By now we all know that the best way to prevent an errors and omissions claim is to offer clients more insurance. Selling multiple policies to a client is a win-win proposition. When the client buys an additional product, the agent's income and retention increase, and the client is better protected against loss. On the other hand, if the client chooses not to buy the product, the agent still has acted professionally to help the client manage his or her risk. In either case, the agent reduces the odds that the clients will experience an uncovered loss-or that the agent will face an E&O claim because of it.

At a recent E&O continuing education seminar, an instructor asked how many of the participants' agencies conduct annual coverage reviews for their customers. Only one person raised his hand. The instructor repeated the question in case the students were still not fully awake despite their midmorning coffee break. The response was the same. Several participants explained that they didn't have time to conduct coverage reviews because of the hard market and all of the daily customer-service activities required of them. They also noted that attending the E&O seminar took them away from their respective offices, causing them to fall behind even further!

By using technology effectively, agents can make more time for value-added functions, such as client coverage reviews, and eliminate less profitable activities, such as processing direct-bill policy premiums at their offices. (In a future column, I'll tell you how to better deal with direct-bill payments.)