Starting An Agency Checklist

[nyc2phi]

Curious to see if I am missing something when it comes to this.

Anyone have or feel like putting together a checklist of things you need or should have when starting a scratch agency ?

 

[donamese]

Probably get better responses by posting what you have then asking for missing items or modification of what you have. Adding details about products, state, etc would be beneficial as well.

 

[nyc2phi]

Probably get better responses by posting what you have then asking for missing items or modification of what you have. Adding details about products, state, etc would be beneficial as well.

Doing P&C mostly in NY

I have:

E&O (pending)
Direct Appointment w/ a Carrier
LLC
Agency License (pending)
Office Space
Laptop, Printer, Fax

I think that is it so far

 

[Sales71]

Doing P&C mostly in NY

I have:

E&O (pending)
Direct Appointment w/ a Carrier
LLC
Agency License (pending)
Office Space
Laptop, Printer, Fax

I think that is it so far

You might want to get nice scanner like ScanSnapIX500 is the one I have in the office. It makes your office paperless and you can scan right into the customer file.

Marketing Materials for flyers, cards etc. I use Vista print.

Have a nice web site built.

 

[MINewBeginning]

How about just a life and health agency?

 

[Milkman1265]

a unlimited calling phone line with a nice desk top phone so you can do cold calling and pick up calls. - i hated doing calls and taking calls all day on a cellphone. (if you dont get phone line you should at least get a blue tooth desk tp phone and link your cellphone to it so you can pick up calls with a hand set)

agency management systems - i know for a start up you shouldnt waste money and over head will kill your start up, i started with an excel list and after 100 names i couldnt keep track anymore and files were everywhere, then i went with QQ, took me 3 months to learn and put files in then 3 more months to make a new work flow.

you can get one of those all in one printers/scanner/fax machine - but i recommend getting them seperately, get the scansnap and a nice printer. my all in one scanner jams everytime i try to scan a policy and its frustrating and time killer.

business cards is a must.

dont forget a shredder if you going paper less

 

[nyc2phi]

Thanks MilkMan.

Since I'll only be working with one or two carriers I dont think the agency management system is necessary either right away.

Does anyone have recommendations on somewhere I can get a logo created for business cards ?

 

[TheCaspian]

What about CRM? Are there stripped down cloud versions that can fill the gap until you are ready to upgrade to an AMS?

 

[nyc2phi]

What about CRM? Are there stripped down cloud versions that can fill the gap until you are ready to upgrade to an AMS?

Which would you recommend ?

I am only going to be writing for one carrier for at least a few months, do you think a CRM is necessary ?

 

[TheCaspian]

Which would you recommend ?

I am only going to be writing for one carrier for at least a few months, do you think a CRM is necessary ?

I mean I'm new to insurance, but CRM is more about keeping data on your clients, regardless of what carrier you have. You can see what types of marketing your book responded to best, take notes about meetings you had, and keep a hotlist of potential upsells.

You can use Excel for a while, but hopefully your book gets too big to manage with excel alone.