How to Build A NextGen Agency

What are your goals for 2021? To work smarter and boost productivity? To land new business? To better serve your clients? 

Thankfully, 2020 is now in the rearview mirror, but the pandemic has made a lasting impact on employee benefits that’s here to stay. Effective digital tools to streamline communication and agency management are no longer optional—they are swiftly becoming a requirement for brokers looking to keep up with the competition. 

What is a nextGen agency?

A NextGen agency takes an integrated approach to every facet of operations, from day-to-day management, to client experience, to sales & renewals. That mindset means embracing business solutions and workflows that interact seamlessly and are accessible remotely. 

With modern innovation, there is no reason you can’t access accurate, real-time data – anytime, anywhere. You can opt out of manually importing data, digging through old spreadsheets in your agency’s server, or navigating disconnected legacy systems—we promise. An integrated agency management solution takes care of those tasks so you can focus your valuable time on the strategic and revenue-generating work that matters.

Three systems every nextGen agency needs

Now that you know what a NextGen agency is, you can take steps towards becoming one. Take a close look at your current business solutions and workflows to identify what’s effective and where there’s room to grow. 

To simplify this process, we’ve identified three systems that are essential to your agency. By ensuring that these systems are functioning effectively and efficiently, you’ll set yourself up for success.

Agency Management System

Think of your agency management system (AMS) as your filing cabinet. How are you storing client accounts, plans, policies and other data? Does your agency rely on a network of spreadsheets or does this information live in a centralized database? 

Not only does an AMS effectively manage client data, it also enables better client service management, commissions tracking and employee performance tracking. 

If you’re not already using an AMS, we highly recommend looking into it. A secure, cloud-based system can keep your data organized and accurate, which is especially critical if your team is remote or your business has multiple locations.

One thing to keep in mind? All agency management systems are not created equal. Your AMS will house your agency’s most important assets, so it’s essential that you choose a software that is completely safe and secure. We’ve built Benelinx on Salesforce, the world’s leading CRM, to ensure it offers best-in-class security, reliability and architecture. 

Sales & Renewal

An AMS is great for data management, but many systems on the market don’t manage the full sales & renewal process. How does your agency put together a proposal? Do you manually compile pricing and product information, then copy and paste it into a spreadsheet? Is formatting and customizing proposals with client and agency branding a lengthy undertaking? 

You can eliminate much of this hassle with a solution that automates sales & renewal, and communicates with your AMS to import accurate client, plan and policy information. We’ve partnered with industry leaders like Conga and Vericred to power our Integrated Quoting Engine and Custom Document Generator, so you can easily access data and use it to create custom market proposals, all with just a few clicks. 

Client Experience

Today’s client wants a seamless experience across both traditional and digital channels. One way to empower clients is by offering 24/7 access to your agency through online self-service tools. This helps eliminate unnecessary back-and-forth fielding requests for market proposals and other key documents, while making your brokers’ and clients’ lives a little bit easier.

At Benelinx, our Client Community Portal provides instant access to market proposals, in-force policies, contracts and services, and time-saving tools including census uploads and quote reruns.

So what’s next?

Let’s be clear—becoming a NextGen agency doesn’t mean changing everything about how you do business. These digital tools are customizable and scalable, so they grow with you. And while choosing a business solution is an investment, it can also be affordable. 

To get started, evaluate where you’re at with the systems we covered above: agency management, sales & renewal, and client experience. What is your most critical need right now? Where do you want to be at the end of 2021? Once you have a good sense of where you are, identifying the changes that will offer the most benefits is far less overwhelming.

Whether you know where you want to be or you’re still figuring it out, we’re here to help. Schedule your free demo and we’ll show you how Benelinx can help you achieve your goals in 2021 and build a strong foundation for your agency’s futureN