Why do agencies struggle with all the moving parts of generating sales and customer relations?

David Saric, of Insurance Business, sat down with to Vijay Rengarajan, director of product management, EZLynx, to speak about why agencies struggle with managing all the moving parts included in a sale while maintaining robust customer relations and how EZLynx can help.

Being a broker or owning an agency can come with the struggle of managing both sales and customer relations for a few reasons, according to Vijay Rengarajan (pictured), EZLynx’s director of product management.

“First, the industry is fiercely competitive, making it difficult for agencies to stand out and attract clients, and many of them don’t know where to start or what will make the most significant impact,” he said.

“Second, insurance products are intricate, and they require a deep understanding of regulations, guidelines and risk assessment which takes time and can overwhelm agents.”

Additionally, sales, marketing and customer relationship management can also require robust strategies that can be very resource intensive.

“Many agencies have limited financial resources, manpower, and expertise to invest in these initiatives,” Rengarajan added.

What are agencies looking for to do business better?

Having spoken with various agencies over the years, Rengarajan noted how “we know they want simplified sales processes and workflows that save time and reduce manual tasks. That’s always first for any size company.”

Additionally, they are also looking for intuitive, user-friendly technical solutions to help them succeed at their job. These include:

• Robust customer relationship management features to track interactions and tailor services.
• Effective lead generation tools to identify and capture potential clients.
• Seamless integration with existing systems, such as policy and agency management systems.
• Insightful analytics and reporting capabilities to track sales performance and identify areas for improvement.

Responding to client concerns

Heeding the calls of clients to create more seamless, simplified yet sophisticated tools to augment an agency’s competencies, EZLynx got to work on a UI update to its Sales Center.

“The EZLynx Sales Center update was driven by our recognition of the crucial role effective lead management plays in helping agents grow their business,” Rengarajan said.

“By providing more visibility into the sales pipeline and offering tailor-made tools for lead management, we aimed to enable agents to sell more effectively and close more deals.”

Elsewhere, the EZLynx team wanted to leverage cutting-edge processes so agents could maximize the value of their agency management system at every stage of the customer journey.

1. A modern card-based view tailored for insurance producers
2. The new interface offers ‘drag-and-drop’ functionality, enabling seamless progression of opportunities through the sales pipeline
3. Producers can now customize visible data, including new fields, to refine their sales approach and provide personalized service

EZLynx simplified sales stages with fewer status options, intuitive color coding, and updated terminology to align with producers’ workflow.

The company has also introduced a dedicated area to manage ‘not closed’ opportunities, ensuring no lead goes to waste and allowing for efficient follow-up as X-dates approach.

“These updates empower producers with an intuitive platform designed to maximize efficiency and effectiveness in today’s competitive insurance market,” Rengarajan said.

Complementing the existing functions of the Sales Center

Updating the Sales Center did not come at the expense of its core capabilities, but rather, as a complementary extension attuned to the pulse of agencies’ needs.

“The modernization enhancements have been designed to work with existing functions such as prospecting/lead import and reporting,” Rengarajan said.

“Additionally, we have ensured that communication features like texting and email campaigns within the Sales Center integrate smoothly with the new card view.”

Collaboration features, such as task generation within the agency, continue to function effectively alongside the new enhancements.

It took 15 months from conceptualization to implementation, including six months of discovery to understand user needs, build a strategy, and develop a roadmap, followed by three quarters of product development to bring it to market.

This was followed by an iterative approach that delivered updates to the market every quarter.

“This allowed us to gather feedback from users and make continuous improvements based on their input, ensuring that the final product met their evolving needs and preferences,” Rengarajan said.

Learn more about EZLynx and its reimagined UI here.