Preparing For Technological Change

Sep 9, 2021, 2:08 PM

One of the things I like about TV these days is how few commercials there are. Once in a while an ad will play while I’m watching a video or before I listen to a song on a streaming radio station, but it’s usually only 30 seconds to a minute before the show or song returns. A lot of the time, I can even skip an ad after just the first few moments.

But I remember when that wasn’t the case, when I had to sit through 3 to 4 minutes of ads before getting back to my cartoon or whatever it was that I was watching. It’s amusing to watch my son get annoyed with a single ad disrupting his show; if he only knew how long I had to wait through a commercial break to find out how Batman was going to solve his latest problem!

I remember those days, but I don’t want to get back to them; adjusting to new technology like streaming TV services is easy when I understand the benefits.

New technology

Changing the way you work to allow for new technology is the same in a lot of ways. At Hastings Mutual, we’re making some changes to improve our processes. It’s behind-the-scenes stuff that mostly helps your local independent insurance agent work more efficiently and get things accomplished more quickly.
We have been telling agents and our own employees about these changes for months and even years. We are trying to be as helpful as possible, answering questions at our help desk and posting how-to documents and videos on our website. We have staff in constant communication with our agency partners to address their concerns and provide direction.  

We’re doing all that to help people with the transition, the change from the way they’re used to doing things when they work with Hastings Mutual. You’ve probably experienced it yourself; even if a new process is better, you have a routine in place, and you know what to do to get your task accomplished using the current process. So making that change is sometimes hard to get used to.

Be informative

Here's a little advice from us at Hastings Mutual: be informative. Tell people what is changing and how it affects them. This isn’t necessarily why the change is being made (maybe it’s for technical reasons or because the people in charge want to go in a different direction, which doesn’t affect your end users). It’s how the change is going to make things better for your audience.

As I said before, we’re making changes to make our processes better. But you could also say that a change is being made in response to constructive criticism from a customer. Or you could say a change is preparing the company for the next 10 years, to be better positioned to help into the future.

With a little creative thinking you can even “spin” something negative into a positive: for example, “Yes, prices are going up — slightly — but that will help us get the resources we need to continue providing great service, and it doesn’t affect what you really come to our business for… our products.”

Change can be difficult and frustrating, but usually when a business makes a change it is for the better. Look for information from the business and contact them if you have a question.

What do you do when you know a technology change is coming?

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