Kathy Rosier Keys Insurance Services Inc. P. O. Box 500280 Marathon, FL 33050 239-444-1414 305-743-0494 Staff of 24 AFW "It has definitely helped our agency. We have something everyone can turn to. The procedures will be very helpful when used as a reference." Grimi Betancourt "I think it was very good for the branch offices especially for this office not being used to AMS. It gets everyone doing the same things the same way." Kathy Rosier "Consistency is the largest thing and from an E & O standpoint. When we hire someone new off the street it is a lot easier to get them on board. It speeds up the learning process." Richard R. "Bob" Rosier "The process has helped the agency tremendously. It has made the employees aware we are a procedures-oriented agency. By them having to write their own procedures, review, and do procedures, they are staying within the guidelines. It has helped from a workflow standpoint, E & O, and effectively doing the same thing each time." Derek Martin-Vegue Walter Petersen Sean Kelly Parker, Remsen & Sullivan P. O. Box 4449 Highland Park, NJ 08904 732-249-1200 Staff of 27 AFW "Our procedures have been invaluable in training our new employees. I am thrilled at the ability to go in and refer to and print the procedures. The money was well-invested. We did not know much about your role as a consultant until we really got into this. I made the recommendation, and I am very pleased - a worthwhile investment. I know the managers, too, feel the time and money were a very worthwhile investment. Also, we never had anything in place for accounting. It made Marie very nervous. Overall, it was excellent. I want to compliment you for staying right with us and for the excellent service. I have been involved in the agency business for quite a number of years, and this is the first agency I have had a formalized procedural manual. It's a comfortable feeling knowing we have a reference to go back to." "As well, the owners now have more appreciation of what the staff does. The producers did not realize what is really involved until looking at these procedures." Walter Petersen "It has been a good education for me - always being an outside guy. When you are outside you do not see what is going on day-to-day. It has helped standardize what we need to do here. A new person coming on board has a good reference. It will be helpful in training and will help us to avoid E & O. This has been a good process." Sean Kelly Diana Breed Ned Breed Farquhar & Black Insurance Agency Inc. 85 Exchange Street Lynn, MA 01901 781-599-2200 Staff of 18 AFW "Sure enough! It was complete! I went step-by-step! It was incredible! This is why this is such a great thing! All the steps the staff does are there to get it done!" "We are a lot more organized. There is now a direct place people can go to if they have a question. For procedures they do not do all the time, they have a reference. I think that makes people feel more confident." Diana Breed "I feel a lot more comfortable with everyone having set procedures to follow. This helps for E & O. There is a consistent workflow, and we have E & O protection. These were my two biggest concerns going in." Ned Breed Carol Kowalski Barbara Musil Van Tol, Magennis & Lang, Inc. P. O. Box 157 Grand Rapids, MI 49501-0157 616-949-4250 Staff of 18 AFW "We are getting everyone doing the same things the same way. We have a better understanding of how different departments handle things differently. We were able to make a few small changes that got everybody thinking in the same line. They understand more about what each other does. Cross-training is easier. Our CSR's and Assistants have a better understanding of what each one does as well. CSR's are aware of those things that have changed since maybe they have handled the procedure in the past. Our supervisors have a better understanding as to what they need to keep on top of as well." Carol Kowalski Tony Lucacio CIC Merrimack Valley Insurance Agency, Inc. 655 Boston Road Suite 1A Billerica, MA 01821 978-667-2541 Staff of 5 AFW "More people are doing things the same way, more consistent. There is now a backup procedure. When someone needs to do something he/she does not normally do, it is much easier for them to back up each other." Veronica Della Porta The Della Porta Group 3112 St. Johns Bluff Road South Jacksonville, FL 32246 904-646-0310 Staff of 11 AFW "The process crystallized our thinking on how we want to approach and handle clients. It is too easy to get bogged down each day that we do not stop to really think about the ways we can do things more efficiently and less stressful for the staff. By having procedures, we have better insured clients and make more money. The staff has ownership because they are the ones who wrote them. I did not tell them. They told me." Veronica Della Porta Lynda Nation Van Parys Associates 229 East Main Palmyra, NY 315-597-4843 Staff of 12 AFW "This is a real eye-opener. There are some things I do not do that now I know how to do. The procedures are in a step-by-step format. I did not think this was going to be this good. We have been wanting to do this for a long time and just did not have the time. If you were not following-up with us, we would not get this done on a timely basis." Lynda Nation Allison Hill Mark S. Williamson Mark V. Williamson Co., Inc. P. O. Box 7503 Little Rock, AR 72217 501-664-7728 Staff of 11 AFW "Definitely great for a new employee. When we have new employees we never have enough time to sit down and train them well." Mark S. Williamson "The procedural process is a time saver, you learn to do things a quicker way, a more efficient way. All employees are getting on the same page." Allison Hill Marcia Garber Sovis Insurance Agency P. O. Box 385 Chesaning, MI 48616 517-845-4053 Staff of 15 AFW "The goal was virtually to pull a person off the street and they would be able to complete any task in the agency by following the manual step-by-step. IT WORKS!!! We have the manual in place now, and it tells everything - down to how to use our voicemail system. Is it worth it? Absolutely!" Marcia Garber Daryl Holt Donoho, Holt, & Legge Insurance Agency P. O. Box 8 Gallatin, TN 37066 615-230-7704 Staff of 15 AMS Prime "The main thing is that we know the processes are there and employees understand this is how we do things. They do not have to come to me for every little thing. I can go out and sell again. We have a way everyone does things the same way. I can feel comfortable knowing things are being done to prevent E & O. Getting things organized was what we needed the most. I have been trying to get this done since 1997. This has sped up the process." |
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APPLIED Cory Bloemendaal Marilyn Bloemendaal Buffalo Ridge Insurance P. O. Box 596 Luverne, MN 56156-0596 507-283-2381 Staff of 6 Applied On Line “No regrets! I am very, very, very glad we did it. For us it will have a tremendous amount of benefits.” Cory Bloemendaal Ed Wright Susan Kane W. J. Cox Associates. Inc. 9600 Main Street, Suite 3 Clarence, NY 14031 716-759-9606 Staff of 28 Applied Vision “It is already working. Employees are already referencing the procedures for questions.” W. J. – Ed Wright “Throughout the process the people involved learned ways to do things more efficiently.” Susan Kane Holly Grimm Glenn Goodwin & Associates P. O. Bgox 1897 Redlands, CA 92373 909-793-8118 Staff of 10 Applied “The process definitely, definitely helped with consistency and has definitely increased accuracy.” Your assistance also kept us on track and by the time we were done, I wondered why we hadn't started the process years ago. I had made it out to be the "huge gorilla in the closet", pushing off the need to do it as there wasn't enough time..........there is never enough time but you made the whole process simple, easy to do and now its done! (Except for the maintenance and upkeep but that's the easy stuff!) Thanks for EVERYTHING Grace! You are the best!! Holly Grimm Gar Reese Nancy Reese Moody Agency, Inc. P. O. Box 598 Venice, FL 34284 941-493-1583 Staff of 3 Applied “Standardization and E & O are the major benefit. With six people doing things a little different, these procedures will generally keep employees on the same page.” Gar Reese – Moody Insurance “We are already utilizing our procedures for training purposes. The procedures are a resource for existing employees. We have, also, clarified and improved areas within the agency.” Nancy Reese – Moody Insurance Karen Phillips RCI Insurance Group P. O. Box 1185 Clarmore, OK 74018 918-341-6081 Staff of 10 Applied “I was very pleased. The process made us really take a look at what we were doing. It helped me a lot. I was amazed. The process has helped us to be on the same page and will make us be a lot more accountable.” Karen Phillips Sam Clark Kathi Earnhart Mary Cristaudo Dale Barton Agency 1100 East 6600 South Suite 400 Salt Lake City, UT 84121 801-288-1600 Staff of 24 Applied Vision Carol Gallaher John Gallaher Gallaher-Tangora-Rodes Agency P. O. Box 798 Mexico, MO 65265 573-581-8330 Staff of 20 Applied “The process really helped the agency. By talking to each-other, we all learned at least one or two ways to do things that we did not know before. Besides helping with training and consistency, it helped existing staff get to know each-other and each other’s jobs and learn better ways to do things. At first, I was not sure about your not being here at our office; however, you are very organized which really helped. I cannot think of anything I would change within your process.” Carol Gallaher “The process was a real eye-opener. It made me very aware of all the things the staff does on a daily basis.” John Gallaher Art Glasgow Peck-Glasgow Agency, Inc. P. O. Box 427 Hartselle, AL 35640 256-773-2210 Staff of 14 Applied On Line “It has actually caused us to evaluate how we are doing things, we noticed differences, and have moved toward a more standardized system picking up things that can be done better and more efficiently. Also, I noticed the staff interaction was good. It did create questions about why we actually do something that way.” Carol Gallaher Gallaher-Tangora-Rodes Agency P. O. Box 798 Mexico, MO 65265 573-581-8330 Staff of 20 Applied "The great value to this service is keeping us on track and organized. Also, having an outside person works a lot better." Tracy Ward Seven Hills Insurance Agency 312 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 513-719-8518 Staff of 9 Applied “It was great! I have already saved some conflicts within the office. I pulled two employees together in to review one procedure to justify a procedure. Finally, we have something in writing that we can pull up and say this is the right way to do it, not that it cannot be changed. Also, our employees have ownership since they helped write the manual. I could not have done it alone.” Tracy Ward Seven Hills Insurance Agency 312 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 513-719-8518 Staff of 9 Applied Sharon Gibbons Mat Tilghman Jr. Hanna, Kremer, & Tilghman One Plaza East, Suite 100 Salisbury, MA 21801 410-749-4711 Staff of 16 Applied “I met with some resistance; however, I have had positive feedback. One employee stated originally she did not feel she needed to be in the meetings but now she was learning one or two different things in every meeting. Also, several employees have referenced the procedures just to make sure things were being done right” Sharon Gibbons “It has been helpful. I have already referenced the procedures rather than going to ask someone. This is an evolving process. We really needed to get back to standards.” Mat Tilghman Jr. I just wanted to share a little success story with our “Procedures”! Sandy (our receptionist) ALWAYS takes care of the postage machine but she’s on vacation this week. In the middle of putting postage on our outgoing mail, the machine ran out of postage and they came to me to “fix” it. I don’t know anything about the machine (I keep my eye on enough machinery around here) - so I told them to go check the Procedures and Sandy had detailed instructions on what to do!!!!! YEA!!!! Sharon Gibbons Will Kastroll Paul Huber Harbour Risk Management 801 Anchor Road Drive Naples, FL 34103 239-354-4053 Staff of 4 Applied “It provided us structure on everything that we do. With the weekly meetings it forced us to go ahead and do it and made us think about all areas of the agency.” Will Kastroll “At this point, this gives us credibility in hiring good people and in attaining markets with insurance companies since we now have procedures in place.” Paul Huber Joleen Hart Barlow Agency, Inc. P. O. Box 819 Gillette, WY 82717-0819 307-682-9397 Staff of 24 Applied “The process has helped to make sure all employees are doing things the same way. We have standardization. Everything is documented and organized.” Joleen Hart Cindy Buckland Patrick Buckland Buckland Insurance P. O. Box 100 Delton, MI 49046 269-623-5115 Staff of 12 Applied “Obviously, it needed to be done! We had nothing in writing. To get our basic procedures written is an enormous undertaking. Some issues were brought up between offices. The process brought to light some differences and good questions that we needed to review. Grace kept on task and we were very pleased with the outcome." Cindy Buckland Terri Hinojosa Richard Minor Insurance Services Hannibal, MO 63401 573-221-8484 Staff of 20 - Applied "With 25 people working in 5 different locations, we knew we had some disparity on how things were done. We were amazed at how much we had. The process has helped us to identify a lot of needs within the agency especially with our outer offices. They just did not see the need to do things the way we needed them done, or they weren't doing things at all. The process identified where our problems were and the things we needed to address. The process also helped us to identify the most time effective way to do things within our Agency Management System, as we found that there were usually 2 to 3 ways to do most everything in the system and we had people using every way possible. Going through this process is challenging and can be time consuming, but it is so very worth it in the end. Our employee's have less complaints about our agency management system now, and that makes it worth it!!" Terri Hinojosa "We now have a checklist to make sure things are being done. The process has made people think more on how processes need to be handled efficiently." Richard Minor Cathy Harris Jack Cline Valley Oaks Insurance 1528 Eureka Road Suite 102 Roseville, CA 95661 916-960-1400 Staff of 25 Applied "The biggest benefit has been in training new people and being able to go through each step. Once procedures are reviewed with the new employee, we have something that looks familiar to refer to. We do not have to worry about missing a step." Cathy Harris "Everybody will be doing things uniformly. Once we get the E & O checklist done, that will be a huge benefit. Jack Cline Rita Leazer John Riley Central Carolina Insurance Agency Box 4078 Salisbury, NC 28145 704-664-3973 (Rita) 704-636-5311 (John) Staff of 27 Applied "The process has helped us tremendously! There were so many areas we needed to work on to do things the same way. We never could have accomplished a procedures manual without your help." Rita Leazer MISCELLANEOUS Thomas Levy Kathy Dougherty Levy Insurance Agency 17 Bishop Hollow Road Suite B Newtown Square, PA 19073 610-325-2242 Staff of 5 NStar “The templates were so easy to use. It was not hard to do.” Kathy Dougherty Crayton Kale IFS Insurance P. O. Box 112 Lincolnton, NC 28093 704-732-4646 Staff of 3 DORIS “I have a real good sense of security now. I wonder how I got along without the procedures for so long in my business. When I look at the amount of money I spent, it is nothing in comparison to what I have gained through the procedural process. The money was not a big thing at all. I went on vacation recently, and when I returned I really felt the business ran smoothly. Now, I am really excited about maintenance and can see my saving 10 to 15 hours per week by the end of the year.” Crayton Kale – IFS Insurance – Lincolnton, NC Brent Norris Stewart Ltd. Insurance Management P. O. Box 1019 Raymond, NH 03077 603-895-2200 Staff of 7 DocStar and Easy Apps Pro “It was necessary because everyone had their own way of doing it. We now have some place to get the answers so everyone does everything the same way. It has been real positive.” Brent Norris Robynne Olson Eric Olson Olson, Inc. 1835 Forest Office Park, Suite D Annapolis, MD 21401 410-626-1600 Staff of 5 DORIS "When we first started talking I had mentioned I came from a different background. This process enlightened me to all of the procedures that should be in an agency that were not in ours - to know why and how things were done - where our exposures were - which made me a better manager." Robynne Olson "Everybody was pretty much winging it in whatever they needed to do the task. It was driving me crazy. I think it has been wonderful. We are going to hold their feet to the fire in all areas. I think it has been great! Also, this process will be especially great for new staff." Eric Olson Eric Lundberg Terri Prins GKS Insurance Lakewood, CO 719-539-0144 X201 Eric 303-988-1234 Terri Staff of 17 EBIX "We have three offices in separate locations. Everyone worked as a team. Procedures were documented step-by-step making sure everyone was on the same page. Everyone took pride in his/her own areas. With Grace's support and direction our agency was able to complete the manual in 14 weeks. Grace's input and guidance through the process was invaluable!" Terri Prins "Going through the procedural process is potential E & O protection for E&O claims. Overall, the smoothness that we are going to see after the process will be noticeable - we will have continuity between the three offices. We were also able to establish a marketing program to increase production." Eric Lundberg Dulcie Ariail Advantage Insurers P. O. Box 308 Cornelia, GA 30531 706-778-1001 X1105 Staff of 7 Agents' Choice "The great thing about it is that it is working! It is already working for us! We are a different agency than we were 6 months ago! We are far more organized, more consistent, and using the management system to a fuller extent. We have uniformity between offices and are able to take somebody from one office to another office and they can be effective. The thing that is invaluable is that we are doing even greater things because as a group of people they have worked as a team successfully. If I want to take on another task, they are ready! I can see me using this team for a lot of different tasks. We are better equipped to handle a catastrophe. We already have consistency between the offices. We are way down the road from the competition in being able to respond to a catastrophe. It seemed like a lot of money at first but it is invaluable! Whatever we do will be better because we have grown through this project!" Dulcie Ariail Again, if you have any questions or I can be of any further help, please call me at 800-896-4226 or e-mail at gracebauer@aol.com. |