For over seven decades, BKCW has helped thousands of individuals and businesses with property and casualty and employee benefits insurance. BKCW is rooted in Central Texas with clients across dozens of states.
About BKCW Insurance
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Challenge: A growing agency needed its staff in the right seats
Early in his tenure with BKCW, Managing Partner Tyler Spears saw an opportunity to better align work with his team’s strengths. Some account servicers excelled at building relationships or helping clients but needed extra support with the renewal process. With goals to organically grow the agency 10% year over year and increase revenue per employee, Spears wanted a more effective way to allocate work so employees could focus on the areas where they added the most value.
Spears' solution was to implement a “team of teams” approach at the agency, where staff could work together to make sure clients got the service they needed while other staff members could stay focused on moving tasks through important processes. Everyone leaned into their own strengths. That model relied on the team being able to follow clear workflows and quickly communicate what information needed to be handed off.
Enter WorkSmart, Vertafore’s content management and workflow automation software.
Solution: Connected workflows help the team of teams
As Spears pursued his team-based vision for BKCW, WorkSmart helped by connecting with AMS360 and automating workflows. AMS360 serves as the agency’s system of record where all documents are stored and updated, and WorkSmart gives BKCW the ability to create workflows, assign tasks, and pass responsibility to the right people.
“Without WorkSmart, I wouldn't be able to have this team of teams approach,” Spears, managing principal at BKCW, says. “I would not be able to pass work along throughout the process.”
BKCW is also in the early stages of further enhancing its workflows with AgencyOne, Vertafore’s platform that brings together an agency’s team, partners, and trusted Vertafore solutions into one unified experience. “The fact that everything is in one location, one user interface, is really saving a lot of extra steps,” says Lisa Luna, BKCW IT Systems and Training Director.
Outcomes
Standardized workflows improve processes
Before using WorkSmart, different departments and acquired agencies had inconsistent processes. Standardizing workflows throughout the agency gave employees a clearer, repeatable way to work.
Luna says BKCW has been able to make work more consistent and onboard acquired or newly hired employees faster. Before moving to WorkSmart, the agency conducted an audit of its processes to see how well staff used the established workflows. Initial results showed many users scored around 85%. They struggled with complicated workflows or learning new systems, which opened the door for errors or inefficiencies. Using AMS360 and WorkSmart, the agency standardized its processes, simplified its workflows, and overhauled its training program. As a result, audit scores climbed to 95-98%.
Clear handoffs keep complex work moving
At BKCW, the renewal workflow is one of the most demanding processes for staff. It starts 120 days before a policy expires and requires multiple people working on different pieces: ordering loss runs, moving it to a placement coordinator, getting coverage options, and submitting a proposal to the client.
With WorkSmart managing the workflow, there is no guesswork about who needs to handle which part of the process or what is happening at any given time. Each person can complete their part and easily pass responsibility to the next team member while AMS360 maintains the client record and supporting information. BKCW can divide a complex renewal among specialists without relying on someone to manually track where the work stands.
Better efficiency helps increase revenue per employee
BKCW also analyzed how long it took to accomplish specific tasks like endorsements. By using WorkSmart to assign tasks and serve clients faster. The team uses the right people for the tasks, helping BKCW run more efficiently. It also gives visibility into productivity so the agency can grow according to the roles it needs to serve clients better. Spears says the agency aims for 10% growth per year and that it has increased its revenue per employee to $300,000.
“Using AMS360 and WorkSmart together allows us to be better organized, have better task management, better revenue per employee, and provide better service and support to our clients.”
About WorkSmart
WorkSmart is content management and workflow automation software for insurance agencies. It helps agencies centralize documents, automate routine work, route tasks, and gain visibility into their efficiency and bottlenecks in processes.
WorkSmart integrates with AMS360, AgencyOne, and other solutions through APIs. Tasks are handed off in real-time, and documents stay consistent with the information stored in your AMS. The result: Staff can get more done faster, so clients get the service they want.
How BKCW uses WorkSmart
Challenge
Account servicers excelled at client relationships. The agency's leadership wanted to help their staff do the work they were best at and share responsibility over the agency's work.
Solution
With WorkSmart and AMS360, the agency can organize documents, manage workflows, and hand off tasks in real-time so everyone can work together efficiently. The agency is now adopting AgencyOne to unify how staff access their work and solutions.
Outcome
By standardizing and automating workflows, BKCW has seen better adherence to its processes, smoother work hand-offs, and more efficient teams. WorkSmart and AMS360 helped BKCW hit year-over-year growth goals and increase revenue per employee to $300,000.
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Posted October 5, 2026 in Success Stories