Situated in Northeast Ohio, McMichael Insurance is a reputable, family-owned independent agency with a rich history dating back to 1976. Over the decades, the insurance agency has continuously evolved, expanding its clientele to encompass a diverse mix of personal and commercial lines, with 60% of its clients falling under personal lines and 40% under commercial lines. Despite McMichael Insurance Agency’s growth, its unwavering commitment to excellence remains unchanged. The Agency prides itself on delivering the highest standard of personalized service, characterized by professionalism, precision, and genuine warmth in every client interaction.
McMichael Insurance Agency utilizes a diverse tech stack comprising of approximately 25 to 30 different systems which work together to handle various operations. Among these systems are AMS360 and Certificial which need to exchange data to perform the critical task of issuing Certificates of Insurance (COI). Initially, McMichael Insurance CSRs were manually issuing Certificates of Insurance, leading to slow completion times on this task, and an inability to get the Certificat through to the COI holder at speed. Recognizing the inefficiency and potential for errors in this process, the agency sought a solution to automate and simplify certificate issuance while ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the data being pulled from AMS360 into Certificial’s COI platform. This strategic move would empower McMichael Insurance Agency and its CSRs to enhance service delivery to its clients and Certificate Holders, thereby elevating the overall customer experience and fostering greater customer retention.
COI issuance
A substantial portion of McMichael Insurance’s commercial lines business is centered around trucking, frequently resulting in scenarios where drivers urgently need their COI before leaving the loading yard. Through Synatic and Certificial, McMichael Insurance Agency was able to implement a COI solution that enabled McMichael’s CSRs to attend to certificate requests within minutes instead of days, and often without human intervention at all.
Data Cleansing
Nick Baker, Operations Manager at McMichael Insurance, shed light on the agency’s challenges stemming from decades of manually capturing and storing data across various systems. Over time, errors inevitably seeped into their operating systems due to the manual input of policy and client information by agents and admin staff. Consequently, this led to skewed reporting through AMS360 and Agency Zoom, hindered by inaccurate data such as incorrect policy dates, outdated contact details, and improperly completed fields.
Baker emphasized, “Given our heavy reliance on automation, the importance of clean, trustworthy data and accurate contact information cannot be overstated.”
Synatic and Certificial collaborated with McMichael Insurance Agency to seamlessly integrate their AMS with Certificial’s COI Network, streamlining and automating their COI issuance processes. With the newly established integration between the systems, CSRs could effortlessly send certificates to clients and COI Holders as soon as requests came in, eliminating delays.
According to Jen Beach, Senior Operations Manager at McMichael Insurance Agency, “The automation of our COI issuance process by Synatic and Certificial has liberated our CSRs’ time. It has relieved them of the burden of juggling daily operational tasks alongside certificate requests. The integration between AMS360 and Certificial has streamlined the entire process for our frontline CSRs.”
Continuing, Beach said, “To be honest, our CSR team has been with the agency for a long time, and they don’t always readily adopt new technology. However, the seamless integration with AMS360 has been a game-changer. Our team witnessed AMS360 data seamlessly integrating into Certificial, populating all necessary fields. This demonstrated to the team the remarkable cost and time-saving benefits the solution brings.”
What’s more, before McMichael Insurance Agency could fully benefit from the new COI integration, data cleansing within their AMS was imperative. Baker explained, “Synatic successfully cleansed and validated all policy data in AMS360, orchestrating it for optimal operational efficiency across all our systems, including Certificial. Additionally, by streamlining data entry between multiple systems, Synatic and Certificial have eliminated duplicate efforts for our team. This not only enhances efficiency but also minimizes the risk of errors reintroducing themselves into our systems.”
Beach described her experience collaborating with Synatic and Certificial, emphasizing the careful selection of agency champions to oversee the integration project’s certificate and data cleanup aspects. She explained, “Once we identified our agency champions, the solution-building process seamlessly transitioned from project inquiry to implementation.”
Reflecting on his interactions with the Synatic and Certificial team, Baker noted the unique challenges encountered during the data fix phase. Despite the agency’s specific requirements, Synatic and Certificial proved highly accommodating throughout the process. Baker stated, “The Synatic team understood our needs, explored feasibility, and promptly provided viable solutions.”
Beach highlighted the exceptional collaboration with the entire Synatic and Certificial team, saying, “Engaging with all team members was a standout aspect for me. Their clear communication and willingness to make adjustments to meet our requirements made it feel like collaborating with friends.”
"Our initial encounter with Synatic and Certificial came through a trusted agency peer who raved about the exceptional features of their Certificate of Insurance solution. Synatic and Certificial really worked well with us, to meet our very specific requirements," Jen Beach, Senior Operations Manager, McMichael Insurance Agency.
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