In her Applied Net 2024 session, “Improving Your Agency’s Efficiency and Retention Using Applied Epic Activities,” Kathryn Lerch shared insight on Epic’s suite of tools designed to optimize workflows and automate critical tasks. Read on for tips on utilizing key components such as activity codes, work groups and reports.
ACN: How can I use Epic to improve my agency’s efficiency and retention?
Kathryn Lerch (KL): The key components in Epic that can improve your agency’s efficiency and retention include activity codes, tasks, Work Groups, reports, automated emails and further actions. Activity codes can be customized to trigger specific workflows and tasks, ensuring consistent handling of various client interactions and agency processes. Tasks are essential for managing workflows and ensuring timely completion of important steps. They can be manually added or automatically triggered by specific activity codes, promoting accountability and reducing the risk of errors or oversights. Work Groups enable the organization of activities and tasks by department or function, allowing for centralized management and efficient distribution of work among team members. Epic's reporting capabilities help identify areas for improvement and automate key processes. Examples include the expiration report and policy list report, which can automate various client interactions. Automated emails can be used for purposes such as sending welcome emails and payment reminders. Further actions enable the creation of automated workflows, streamlining processes and ensuring a consistent approach to handling specific tasks.
ACN: What are some of the advantages of using Work Groups?
KL: Work Groups offer several benefits, including the ability to configure specific activity codes for the Work Group, track all service items in a single location even when team members are unavailable and eliminate the need to assign service team members to individual agents or producers (this is great for virtual assistant teams).
To configure Work Groups, go to Configure > Activity > Work Groups. Here you can create Work Groups and manage the users who can access them.
ACN: What are some of the disadvantages of using Work Groups?
KL: While Work Groups provide organizational benefits, some drawbacks include limited visibility, as users outside the group cannot see activities within the Work Group without specific reports. Additionally, there is a lack of individual activity tracking, making it impossible to report on the number of activities pulled by each user within a Work Group. Furthermore, there is inflexibility in task assignment, as tasks cannot be directly assigned to a Work Group.
ACN: How can reports be used to improve agency efficiency?
KL: Reports can be used to automate activities and ensure important processes are not overlooked. For example, the expiration report can be scheduled to run daily and look for policies nearing expiration with specific carriers and then create an activity for renewal verification and payment confirmation. This automation minimizes the need to manually track renewals on carrier websites. The policy list report can trigger follow-up activities for producers after new business is bound. The report can automate client communication, schedule producer follow-ups and prompt cross-selling and referral opportunities.
ACN: What are some examples of automated emails and “further actions”?
KL: The automated welcome email sequence automates client onboarding, providing information and guidance to new customers. Payment reminders are emails sent to clients using “further actions” on an activity a few days before payment due dates to help reduce late payments. Additionally, the new business process involves a series of activities that can be automated using "further actions" to streamline new business onboarding. Once the initial activity is created, subsequent steps are triggered automatically, assigning tasks to specific individuals responsible for different stages of the process.
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