The most common technology problem in independent agencies isn't buying the wrong system. It's paying for the right one and using 40% of it.
According to the 2024 Catalyit State of Insurance Technology report, the #1 operational challenge cited by agency owners isn't finding better tools — it's getting value from the tools they already have. The AgentSync survey of 465 agencies puts a harder number on it: 95% of independent agencies run an AMS, but fewer than 40% have configured more than 60% of its available features. That gap — between what you're paying for and what you're actually using — is one of the most consistent profit leaks I've seen across agency operations.
Here's what that looks like in practice. Most AMS configurations I've reviewed can generate renewal notices automatically at 60, 30, and 7 days before expiration. Almost none of them have that feature turned on. Instead, a producer is manually checking a list, or worse, relying on memory. That's 3 to 5 hours a week per producer spent on a task the system was built to eliminate. At a fully-loaded cost of $35/hour for a mid-level producer, that's $5,000 to $9,000 per producer per year — for a configuration change that takes 20 minutes.
The same pattern holds for reporting. Your AMS can almost certainly show you revenue by producer, by line of business, and by carrier — in a single report, in under two minutes. If you're not pulling that report monthly, you're managing a $1M+ business without an instrument panel. The agencies I've seen grow consistently aren't using different systems than the ones that plateau. They're using the same systems differently.
This week, one thing: open your AMS and find the automated notifications settings. If renewal alerts aren't configured for 60, 30, and 7 days, schedule 20 minutes to turn them on. That's the highest-ROI configuration change available to most agencies right now — and it costs nothing but the time to do it.
Tarik Agency Signal · theagencysignal.com
P.S. If you want a complete picture of where your tech stack stands — not just your AMS — the 2025 Agency Tech Audit Checklist covers 32 questions across 6 operational areas. It's free at theagencysignal.com.