Author: Peter van Aartrijk
I’ve attended most ACT meetings since the organization was launched by the Big “I” in 1999. I know one thing for sure: People really seem to enjoy each other’s company. There is a great deal of networking among agents, carriers and solution providers.
My other takeaway is: Wow, ACT members care about this distribution channel. The output from these volunteers truly is impressive.
But how can we more widely spread the good news about all the hard work of volunteers? I often wonder what happens when everyone gets back to the office. What gets shared from the meeting, and with whom is it shared? How can ACT do a better job of helping you share information?
Remember ACT’s vision: We seek to foster an Independent Agency System in which stakeholders are fully educated about modern, efficient insurance technology and workflows. Further, stakeholders are motivated to develop their technical and leadership skills, thereby advocating for continuous improvement to the customer experience.
In this vision, you, the active ACT carrier member, are a key “stakeholder.” And to fulfill that mission we must impact more stakeholders who work in business and technology.
Here are a few ideas to educate your peers:
- Do you have an employee portal where you could share ACT updates, information, and action items?
- Do you participate in regularly scheduled information-sharing meetings with a cross-section of departments? There is plenty of material available to equip you to provide an overview of ACT as well as current initiatives.
- Do you forward these ACT e-newsletters to key folks in business and/or technology? If they like what they see they can subscribe themselves?
- Do you educate your field representatives so they can understand what ACT is doing to help the independent agency system and they can share that with their agents?
- Do you share ACT information on your agent-only site and on webinars where you update agents on technology?
- Can you get more engaged in ACT’s social media sites?
- If you haven’t done so yet, could you bring an associate to an upcoming ACT meeting so he or she can see first-hand the value of the information sharing and networking?
What’s worked to spread the good news at your company? We’d love to hear about it and perhaps feature your ideas in an upcoming ACT newsletter. Please write to me at peter@Aartrijk.com.
ACT volunteers are some of the best and brightest – and dedicated – in this industry. Let’s respect them by sharing their work!
Peter van Aartrijk, president and CEO of Aartrijk, chairs ACT’s Communications Workgroup.