Vertafore Insurance Podcast Vertafore

Mikaela Dittbrenner, Vertafore's Agency Demand Generation Marketing Manager, brings a diverse background in lead generation, campaign marketing and conversion path optimization for both B2B and B2C programs.  Her relentless drive to boost demand generation and amplify brand visibility through strategic initiatives has propelled Vertafore's Agency Marketing presence to new heights within the industry.
Listen in as Mikaela talks about:
Her Journey through her marketing career and how she landed at Vertafore
What suprised her the most about the insurance industry
What demand generation marketing is and why it is so important
The importance of having good culture
How to use demand generation marketing strategies to gather more opportunities for your sales team
How to deploy a solid marketing campaign in your agency
What is on the horizon for the Vertafore Demand Generation team through 2024.

Navigating this hard market takes extreme intentionality. Prioritizing mental health and having a great culture in your organization are just as important as having a solid foundation of process and procedure in your agency. Both lead to finding success in these times and today we have 2 great guests to talk more about this. Scott Howell is more than an insurance agent; he’s an educator, a thought leader, and a trusted advisor. His dedication to the industry and his clients is unmatched, making him a true “insurance guy” in every sense of the word. Scott is owner of iprotect Insurance and financial services and the co-host of the Insurance Guys Podcast. The podcast has become a go-to resource for insurance agents seeking guidance on everything from sales and hiring to the day-to-day operations of running a successful agency. Kenneth Williamson is the Director of Operations at Portal Insurance. He is a breath of fresh air as a voice in our industry. He leads his team with compassion and intentionality. 
Listen in on this conversation as they talk about:Scott Howell and the Insurance Guys Podcast as they celebrate 1 million downloads and what that means to himScott Howell and Kenneth Williamson as they introduce themselves to the audience The importance of having a good culture in your agency and leading with compassion and mindfulnessKenneth's approach to managing a service team during the hard marketScott discusses his agency's tech stack, and how important it to the success of his agencyHow important it is to have a solid foundation build on solid processes and proceduresThe creation of their new company Mind Your Agency, and how it came to be.
You may want to bookmark this one

Alexis Cierra Vaughn was recently named "Women to Watch in InsurTech 2023', "Insurance Business America" as one of the top 85 trailblazing Elite Women in Insurance for 2022", Litghitco named her a top "Influencer" on the "Top 100 Insurance Innovators" list & ACORD and Alchemy Crew named her "Top 14 Global InsurTech Leaders of 2022 Globally.”  
In other words, if you want a guide to identifying the right insurtech partner, start here.  
Meet Alexis and learn: 
how she grew Cowbell Cyber agency appointments from a few hundred to 23,000
the genesis and early successes of her new consulting company, off-course
the difference between a great insurtech CEO and an ego-driven one
bleeding-edge technologies to consider when building your tech stack
questions to ask in your insurtech interview process 

Scott Knowles is a serial entrepreneur in the Insur-Tech industry, recognized for his innovative contributions as the CEO and Co-Founder of Loss Scan. Scott has been instrumental in developing Loss Scan’s one-click tool that imports and extracts detailed information from loss-runs, eliminating manual processes and saving time for carriers and agents, His deep understanding of the insurance industry has allowed him to create technology that not only solves problems but also enhances human capabilities. Loss Scan was created, not to replace humans but to improve and enhance what they are doing. He wanted to provide a tool that could handle the tedious work of data extraction, so his clients could concentrate on interpreting the data and making informed decisions. Loss Scan, has since become a game-changer in the insurance technology space, demonstrating the limitless potential of AI in enhancing human capabilities.
Listen in as Scott talks about:
His journey from his first successful start-up in Modgic to co-founding Lossscan
How he came to the idea of Lossscan
The importance of the technology behind Lossscan Various use cases for the technology
Artificial Intelligence and how he is taking advantage of it to enhance the customer journey
A data-driven , AI powered approach to underwriting
The creation of Lossscan was not to replace humans but to enhance their capabilities.
You may want to bookmark this one, there is a lot of information in this episode.

Andrew Filar is the CEO and Managing Partner of Peachy Insurance, the fastest growing Allstate agency in the U.S. Andrew is focused on building the best team in the insurance industry. He has acquired seven Allstate agencies and has organically grown them from $0 to $36,000,000 in annual premiums in just 5 years. Additionally, Andrew is involved with Next Call Club, where he helps businesses turn cold leads into warm leads, close more clients, and improve ROI through effective outbound calling.
Listen in as Andrew talks about:
His journey and how he got to be the fastest-growing Allstate agencyHis training for unlicensed callers, and the steps to take before passing them to a licensed sales agentA live role-play with Heath to demonstrate an outbound call processThe importance of understanding the client journey and the tools he uses for follow-upThe lead scoring model and how he optimizes his process using this model qualification and verification for lead sources A data-driven approach to not only optimize the funnel but also leverage the digital footprintA closer look at how the cost moves through the process as opposed to the sticker priceA playbook for implementing an outbound calling strategy in your agency
The myth that online leads don’t stick around and how he shares his retention rate to respond to the judgmental biasNext Call Club works and how to learn more about the service.

The highlighted main stage session on Wednesday was a panel discussion led by Vertafore’s CFO, Teresa Chia. We dove into topics that ranged from the current state of the market for independent agents, carriers, and MGA’s to current technology trends such as Artificial Intelligence. Let’s just say….there weren’t any quiet moments!Hear the leaders below challenge each other and the industry:
Charles Symington, CEO of Big I
Bobby Reagan, Executive Chairman of Reagan Consulting
Stephanie Bush, Former Head of Small Commercial & Personal Lines at The Hartford
Drew Aldrich, Managing Partner at Viewpoint