December 26, 2007 by Steve.

Progressive Insurance stopped sending agents paper copies of policies and endorsements some time ago. They’ve now taken the next logical step: turning off paper to policyholders. This new service is an extension of a Paperless Billing service introduced in early 2007 that allowed customers to request that they receive an electronic bill versus a physical paper bill delivered by the U.S. Mail.

New or existing clients can request that all of their documents from Progressive be delivered as an attachment to an e-mail. Consumers are increasingly receiving and paying their bills electronically. This trend will continue. It is important that you began asking your clients how they want to receive information from you.

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December 17, 2007 by Steve.

Sometimes you just need to send a letter. And that’s the basic concept behind Postful. This Web site service is designed to allow you to easily mail a letter just by sending an e-mail. This lets you use e-mail as a single method for connecting with all your contacts, whether they have access to e-mail or not.

There are several ways to use the service. QuickLetter is the easiest. You simply send an e-mail to quickletter@postful.com with a name and mailing address in the subject line. The body of the e-mail contains the information you want to be printed in the letter. You should format the body of the e-mail to look exactly like you want it to look in the letter, including the signature block. Once done, you simply send the e-mail. You will receive a confirmation e-mail from Postful that will allow you to confirm that the address was interpreted correctly and to view a PDF of the actual letter prior to it being printed and mailed. The cost is $.99 for the first page and $.25 for each additional page, which includes postage.

The service is customizable in several ways. You are able to upload a color PDF of your letterhead and store it on the site. E-mail letters can then be printed using your letterhead template in full color. You are also able to create special e-mail addresses for frequent contacts. Rather than typing the mailing address every time, just send your letter content to this e-mail address. You can also create a Groupbox that contains an entire mailing list. Complete information is available at www.postful.com.

Posted in Cool Tools, General, Agency Management Systems | Print | No Comments »

December 4, 2007 by Steve.

By 2017, there will be approximately 91 million Gen Yers, compared to 88 million Gen Xers and 77 million Baby Boomers. Gen Y, also known as millennials, is an important demographic, as evidenced by several recent industry studies that highlight these important facts:

» Gen Y prefers choice in banking services. According to a survey by the American Bankers Association, 30% of those under 34 years of age prefer online banking. However, branch banking ranked a close second at 25%. It’s not a mutually exclusive relationship.

» Gen Y is largely being ignored by the fund management industry. A global survey by KPMG found that fund managers and advisors plan to stay focused on serving the Baby Boomer generation. Only 22% of surveyed firms currently focus on Gen Y, with an additional 28% planning to focus on this group in the next two years.

» Gen Y needs education. KPMG reports that Gen Yers need information and education about financial planning and that Gen Yers “want to look at their portfolio every day.”

Clearly, targeting Gen Y is an opportunity for insurance agents as well as wealth managers and investment advisors. Building long-term relationships with Gen Yers should include the provision of a variety of options for communicating important financial information. These options should include print, electronic, and interactive formats.

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