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Provide State-of-the-Art Technology Tools
Technology has opened so many doors for businesses. Some of you may not even remember the days when credit cards were not swiped electronically, but rather they were manually imprinted with ink and paper onto carbon tissue paper. That seems so archaic now, doesn’t it? That single technological advancement has changed the way we pay for everything in our daily lives.
Technology is just that important—it can change the way a business is run, almost overnight. I heard a speaker at an event over a decade ago that changed the life of our agency and revolutionized the way we do business. As the speaker was wrapping up his keynote, he made an offer to give away seven free CDs that contained a new piece of software. There was a mad rush to the table (free giveaways seem to have that effect on people). I was one of the lucky seven to receive the software, a program called PaperPort.
That software transformed our business. In fact, it still runs all of our commercial renewals today, and it’s the backbone of our online desktop. We haven’t made a paper file since 2001. It minimizes the amount of paper needed in an otherwise paper-intense business. It also enables me to access my files from anywhere as long as I’ve got an Internet connection. We download information from all of our carriers, and of course, we religiously back it all up on our server using multiple safeguards.
We also invest a lot of time and effort into ensuring that we stay up to date with the latest technology for the team. We have dual monitors at every single desk, scanners at every workstation, and we upgrade our computers every two to three years. We’ve also invested in the newest phone systems with high quality recorded messages that drive people back to our business, and top-of-the-line headsets for every team member—and we upgrade them every few years when new technology comes out.
We give our employees every opportunity to be as efficient as possible so that they can do their job to the best of their ability. Don’t hesitate to invest in technology, because I’ve always found the ROI to be massive. Give people the best tools to do their job, and they will be more motivated to use those tools to excel.
Hope this helps. Now go out and make a difference, be unstoppable and leave no regrets!
What more can we do for you?
Mike Stromsoe
The Unstoppable Profit Producer