The Digital Broker Podcast

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds talks about what he’s learned at the many insurance conferences he’s been to in the first half of 2019. By listening to this episode, you will learn, what Ryan heard and saw at three of the biggest insurance conferences this year: Elevate, Accelerate, and Dig|In, and which technologies and products stood out to him at every show.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Brad Ruben, founder of Archway, talks to Ryan Deeds about IT issues that affect insurance agency operations. By listening to this episode, you will learn about the many IT issues that affect insurance agency operations, including why so many agencies don’t get the most out of their agency management systems, how to guard against ransomware and other cyber threats, and how it's crucial to couple technology with Security Awareness Training (SAT) for your team.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Milan Malkani talk about customer touchpoints, specifically the ones that are often overlooked by insurance agencies. By listening to this episode, you will learn how to cross-sell and upsell more successfully, how to visualize customer touchpoints with the help of a funnel, and how the payment process is a gateway to more customer touchpoints, not the conclusion of them.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Olivia Schmitt talk about the challenge of finding and maintaining a work-life balance in the insurance industry. Learn how the perception of work-life balance is changing as a result of technology, what agencies can do to assist the work-life balance of its employees, and why it’s in the agency’s best interest to do so.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Eric Wistrand list the five questions you should ask to assess the state of an agency’s operations. Learn how seemingly small details like compensation structures reveal a lot about an agency’s attitude toward standardization, what a change management strategy ought to look like, how you can streamline communication by choosing the right platforms, and more.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Olivia Schmitt explore how insurance agencies can define and understand value from their customer’s point of view. Learn what your customers consider valuable, how you can talk about value with them, and how a stewardship report can help you retain top customers.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds talks with BJ Schaknowski, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Vertafore about how Vertafore is retooling its products to meet the challenges affecting insurance agencies and how BJ, a former Marine, brings rigor and discipline to his customer service and sales strategies.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Olivia Schmitt discuss the practice and value of niching at insurance agencies. Learn how building specializations within your organization can lead to profitability and operational excellence.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder examine performance reviews and how to best administer them at insurance agencies.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder look at employee incentives within insurance agencies.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder look at the ways account manager performance is evaluated.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder review the technological options available to account managers, including best practices, how to assess, and how to implement.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, Ryan Deeds and Melissa Wilder confront the day-to-day challenges affecting so many account managers, how they often lead to burnout, and what to do about it.

In this episode of The Digital Broker, learn best practices for compensation structures and how they impact insurance agency operations.

In this episode of the Digital Broker podcast, learn how agencies can leverage freelancing platforms like Upwork to outpace the competition and achieve internal goals faster.