Every agency has a procedures binder, or a shared drive folder, that was accurate the week it was written. Then a carrier changed its portal, the CSR who knew the workaround left, and the real procedure moved back into one person's head.
SopWow was built first for this work, by the team behind the Uncovered insurance transparency platform. Agency back offices are still where the product goes deepest.
Which agency workflows should you document first?
Start with work that arrives every week, varies by carrier or account, and currently depends on one person's memory. Each item below lists the decision points a useful SOP has to cover, because that is where new staff stall and E&O exposure hides.
- Certificates of insurance. Requests for additional insured status, waiver of subrogation, and primary and noncontributory wording. Decision points: whether the policy already carries the endorsement the holder is asking for, whether that endorsement is blanket or scheduled, who handles a request the policy does not support, and where the holder's contract and the issued certificate get filed.
- Endorsements. Adding a vehicle or driver, changing a mailing or garaging address, adding a location. Decision points: which changes a CSR can submit in the carrier portal and which go to an underwriter, what the carrier needs first (a VIN, a driver's license number, a signed form), and when the premium change needs the client's approval before it is submitted.
- Renewals. Reviewing renewal offers, remarketing, and handling nonrenewals. Decision points: which accounts get remarketed and how far ahead, which carriers fit which classes of business, and what the account manager needs to see before the renewal goes to the client.
- Claims intake. Taking first notice of loss from a client. Decision points: whether the agency reports the claim or the client calls the carrier directly, which carriers take reports in the portal, and what gets noted in the client record.
- New business setup. Creating the client and policy in the agency management system after binding. Decision points: naming conventions, which fields feed downloads and commission tracking, and who checks the entry.
- Cancellations. Client requests, nonpayment, and underwriting cancellations. Decision points: which form or signature the carrier requires, how return premium is tracked, and who else must be told, such as lienholders and certificate holders.
- Carrier portal work. Pulling policy documents, checking billing, running quotes. Decision points: the same task done a different way at each carrier, and the quirks the agency learned the hard way.
For a deeper list with examples by line of business, see the SOP use cases for COIs, endorsements, and renewals.
Why do agencies struggle to keep procedures written down?
The work is not hard to do. It is hard to write down, for reasons specific to agencies.
Carrier-by-carrier variation. An endorsement is not one procedure. It is one procedure per carrier, sometimes per line of business, and carriers redesign their portals without asking. A binder written for one carrier's screens is wrong for the next one and stale for the first one after its next redesign.
CSR turnover. When a CSR leaves, their procedures leave with them. The replacement learns by sitting next to whoever is left, which takes that person off the phones for as long as the training lasts.
The "ask Linda" problem. Every agency has a Linda. She knows which carrier wants the signed form before the driver add, which commercial account needs special certificate wording, and which portal times out halfway through a location change. Linda is not the problem. The problem is that the procedure is Linda, and Linda takes vacations.
Nobody has the afternoon. Writing an SOP by hand takes the most experienced person in the office away from the work only they can do. So it waits until someone quits. For a step-by-step method that works with or without software, read how to document insurance agency workflows.
What does a click log miss in an insurance workflow?
Click loggers write down what you did. SopWow writes down what to do. Here are two illustrative examples. They show the format, not your agency's rules or any carrier's underwriting guidelines.
The first is from a small business insurance application, where the applicant is asked whether clients visit the home.
A click log says:
Select "No, clients do not visit my home" and click Next.
SopWow says:
Indicate whether clients visit the home location. Select No for a home-based business that never hosts customers. Select Yes if clients or vendors ever come to the premises, which adds premises liability exposure. (In this recording: No.)
The second is from a certificate request that asks for additional insured status.
A click log says:
Check "Additional Insured". Click Save.
SopWow says:
Mark additional insured only if the policy already includes an additional insured endorsement that covers this holder, blanket or scheduled. A certificate reports coverage; it does not add it. If the endorsement is not on the policy, stop and send the request to the account manager as an endorsement request. (In this recording: blanket endorsement on the policy, box checked.)
The click log tells a new CSR which box you checked. The procedure tells them how to decide, and what to do when the answer is no.
Where does the decision logic come from?
From you, in a few sentences. After the recording, SopWow asks about the things it could not see: why you picked that option, what happens on the other branch, and what a wrong choice costs. Your answers are folded into the steps.
Anything the AI added that was not directly observed stays flagged until a person keeps or removes it. Nothing is saved, shared, or billed as finished until someone at the agency approves it. On Team and Business plans, the Refine pass adds a glossary for new hires, decision tables, common problems, and a completion checklist.
Why document workflows before an AMS migration?
Because the clicks change at cutover and the decisions do not. Moving to a new agency management system means every screen, field name, and menu changes. What survives is the agency's judgment: how you name accounts, which activities you log, when a renewal gets remarketed, who approves a certificate the policy does not support.
Document those decisions while the people who know them are still around and the old system is still in front of them. After cutover, record the same tasks again in the new system and keep the decision logic. If your current system runs as a desktop application or through remote desktop, the recorder cannot capture it; record the browser parts, such as carrier portals and raters, and add the other steps by hand in review. The full playbook is in how to migrate an agency to a new AMS.
Is there an option for AMS vendors and platforms?
Yes. AMS vendors and platforms that bring many agencies onto their systems can use wholesale onboarding packs, priced per onboarded agency rather than as a separate plan for each one. The terms are set by conversation. Email hello@sopwow.com with the number of agencies you onboard and the systems involved.
How does SopWow handle client and policy data?
It treats client data the way an agency has to, and it does not overclaim.
- Field values are not captured. The recorder stores which field you used, not what you typed into it.
- Redaction runs in the browser first. Data with a recognizable shape, such as Social Security numbers, policy numbers, card numbers, emails, phone numbers, and street addresses, is removed before text is sent to any AI model, export, or sync.
- Screenshots never go to an AI model. They build the visual guide and stay in your workspace. They can still show a named insured or a declarations page, so check them in review.
- A person checks before approval. Redaction is pattern based and can miss a name in free text or an unusual ID format. Every SOP gets a human review, including a redaction check, before it is approved.
What won't SopWow do for an agency?
It only records the browser. Desktop applications, remote desktop and Citrix sessions, and paper steps are not captured. Only the tab showing the REC indicator is recorded, so if a carrier portal opens in a new tab, add those steps by hand in review.
It does not integrate with your systems. SopWow records work done inside browser-based systems such as EZLynx, Applied Epic, AgencyZoom, and carrier portals. It does not connect to them, read their data, or push anything into them.
It is not a compliance tool. SopWow does not certify that a procedure meets any law, regulation, carrier rule, or E&O guideline. It writes down how your agency does the work. Whether that is the right way is still your call.
Product names are trademarks of their owners. SopWow is not affiliated with them.
Frequently asked questions
Does SopWow integrate with our agency management system?
No. SopWow records work done in browser-based systems; it does not connect to them. If your AMS and carrier portals run in Chrome or Edge, the recorder can follow the task. If they run as desktop applications or through remote desktop, those steps are not captured.
Can one SOP cover every carrier?
One recording is one path. SopWow documents the branch points it can ask about, with your recorded choice as the worked example. When carriers use completely different screens for the same task, record a separate SOP for each carrier that matters.
Who should do the recording?
The person who already knows the task. That is usually the most experienced CSR or account manager. They do the task once as they normally would, answer a few questions, and review the draft.
What counts toward our plan?
Only approved SOPs. Drafts, rejected drafts, re-recordings, and edits are free. Pricing is per finished SOP, not per seat, so adding CSRs does not add seat fees.
Can we put the SOPs in our own knowledge base?
Yes. You own your SOPs. Every plan exports a visual guide, a Word document, a print-ready PDF, and clean Markdown built for wikis and AI copilots.
Ready to get your first agency SOP written?
Pick the certificate request or endorsement your newest CSR asks about most, and record it the next time it comes in. Your first 3 SOPs are free, with no card required.