Starkweather & Shepley Uses Sagitta Data to Drive Decisions

Challenge: Turning complex insurance agency information into strategic insight

With 24 practice groups as specialized as dental, marine, and theater and entertainment risk, Starkweather & Shepley can cover nearly any risk their commercial clients have. For agency leaders, that breadth requires accurate data to get insights into what is happening in each part of the business. 

If a practice group is growing, Starkweather & Shepley needs to know whether to give it more attention. If an acquisition brings in new clients, the agency needs to understand the business impact.

Agency Operations Manager Kate O'Toole says her role gives her a special view of what's going on at the agency. She works with departments throughout the business to understand operational needs, connect information across systems, and surface the insights leaders need to make informed decisions. 

To make sense of it all, she often needs customized reports. Out-of-the-box reporting tools don't give the nuance O'Toole is looking for. Starkweather & Shepley needs something that will give them the ability to collect and report on the information that is unique to their agency. 

Solution: Data fuels work for agency leaders and agents

Customized reports deliver the right information

Starkweather & Shepley uses a tech stack built around Vertafore solutions and third-party integrations. The agency relies on Sagitta as an accounting tool and as a central hub for its client and policy data. O'Toole relies on Sagitta to get the detailed information the agency would struggle to find anywhere else. She says Sagitta gives the agency the flexibility to collect the specific information it needs from its business groups and report on anything, even if it comes from a third-party app. 

Starkweather & Shepley can get useful insights and speed up its reporting processes so it can adapt quickly to business opportunities and make smart decisions. O’Toole and other agency leaders can identify the precise business information they need and get reports as needed so the agency can adjust nimbly to changes in their book of business. That might mean increasing marketing efforts, changing producer priorities, or informing acquisition decisions.

"It really drives business decisions, not just internally but how we interact with our clients, too," O'Toole says.

AgencyOne brings work into one connected view

O'Toole says she works to make sure staff have the right information when they need it. While Sagitta helps make agency-specific data usable, staff can use AgencyOne to connect the information to their daily work. 

Dashboards put information in front of users so they can see what matters most to their role and access important tools without spending time navigating programs. "You should not have to jump from one browser to the next browser to keep your workday moving efficiently," O'Toole says.

AgencyOne is connecting Vertafore solutions like Sagitta with other technology the agency uses. For O'Toole, the value of AgencyOne is enhancing users' ability to work more efficiently so they can serve clients better.

Outcomes: Better strategy and a solid foundation for growth

Visibility into the book of business

A common challenge for O'Toole was that coverage lines or client category codes wouldn't make it clear what business group managed certain relationships. O'Toole created custom collection options to capture that information and clarify business relationships. 

Once that custom data is collected, staff can include it in reports. Book-of-business reports now provide the business group information along with the rest of the client and policy data.

The result is a clearer view of where business sits, how each segment of the business is performing, and where the agency should focus next.

Without having the data points in there, I can’t start to make decisions. I can’t start to create strategy around how we keep growing,”

_{Kate O'Toole, Agency Operations Manager}

She says the data Sagitta provides sets the agency up to have great conversations that power their strategy for the future.

More informed action on acquisitions

Starkweather & Shepley often grows through acquisition. In order to see the success of those acquisitions, the agency tracks how they contribute to the business. By adding customized fields in Sagitta for acquired clients, leaders can clearly see the business impacts.

“We can look back and say that book of business came from this acquisition, it gave us X percent of lift, it brought in this much more renewal,” O’Toole says. Those insights allow leadership to evaluate which acquisitions are contributing to long-term growth. “It’s just incredibly valuable because your data tells your story, and accurate data tells the right story.”

A more connected day-to-day experience

With AgencyOne, Starkweather & Shepley is building a more informed way for employees to work. Although Starkweather & Shepley is early in its AgencyOne deployment, O’Toole sees the potential to reduce the time users spend switching between multiple solutions or browser tabs to navigate their work.

Dashboards and widgets are the starting point for organizing their day. Users get a snapshot of the work that matters most, then dive deeper into the system that supports the task.

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