Understanding why and how to adopt an agency management system like HawkSoft

1. HawkSoft is a top-rated insurance agency management software system that has a very loyal user base. How do you think the integration with the Bold Penguin Terminal will help your longtime users and help attract new ones?

HawkSoft’s customer base has grown and matured with our insurance agency management software company over the last 30 years. Agencies that once sustained themselves well on personal insurance lines are finding it more and more necessary to diversify into the commercial side of our industry. The Bold Penguin Terminal will help these agencies navigate the complex world of commercial insurance coverage. This collaboration with Bold Penguin also bolsters our commitment to improving commercial lines workflows, a key strategic objective.

2. What advice would you offer to an agency that is looking to adopt new insurance agency management software to streamline their workflow?

We take a consultative approach to agencies looking at our platform. The first question we ask could be called the Chris Lejeune Qualifier (named for a key member of our early sales team who passed in 2022): “Do you have enough carrier appointments in place to make an agency management system worthwhile?” If not, we recommend focusing on the key preliminary element of establishing an agency before investing in a management system.

If they do have sufficient carrier appointments in place, then we’re likely to share our white paper titled “5 Questions Agencies Wished They Had Asked Before Choosing an Agency Management System” which aims to educate insurance professionals on the right questions to ask when evaluating a new insurance agency management system for their business. The white paper doesn’t include HawkSoft’s answers – we designed it as a tool that should be applicable to any player in our space, and we want our prospective customers to answer for themselves and grill us on the same questions. 

Beyond the white paper, HawkSoft consistently recommends:

• Calling the vendor’s customer support number to test drive their customer service. The sales process can focus a lot on best-case scenarios and what it will feel like when everything is working. Testing out what happens when something goes wrong can be helpful, allowing the customer to see what it will be like to live with the business decision. 
• Exploring the good and bad by attending a vendor’s user group events. You’ll have access to speak candidly with other agencies using the insurance agency management software without any sales/marketing intervention from the vendor.
  

From my personal experience, I also have a few key pieces of advice I give agencies when they’re looking at management systems or other insurtech solutions that integrate with their enterprise systems. 

1. First and foremost, designate a person to lead the process. 
2. Scrutinize your own internal workflows and list out, in writing, the pain points you’re experiencing that are pushing you towards adopting or switching to a new insurance agency management software system. Use that list when talking to the sales representative. 
3. Take detailed, exhaustive notes and compare the information against the original pain points. Specifically, I recommend taking notes of commitments the company representative promises will meet your pain points through features or functions in the system. 
4. Even after committing to a new piece of technology for the agency, be sure to make a plan to audit the implementation and success. Hold your technology providers accountable for their commitments.

3. We see you started your career with HawkSoft in product marketing. How do you feel that experience benefited your current role as Director of Partner Integrations?

Each step in my career path has been a building block to the next. I started at HawkSoft in our Product Support Department, where I was able to get a lot of hands-on experience in the use of HawkSoft insurance agency management software within real agencies. That experience made it easier for me to create engaging content that spoke to our agency customers when I became a Product Marketing Coordinator. 

Our ethos in the Marketing department at HawkSoft is that “education is the best marketing.” The content I created for our customers was informed by real-world scenarios and our intention to leave the audience with new knowledge about our agency management system or about the broader world of insurance technology. That role also brought me into direct, frequent contact with our users and our user group. Through those interactions, I started to gain an understanding of the technologies agencies were using in addition to and/or integrated with HawkSoft.The most direct result of this experience I see in my role as HawkSoft’s Director of Partner Integrations is that I always ground myself in the agency perspective. How does this technology benefit an agency? How can our insurance agency management software add to or enhance a workflow for a CSR? Is it worth the disruption onboarding will cause to agency operations? I’m a tech nerd at heart and love new gadgets – so keeping myself grounded with a connection to real agencies is critical to ensuring I don’t let a shiny object or new toy slip through if it isn’t bringing actual value to an agency.

BONUS QUESTION: We understand that you started your career as an English-as-a-aecond-language educator in Japan. What was your favorite part about that experience or is there something you miss the most about your time and responsibilities while there?

I got a lot out of living in Japan. I’ve studied the Japanese language for about twenty years now, and my language skills never improved faster than when I was living there. I am fortunate now to have friends and family to visit in Japan, so I still get to exercise those skills even though they don’t really come up in my professional life anymore (though Japan has the second largest insurance market in the world, in case my bosses are reading this). I miss the food most of all, even though I live in Portland, OR, one of the best US cities for food! You just can’t get the same quality of ready-made food at the local convenience store like you can in Japan.

I really don’t miss teaching. While I love to share knowledge with an engaged audience, it was quickly apparent to me that the “engaged” part is critical to my enjoyment of the process. I experience that feeling far more in my work helping agents understand insurance agency management software and how it can help their business.

‍

Join the conversation on LinkedIn or contact us to learn more.