Producer Contracting

Challenges

Adding new licensed producers is a key part of your growth strategy. And contracting with those producers is a necessary, but often dreaded, part of the process. The redlining, the signatures, contract versions, back-and-forth between producers, management, and the legal team: It’s no wonder contracts are a major headache for most carriers and agencies. 

Unfortunately, the more times someone is required to touch the paperwork—even digitally—the more likely it is to slip down the list of priorities.

As you plan for producer contracting, think about where and how technology can make your life, and your new producers’ lives, easier. If your current producer lifecycle management software does not have contracts integrated into the system, this is a major area of focus where you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck. 

Best Practices

When your producer compliance management system has electronic contracts and signatures built right into the workflow, producer contracting is almost “set it and forget it.” 

If you don’t already have a standardized process for producer contracting, start there. Creating and using a standard contract also reduces liability and time spent throughout the producer contracting process. Ensure your legal team, along with all other internal stakeholders, has reviewed the contract before the first version is sent to a new producer. Consider anticipating variations and having some degree of prepped verbiage for those agreements that demand customization.

With your standard contract in place and approved by all necessary parties, use an electronic contract tool to send the contract to each person who needs to sign it. Most e-signature platforms track changes through the negotiation process for approval or rejection. You’ll get even more efficiency gains if the contract software is integrated with your producer compliance software to automate tasks and reminders without needing to duplicate work in different systems.