Time Management: 3 Tips For Insurance Professionals
It’s important for insurance professionals to properly manage their time so they can effectively focus on building their book of business. However, having to manage a wide range of daily tasks and responsibilities, from servicing accounts to dealing with administrative tasks, can make time management a challenge.
In nearly every area of the insurance industry, the question isn’t whether there is enough time but rather how that time is used. The following tips can help property and casualty insurance professionals and companies make the most of time management skills and focus more on growth.
Tip No. 1: Take advantage of automation for time management
According to Insurance Business Magazine, the average client retention rate in the insurance industry is 84%. That means that an insurance company must increase new business by 16% every year to make up for losses. Much of this loss can be attributed to a shortage of time and resources, and a lack of perceived hours in a day.
Today’s insurance technology is aimed at streamlining a wide range of underwriting, administrative, and customer service workflow tasks and should be viewed as an investment in freeing up more time.
For example, when it comes to marketing new and renewal property and casualty accounts, the automation process can instantly rate, quote and track submissions up to 90% faster than traditional methods – saving up to 2.5 hours for every policy issued.
Tip No. 2: Delegate as many tasks as possible
Every day, certain tasks need to be done to successfully run an insurance business…
- Fielding calls
- Rating & quoting submissions
- Managing third-party data
- Underwriting
- Maintaining a social media presence
- Answering billing questions
While these tasks are important, they take up valuable time that your team could spend on marketing renewals, prospecting for new accounts and growing customer relationships.
A good way to remedy this problem is to delegate essential non-selling tasks to staff. Don’t have in-house staff? Consider contacting an employment agency to bring in temporary staff or hiring a part-time person. Try working with an insurance-specific marketing agency that can handle website, blog and social media accounts. Overwhelmed by accounting processes? Consider hiring a bookkeeper.
Tip No. 3: Establish a weekly time management schedule
It’s very easy for insurance professionals to start their day with a specific schedule, only to have it change within the first few hours of the day. Creating a calendar — written or electronic — can be a huge help in overall time management.
For example:
- Every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. could be designated networking time, which involves regularly getting out of the office to attend local events
- Allocate a specific day each month for client review meetings, to assess clients’ needs, address concerns, and provide updates on policies.
- Set aside a period leading up to policy renewal dates for proactive communication with clients.
Keeping and maintaining a company-wide calendar that staff can also see makes everyone aware of what needs to be done, as well as when and by whom. By incorporating these specific time management blocks into their schedules, insurance professionals can enhance productivity, stay organized, and better manage their daily responsibilities.
Make 2024 the year that you get the most out of your working hours with strategic planning and prioritizing!
About Surefyre
Surefyre is a highly configurable insurance automation platform and agency portal focused on digital distribution and automated workflows. Our easy-to-implement process can integrate with almost anything, from outdated legacy systems to top-of-the-line programs. Our codeless integration platform makes your life easier by automating the submission, rating, quoting and binding process for all P&C insurance products.
To learn more, contact Shawn Gonzales, Adviser & Account Executive, at sgonzales@surefyre.co or 415-480-9283.
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