Bradley Chesnut

By Agents For Agents, Smart Or Not So Smart?

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When It Comes to Insurance Agency Software Systems, ‘By Agents For Agents’ Is Just a Cliché That Sounds Good But Doesn’t Guarantee Better Results. Here’s Why…

For over 25 years, I’ve worked closely with agencies to help them automate processes and boost staff productivity. During this time, I’ve seen countless insurance agency management software systems come and go. 

One of the first questions you should ask when evaluating a management system is, “Who designed it?”

This question is more important than you might think.

Think about it:

  • Would you trust a homeowner or a professional architect to design your house?
  • If a rocket were being built, would you want an astronaut or a rocket engineer to design it?
  • When building a race car engine, would you rather have a race car driver or a specialized mechanic do the job?

In other words, does it make more sense for the expert engineer or the user of the product to design it?

Here’s the problem: users often don’t know everything that’s required to design a truly efficient system. Let me explain what I mean.

The Agency CSR Is the Smartest User — But They Only Know What They Know

Who truly understands an agency’s management system best?

Without a doubt, it’s the CSR — the Customer Service Representative. They use the system every day to process work, service clients, handle policy changes, endorsements, renewals, and track outstanding issues. No one else in the agency uses the system as intensively or consistently.

It’s not the agency owner. Not the producer. Not the bookkeeper.

It’s the CSR.

Most would agree on this point.

But They Only Know What They Know

While CSRs are the most knowledgeable users of an insurance agency software system, their expertise is limited by the training they’ve received—and that training is usually specific to their agency and the particular system they use.

Let me share an example. Back in 2005, I led a Productivity Workshop for clients of one of the more efficient systems on the market at the time. One agency with 15 users sent 5 of their best CSRs, including their lead CSR, to attend. The plan was for these experienced staff members to learn new strategies and then train the rest of the team.

When they arrived, these CSRs confidently told me they had no idea why their owner sent them—after all, they’d been using the system for seven years and considered themselves highly efficient already. They clearly felt the workshop was unnecessary.

I welcomed their skepticism and invited them to listen with an open mind.

The first half of the workshop passed, and as lunch began, these same 5 CSRs gathered around me—this time with smiles. The lead CSR told me they were already convinced the techniques they’d learned would reduce their workload by at least 10%, and another said it might be even more.

By the end of the day, their confidence had grown—they knew for sure their workload would drop by at least 20% thanks to the new strategies they’d discovered. They were amazed by how much they didn’t know, despite their years of experience.

Now, imagine if these 5 committed but initially unaware CSRs were the ones designing your agency management system. Would it really be optimized to maximize productivity?

Or What If the Agency Owner Designed the System Without Deep Workflow Knowledge?

Imagine if the system was designed by an agency owner who wasn’t deeply involved in workflows and processing work. Think of all the critical details they will be missed simply because they didn’t have the in-depth expertise in workflows and productivity strategies that a specialist consultant brings.

As my experience shows, there’s always more to learn—and that’s why I’ve always said:

“Agency staff only know what they know.”

What they don’t realize they don’t know is often what holds them back. Experienced CSRs may be very skilled in what they do, but they rarely recognize the gaps in their knowledge. There is always more to learn to increase productivity and efficiency.

CSRs and vendor trainers typically lack the extensive background in agency automation, workflows, and productivity strategies that insurance automation consultants possess.

Workflow training and productivity strategies are foundational to insurance automation consulting—that’s where our expertise lies.

Where’s The Disconnect?

To understand why there’s room for improvement in CSR efficiency, consider how most CSRs learn their job:

  1. From existing staff who, in turn, only know what they know—since over 90% learn this way; or
  2. From vendor-provided software training.

The problem is, vendor training never includes workflow or productivity strategy training—it only covers basic product knowledge: how to use system features, nothing more.

This means CSRs rarely learn the finer points of creating a highly productive agency and workflows.

In my extensive work with many management systems, I have never seen one that teaches workflows or productivity strategies.

If your agency wants to master advanced workflows and productivity skills, you must turn to an insurance automation consultant—because this is what we specialize in.

I’ve lost count of how many agencies have told me that when they asked their vendor for workflow help, they were told, “Workflows are up to you.” Vendors just don’t teach it.

Just six months ago, an agency using Epic told me the Applied training team refused to help with workflows, only offering product feature training.

Many agencies have shared that when they asked vendor trainers how to handle day-to-day work like endorsements or renewals, the response was that workflow steps were up to the agency—they only teach how to use system features.

Why Aren’t Workflow-Driven Systems More Common?

Because vendors don’t teach workflows or productivity strategies, they cannot build systems designed to support them.

The result? Feature-driven systems that don’t optimize productivity.

This is exactly why CP Manager is the first truly workflow-driven agency management system. It’s been built and refined by insurance automation consultants who specialize in workflows and productivity.

Otherwise, wouldn’t there already be a workflow-driven system on the market?

The truth is, most new systems on the market merely mimic existing feature-driven products—they lack the expertise to design workflow-centered systems.

CP Manager is not “by agents, for agents.” It’s designed by insurance agency software experts who understand agency workflows and productivity inside and out.

CP Manager: Built by Experts Who Truly Understand Workflows and Productivity

CP Manager was created by highly skilled insurance automation consultants—experts in workflows and productivity strategies who train agency producers and CSRs to become more efficient and effective every day.

‘By Agents, For Agents’ Is Often Just More of the Same

Almost every agency management system on the market today is essentially a copy of existing systems with minor tweaks or added features. For example:

  • One newer system tried to stand out by adding a bunch of social media features—but these didn’t actually help agencies increase productivity or improve client service. As a result, that system is struggling to stay afloat.
  • Another system banked on being low-cost, but without strong commercial lines support, no accounting capabilities, and lots of double entry, it’s also having trouble surviving.

If you look closely, most systems share the same core features: ACORD forms, notes, follow-ups, client records, correspondence, and the like. What they consistently miss are workflows, data integration for true single-entry, and a system layout designed to maximize effectiveness by tightly integrating features into a seamless, productive experience.

Systems designed “by agents for agents” tend to focus on cramming in features they think are necessary, without understanding how to build a workflow-driven, highly productive system. That’s because:

No one has built one before—until now.

Introducing CP Manager: The First True Workflow-Driven System

CP Manager breaks the mold. It’s the first workflow-driven system introduced to an industry that has relied on workflows for over 30 years. It’s about time.

CP Manager is not just another “by agents, for agents” system—and that’s a great thing. Who wants more of the same?

See the Difference for Yourself

If servicing your clients faster, helping your CSRs get more done every day, and growing your book of business efficiently matter to you, you’ll love what CP Manager can do for your agency.

Schedule a walk-through of CP Manager today and discover how a system designed to increase your productivity can transform your agency.

CP Manager Just Keeps Getting Better

CP Manager Just Keeps Getting Better!

It’s been a while since we’ve shared an update—and for good reason. We’ve been busy building one of the most advanced and productive agency management systems on the market.

Since our last “Upgrades” article in 2022, over 300 new features and enhancements have been added to CP Manager, including some major upgrades that agencies are already calling game-changing.

One of the unique advantages of CP Manager is that it was designed by an insurance automation consultant with over 30 years of experience. That means the system isn’t just built for “features”—it’s built for productivity, ease-of-use, and flexibility. And yes, that also means the system is constantly being tweaked, refined, and improved. Our President, Bradley Chesnut, is relentless about making CP Manager more powerful and more intuitive—and the results speak for themselves.

From the very beginning, our mission has been clear:

  • Massively increase agency productivity so staff can get more done in less time.
  • Keep it intuitive and easy-to-learn, so training time is short and adoption is fast.
  • Support any agency business model—from centralized office teams to fully remote CSRs.
  • Empower producers to work from anywhere, whether they’re in the office, at a client’s business, or meeting prospects in a coffee shop.

CP Manager was also designed to scale. Whether you’re a small agency or a large firm processing thousands of transactions daily, the system includes powerful search and navigation tools that help staff find exactly what they need, instantly—whether that’s a note, attachment, policy, or client record.

And we’ve proven it. One of our largest agencies, with over 80 users across multiple locations, put CP Manager to the test. Their verdict?

  • Client, policy, and task entry: shockingly fast and single-entry simple.
  • Daily workflows: “mind-blowingly easy and efficient.”
  • Multi-agency management: robust enough to handle complex operations.

To support their heavy accounting needs, we took CP Manager’s already strong tools and made them even better. For example, direct bill commission statements that used to run 6, 8—even 10 pages—are now reconciled faster than ever, with fewer clicks and smarter workflows. This is because of the first new major enhancement we'll be telling you about.

Our philosophy has always been the same: every second saved is more time your staff can spend serving clients and growing your agency. That’s why every enhancement we roll out is focused on one thing—making your work faster, easier, and more profitable.

Introducing the DB Commission Management feature...

DB Commission Management Window

With this new feature we streamlined the DB commission management process dropping the time taking to handle this process by a good 40% with many page commission statements. It's one window where you can do everything needed to reconcile and process your DB commission statements. (Click on images to see it bigger).

This is simply a remarkable new feature. 

To enhance this new feature we created a faster way to create B-Trans on the fly...

Quick B-Tran

When you click the button a window pops up to choose the Client & Policy the B-Tran is being attached to. You can either first select the client and then select from that clients policies, or you can just enter the policy number which auto-selects the client...

If you have the policy number, it's just one step to start the process of creating the new Quick B-Tran.

We also give you the ability to select a history policy which is important for audits and doing a B-Tran for the previous policy term. The B-Tran is tied to the policy term.

You're then taken to the Quick B-Tran Window... (2 images to show)

In the images, the fields not pointed out auto-fill. You can see which can be edited.

The fields with an arrow pointing to it you'll either select from a pull-down selection window, edit the field or click the button.

The field where we added, "*Auto-Filled" (with asterisk), it's auto-populated when you select the producer with their default commission % but you can override this field.

You can add multiple producers to this B-Tran.

This B-Tran, if Posted, will now show up on the grid to be included in the reconciliation of the commission statement!

The large agency owners and staff are in pure "awe" of these new features!

Other Features We've Added

Commission Downloading

We also added Commission Downloading which is another major time saving feature in CP Manager. At this point there are now 3 different ways a B-Tran can be created...

  1. Manually (MAN)
  2. Policy Download (PD): Optional. If selected, can choose to include Producer commissions (uses their default commission %)
  3. Commission Download (CDL). Can choose to include Producer commissions (uses their default commission %)

To go with Commission Downloading we also include the Commission Download log & a Commission Download Orphan window.

Premium Financing

We now offer 3 ways to handle Premium Financed policies...

  1. Premium Finance Company Pays Carrier Directly
  2. Agency Collects Premium Finance Amount From The Premium Finance Company & Sends To Carrier
  3. Client Sends Full Amount to Premium Finance Company, Premium Finance Company sends Commission to Agency.

Each is handled differently in an accounting system so we created routines to support each.

Producer Chargebacks

We added a process to handle Producer Chargebacks where the accounting only affects the producer and not the agency. This is very different than a Cancellation where it subtracts the Premium, does an agency commission chargeback and a producer commission charge back.

This special producer chargeback feature only affects the producers commissions!

Increasing Productivity

The last thing I want to share (I find most people don't read huge lists of enhancement updates) is we continued to add more features to increase your productivity and make doing your job easier. Hundreds of little changes throughout the system will allow you to further increase your productivity.

If there's one thing Mr. Chesnut is absolutely 100% committed to, it's helping agencies to have a highly productive and efficient agency!

Check out CP Manager. Believe me, you'll be really glad you did.

Pros and Cons of Management Systems

management systems

Pros and Cons of Management Systems for Insurance Agencies

Technology has transformed how insurance agencies operate, and at the heart of this transformation are management systems. The right system can streamline operations, improve client relationships, and increase profitability. But as with any major business decision, there are both pros and cons to consider.

The Pros of Management Systems

1. Simplicity and Organization
Management systems centralize client, policy, carrier, and accounting information. Instead of juggling spreadsheets, sticky notes, or multiple disconnected programs, everything your team needs is in one place. This reduces wasted time and makes serving clients faster and easier.

2. Improved Marketing and Client Communication
Strong client relationships are built on consistent communication. Management systems allow agencies to automate routine messages—renewal reminders, policy updates, birthday greetings—while also supporting more personalized outreach. This helps you retain more clients while creating opportunities for cross-selling.

3. Increased Productivity and Profitability
Your staff’s time is your largest expense. The more efficiently they can process renewals, endorsements, claims, and other policy tasks the more clients they can serve without adding more payroll. A good management system eliminates double entry, speeds up workflows, and allows CSRs and producers to focus on revenue-generating activities instead of fighting with outdated software.

4. Smarter Cross-Selling Opportunities
Because client and policy data is organized in one system, management systems make it easy to identify coverage gaps. This makes cross-selling simpler, giving your agency a predictable way to grow revenue without needing new leads.

5. Better Decision-Making
With dashboards, reports, and analytics built in, management systems provide insights into productivity, book of business mix, and profitability. This visibility allows owners to make smarter decisions for growth and resource allocation.

The Cons of Management Systems

While the benefits are clear, it’s also important to acknowledge potential challenges:

  • Poor Vendor Support: If the vendor isn’t responsive or helpful, implementation and ongoing use can be frustrating.
  • Complexity of Bad Systems: Not all management systems are designed with ease of use in mind. A clunky, hard-to-learn system can slow staff down instead of speeding them up. Hard to use systems also make it time-consuming to hire and train new staff.
  • Data Conversion Challenges: Moving data from your old system can be stressful if not managed properly. This is why choosing a vendor with experience and a proven process is critical.

In short: the “con” isn’t in using a management system—it’s in using the wrong one.

Choosing the Right Management System

The best management systems are built specifically for insurance agencies. They combine ease-of-use, single-entry workflows, strong commercial and personal lines management, accounting, and downloads—all designed to maximize productivity.

That’s why we built CP Manager. With over 30 years of experience in insurance automation, we engineered CP Manager from the ground up to eliminate inefficiencies, streamline workflows, and help agencies increase profitability—without the headaches most systems create.

Schedule a Walk-Through Today

The Foundation To CP Manager

The Foundation To CP Manager

The foundation to CP Manager's design was based upon workflows and productivity strategies. This is why it took over 10 years to develop instead of the typical 1-1.5 years for feature driven systems.

When faced with an economy like we are today, nothing will do more to help you survive it than increasing the productivity of your staff! This is because...

Increased productivity equals increased profitability."

Watch video to learn more...

Click the following video to learn more...

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We Know The Value – No Agency Left Behind

No Agency Left Behind: Why CP Manager Delivers Premium Value Without the Premium Price

As an insurance automation consultant, I’ve seen it countless times: small agencies on tight budgets need a productive system even more than large agencies do.

But too often, they’ve been forced to settle for a system that fits their budget instead of one that actually fits their needs.

That stops here.

We know exactly what CP Manager is worth. It should be priced alongside the most expensive systems on the market.

But we also know what agencies really need — and we refuse to let price be the barrier. That’s why we’ve adopted a simple philosophy: No Agency Left Behind.

Why High-End Systems Cost More — and Why CP Manager Gives You the Same (or Better)

After decades of reviewing systems, I’ve seen the differences that separate low-cost systems from higher-end ones. The biggest areas?

1. True Single-Entry Workflows

Cheap systems have a lot of double- or triple-entry. Higher-end systems spend more time (and money) mapping fields so data flows everywhere it needs to go.

CP Manager is one of the most single-entry systems ever designed. Enter data once, and it’s instantly available wherever you need it. That’s hours saved every week.

2. Commercial Lines Powerhouse

Handling complex commercial policies with multiple sections, drivers, vehicles, and schedules is where most systems simply break down.

When CP Manager was designed we knew the complexity of the Commercial Lines package policy. This is why we started with commercial lines when we wrote the policy side of CP Manager.

Monoline policies is easy. Commercial package policies are a whole other ballgame!

3. Insurance-Specific Accounting

General accounting tools like QuickBooks can’t handle commission reconciliation, trust transactions, return premiums, or carrier sweeps.

CP Manager’s accounting was designed by one of the top insurance accounting experts in the industry. Today, we offer full sub-ledger accounting and will expand to full accounting in our upcoming release. Either way, you get accuracy you can rely on.

The Value We Built In

The truth is, CP Manager should cost what the “big-name” systems do...

... It’s the first workflow-driven system in this industry.

... It re-engineers client and policy management from the ground up.

... It’s packed with exclusive, time-saving features.

... And it delivers the highest ROI of any system because of how much more productive your staff will be.

By every measure, it’s a premium system.

Why We Priced It Differently

But here’s the difference:

  • Small agencies shouldn’t be locked out of productivity because of price.
  • Large agencies shouldn’t overpay and still be stuck with inefficiencies.
  • Growing agencies shouldn’t face costly conversions and steep learning curves when they’re ready to scale.

That’s why CP Manager is priced so that any agency, regardless of size, can afford it.

No Agency Left Behind

We know what we built. 

We know the value. 

And we know the impact it can have on your productivity and profitability.

We also know the industry needs a new standard — where every agency has access to the tools that let them compete and thrive.

That’s why we took the posture of No Agency Left Behind.

And it’s why agencies of every size are saying the same thing: CP Manager is going to revolutionize insurance automation.

The Productivity Driven AMS Vs Feature Driven

Productivity Driven Agency Management Systems Vs Feature Driven

Insurance Agencies Have Always Been Workflow Driven

Insurance agencies don’t operate in features. They operate in workflows.

Every day is driven by renewals, endorsements, new business, claims, follow-ups, carrier interactions, and work-in-progress that must move forward without slipping.

For decades, agencies have been forced to adapt those workflows to feature-driven management systems — relying on workarounds, memory, and personal processes just to keep work moving.

That mismatch quietly caps productivity.

CP Manager was designed from the opposite starting point.

After decades of working inside agencies and helping them work around the limitations of traditional systems, CP Manager was built as a workflow-driven management system — designed to align the software to how agency work actually flows.

When the system matches the workflow, productivity stops being forced. It becomes an intregal part of the system.

Why Has It Taken This Long For A Productivity, Workflow Driven System To Be Released?

There are two key reasons why it's taken so long...

First...

Programmers are only trained to design feature-driven systems... There is no blueprint or training on how to build a productivity-focused, workflow-driven system.

Second...

Until now, there hasn't been anyone with the key skill sets needed to design one... 

  • An extensive background in agency automation and management systems, 
  • A programmer who understands database structures and relational databases, and 
  • Being an expert in workflows and productivity strategies.

While everyone in the industry knew the insurance industry was workflow driven, knowing how to build a workflow productivity-driven system wasn't something they knew how to do.

Instead, vendors created checklists of what an agency management system “needed”—notes, follow-ups, attachments, accounting, etc.—and then set out to plug those features into a client record. This is how pretty much all database programs are created and why they're called "feature-driven".

It’s a straightforward approach, which is why feature-driven systems can often be built and released in just one to two years. Most start with personal lines, sometimes adding a basic version of commercial lines later.

The result?

A system with lots of features on paper, but in practice…

  • Double-entry everywhere
  • Weak commercial lines management
  • Minimal workflow support
  • Little impact on real productivity

That’s why, despite having more than 30 agency management system options on the market today, many agencies still feel stuck using systems that don’t meaningfully make daily work faster or easier.

The Birth of Productivity Driven Systems

The idea behind a productivity-driven agency management system is fundamentally different. Instead of starting with a list of features, you start with workflows—the actual step-by-step processes agency staff perform every day, such as renewals, endorsements, cancellations, and claims.

When building a productivity driven system the approach is completely different.

Rather than listing all of the features needed you instead map out the workflow steps for handling policy tasks and all of the actions/steps involved in the task.

For example, processing an endorsement is very different depending on:

  • Whether you’re downloading from the carrier or not.
  • Whether you have binding authority.
  • Which line of business you’re working with.

Each of those differences changes the workflow. And each workflow step defines what features are actually needed—and how they should function to be more productive.

This workflow-first approach ensures that every feature exists for a reason: to make the CSR’s job faster, easier, and more accurate.

Why Table Structures Matter

As an insurance automation consultant, I’ve seen firsthand how important database table structures are. They determine whether your system can be single-entry, whether workflows can be streamlined, and how data flows between modules.

For years, when I suggested improvements to other vendors, I’d hear:

“Our table structures won’t support that.”

That’s why CP Manager was blueprinted and designed from the ground up—with workflow, single-entry, and productivity baked into its DNA. Before a single line of code was written, I spent 18 months mapping out every workflow, task, and data flow. It was grueling—but necessary to avoid the limitations that have plagued every other agency management system.

Blue-printing a productivity driven system is based upon how an agency would use the system step by step, policy task by policy task (ie, Renewal, Endorsement, Cancellation, Claim, etc.), and what work the agency staff needed to stay on top of so things don't slip through their fingers.

Re-Engineering the Core To An Agency Management System

Because CP Manager was designed as a productivity-driven system, nearly every “standard” feature had to be completely re-engineered:

  • Notes, Follow-Ups, Attachments, Correspondence → tightly integrated and streamlined, and to more effectively support CSRs processing their work.
  • Client Management → designed for speed and single-entry.
  • Policy Management → rebuilt for both personal and commercial lines, with CL as the foundation. Complex package policies are a breeze in CP Manager.
  • Renewals, Endorsements, and Claims → workflow-driven with the right features to process the task.
  • Accounting → insurance-specific, intuitive, and built around productivity with a lot of business logic behind the scenes to better automate accounting tasks and make it push-button easy.
  • New Innovations → over 30 features never seen before in an agency management system.

The result?

Not only are agencies calling CP Manager “the most insurance-specific system they’ve ever used,” they're ecstatic with the huge drops in their workload because of the huge increase in their productivity.

Why All Of This Matters to Your Agency

The way your management system is designed quietly determines how much work your agency can realistically handle — regardless of how experienced or motivated your staff may be.

When a system is feature-driven, productivity gains depend on people working around the software. Over time, that creates friction: more steps, more windows, more mental tracking, and more reliance on individual memory to keep work moving. As volume increases, those small inefficiencies compound.

That’s when agencies begin to feel stretched even though everyone is working hard.

A workflow-driven system changes that dynamic.

When the system is designed to follow how work actually flows through an agency, productivity is no longer dependent on workarounds or hero effort.

Work-in-progress becomes visible.
Tasks stay connected.
Processes feel more natural instead of forced.

The result isn’t just speed — it’s the amount of work each CSR can handle each day.

Agencies gain the ability to handle more business without automatically adding staff, increasing stress, or losing control over daily operations. Decisions about hiring, growth, and service become intentional instead of reactive.

This distinction matters because productivity ceilings don’t announce themselves.
They show up as pressure, backlog, and the sense that “we’re busy, but not getting ahead.”

Understanding whether your system is helping or quietly limiting your agency is the first step toward changing that.

The Last True Design Change Was In the 1980's

Over the past 40 years, numerous vendors have said they were the next evolution in agency management systems. What constitutes being a "new evolution"?

Changing the programming environment from DOS to windows? Windows to browser-based?

No, those are just changing the environment they operate under. Their layout, structure and how you do your work stayed the same.

The last time there was a major change, a new evolution in agency management systems was in the 1980's when they went from being accounting based to being client-policy driven.

That is until now with CP Manager going from feature-driven to being workflow-driven.

With CP Manager, agencies are reporting faster processing, far less double entry, and smoother daily operations. The system is still feature-rich to support workflows and increasing your productivity. More importantly, it’s built to make agencies more productive and profitable.

Ready to See It in Action?

Don’t settle for another feature-driven agency management system that slows your staff down. Experience the first productivity driven agency management system and see the difference for yourself.

👉 Schedule a Walk-Through of CP Manager

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