Related: Resolutions don't work. Create a business plan instead

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1. Go for the gold

Finding free loot is always a favorite of mine! According to government records, there is $35 billion in unclaimed funds owed to individuals and businesses. You can search for your own personal goldmine at www.unclaimed.org. Type in your company name and you may be surprised at what you find! You can also type your own name in to see if there are unclaimed funds waiting for you.

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2. Show me the money!

How about finding money for your claims organization?

Did you know that 15 percent of all claims are closed with a missed subrogation opportunity?

There are key steps that can be taken to ensure that adjusters are proactively identifying recoveries during the course of the claim. There are also some reactive steps that can be taken by capturing critical data points that have a high probability of identifying these missed opportunities on closed files.

A simple place to start in the auto insurance sector is the identification of paid collision features with no associated property damage payments.

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3. Leverage technology

Did you know that only 3 percent of claims are closed with a comparative negligence assessment?

According to Jury Verdict Reporter, more than half of all claims adjudicated involve intersections, slip and falls, and other scenarios where shared liability is likely to be assessed by a jury.

By leveraging technology and training, organizations can add significantly to their bottom line through improved comparative negligence recognition and assessment.

Related: 3 ways insurers can maximize their digital transformation

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4. Take a chance

How about trying something new?

Take a look at your business processes and figure out what can be done to shake things up. Change is a good thing. Like death and taxes, it is also one of life's only certainties. Even though people are creatures of habit, a little disruption can go a long way towards gaining a competitive advantage. So don't wait for the change; be the change.

Use 2017 as the catalyst to take your claims organization from ordinary to extraordinary. The most successful organizations in any industry are the facilitators of change. As Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) in "Caddyshack" so eloquently put it, "Just be the ball."

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5. Explore social media

Take business networking to a new level. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all great places to leverage for both personal and professional information. Consider these 33 ways to use LinkedIn to grow your business.

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6. Get SMART

Set SMART goals. Metrics need to be defined with the following five aspects:

Specific. Rather than "improve comparative negligence assessments" the goal should be set to a specific outcome such as a 10 percent improvement over a measurable baseline.

Measureable. Organizations must have an objective rather than subjective mechanism for accurately measuring metrics. For example, improve comparative negligence can be quantified by increasing the percentage of claimants against which one is seeking subrogation. Leveraging tools and improved reporting can dramatically help to identify such comparative negligence opportunities.   

Attainable. Goals should be realistic. The industry average rate of comparative assessment is 3 percent. By leveraging key technology, such as ClaimIQ, users typically find attainable results of 15 to 25 percent comparative negligence assessment, depending on jurisdiction and level of expertise. While not suggesting that this is an attainable goal overnight, it is realistic for those who make the decision to leverage proven technology to drive long-term results.

Relevant. Metrics should be relevant to the position. For example, putting salvage disposition in a subrogation adjuster performance evaluation may not be relevant to the job function. This holds true across the claims organization where a myriad of processes are measured. The key to success is to ensure the right metrics are applied to the right positions.

Time bound. Again, specificity is critical to outcomes. Rather than saying we need to reduce bodily injury (BI) severities, it should be phrased that we need to reduce leakage in BI evaluations by the end of the year by a specific percentage. The key to success lies with implementing a method of identifying the leakage through proven medical bill audits and injury evaluation decision support tools that address benchmark medical pricing, relatedness and duration of treatment coupled with deceptive practices such as upcoding, unbundling or modifier abuse, causation, severity, venue specificity and negotiation improvement. 

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7. Follow transformers

Look for others who can show us something we don't already know. Often looking outside of one's industry can provide a wealth of ideas to improve performance. Look to companies such as Samsung, Southwest, Amazon, Verizon, Toyota or Apple to see how these companies have transformed entire industries.

Related: What's on the horizon for P&C insurers in 2017?

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8. Don't try to reinvent the wheel

Of course, once the bar has been raised, it becomes par for the course to emulate success. Certainly copying is a form of flattery and at times it may work, but doesn't it stand to reason that those who have already raised the bar once will simply do it again? So rather than simply playing catch up, take the risks necessary to guide your organization into the lead.

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9. Refine hiring practices

People are the core of any organization — claims or otherwise.

The caveat is that the right people become our greatest assets, the wrong people our greatest challenges.

While people are critical to outcomes, industry supremacy will not come from people alone! The key is to develop critical qualities that define your best and brightest and then use a combination of hiring strategies and personality testing to bring the right people into your organization, and more importantly, retain them.

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10. Process fundamentals

There is a reason that football teams punch the ball up the middle more frequently than any other play; because it works. A quick handoff to the running back is the surest way to get yards. It is not fancy, it is not glamorous, but it works. Sure, teams will mix it up, but at the end of the day it is fundamental strategy that gets the job done.

The same can be said in claims organizations where the basics are often forsaken with the hopes that technology will be the savior. Can technology help? Yes. Can it replace fundamentals? No. It takes a combination of people, processes and technology to drive improved accuracies and outcomes.

Technology improves results based on its execution by personnel. Consider the billions of uncollected dollars as the result of improper liability assessments and missed subrogation opportunities. People need to be the front line; process improvement and efficiency comprise the playbook. Technology will just make them better.

Related: From pessimism to optimism: Keys to achieving success in 2017

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11. Embrace innovation

This becomes the key differentiator among organizations that effectively block and tackle.

Technology allows adjusters to be more productive and efficient, ultimately improving claims accuracies while reducing expenses.

Consider the simple act of reviewing an attorney demand. A well-schooled adjuster may be able to identify deceptive billing practices, such as upcoding or unbundling. But this takes time and adjusters are busy. Leveraging technology to do the heavy lifting such as repricing medical bills, identifying deceptive billing practices and reorganizing demands allows them to more effectively push claims to closure in a shorter period of time.

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12. Keep your eye on the ball

Focus on the important things throughout the year and chances are your results will improve significantly. Distractions in claims organizations abound and too often it's easier to take the path of least resistence — don't fall into that trap.

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13. Have fun

There is nothing worse than an organization that sucks the fun out of life.

At their core, claims organizations provide a difficult working environment. From customers who may not be happy to shareholders demanding better results, it's the claims personnel who often receive their ire. After all, we spend the money.

Creating a positive environment may seem challenging, but with the right team it can be accomplished very effectively.