Historically, calculating commission payouts to insurance agents has been a massive undertaking. This task became increasingly difficult when more products and additional carriers entered the market and as insurance agency hierarchies and structures became more complex.
Suffice it to say that managing this process by hand takes a lot of time. Beyond that, due to the manual nature of the process, it also lends itself to a lot of error—which can translate into either paying agents less than they’re owed and drawing their ire, or overpaying them and putting a dent in your bottom line.
The good news is that, in the digital age, there is a better way forward. By investing in insurance commission software, managing these payouts becomes significantly easier.
What Is Insurance Commission Software?
As the name suggests, insurance commission software is technology designed specifically to optimize the entire payout process. We’re not talking about a homegrown system that combines spreadsheets and PayPal—we’re talking about a purpose-built solution that makes the process as easy and automatic as possible.
Leading insurance commission software solutions deliver plug-and-play simplicity. Intuitive by design and easy to use, these platforms help insurance managers quickly gain productivity, enabling you to transform your payout processes practically overnight.
What’s more, the right solution also gives you access to robust reporting capabilities. This, in turn, enables you to determine which agents and products have the most impact, which agents might need some additional training, and which products are not hitting the mark with customers.
Problems you’re having with your insurance commission process
Although every insurance agency is different, chances are that your brokerage is struggling with at least one of these problems if you’re still processing payouts the old-fashioned way.
1. Agents aren’t paid on time.
Even the most enthusiastic agent on your team still expects to get paid for their efforts without delay. When you’re processing payouts by hand, there is a high likelihood that agents won’t always be paid on time.
In the best case scenario, this will result in slightly irritated agents who are hounding you about when they can expect payment. But in the worst case scenario, your best agents may choose to get appointed somewhere they will get paid on time.
2. Agents aren’t paid the correct amount.
Because you’re not a machine, you’re bound to make errors when you process commission payouts by hand. As a result, you’ll either end up overpaying or underpaying agents—neither of which is a good look.
To illustrate, imagine if you pay an agent an extra $100 due to an error. The agent will likely be thrilled, perhaps thinking they’ve gotten a bit of a bonus for a job well done. What happens if you are forced to ask for that $100 back? Even though the payment was made in error, the person will still be frustrated that they have to repay the funds, hurting their morale.
3. You are spending too much time calculating commissions.
One of the biggest drawbacks of processing insurance commission payouts by hand is the fact that it takes a ton of time. You’re already busy enough as it is, and all the time you spend processing commissions could be better spent on other important areas of operations.
Insurance commission software solves each of these problems.
With the right insurance commission software solution in place, you can overcome each of these challenges. Not only can this software ensure that every agent gets paid the correct amount on time, but it also can tremendously reduce the amount of time required to process payouts.
All of a sudden, what used to take hours (or even days!) can be accomplished in minutes. As a result, you’re able to reclaim time that you can then invest in other mission-critical initiatives.
Meet Comissio®
We might be a bit biased, but we believe that Comissio’s powerful insurance commission software is the perfect solution for agencies like yours.
As you begin your search for a new solution, you’ll likely have a lot of questions. To increase the chances you make the best decision, check out our Vendor Comparison Guide to learn more about how Comissio can help your agency streamline commission payouts—and increase profitability and productivity along the way.