2012 was ORBiT's most successful year to date. We ran our biggest and best Education Days event, and six (6) Working Groups addressed our members' most pressing Real Time issues.  We are now in the process of implementing best practice Real Time Workflows for Electronic Payments and New Business Quote & Bind.

 

The Electronic Payments working group is one step closer to streamlining the transfer of premiums from the Broker's office to a Carrier, improving service to the client and creating efficiencies for all. The group has completed its Best Practice Workflow and business case and had them reviewed by other working groups. After their review, the workflow and business case moved through the vetting process, on to the Road Mapping & Implementation group.

 

The Road Mapping group sent the workflow and business case to carriers and vendors to see if it is consumable. The responses received were positive, so we are now working on securing a pilot with carriers and vendors early in 2013. 

 

The New Business Quote & Bind working group has gone through a similar process.  The group has completed its Best Practice Workflow and business case which moved through the vetting process, on to the Road Mapping & Implementation group and then to carriers and vendors for their IT and business review. The group is now awaiting responses, and after the feedback is received, the Road Mapping & Implementation group will plot the priority to move it along, with the New Business Quote & Bind working group staying involved until the workflow is implemented on brokers' desktops.

 

2013 promises to be even better with EDT & Inquiry, Commercial Lines, Password Management & Digital Client Experience working on development and implementation of their best practice workflows.

ORBiT is now in its 4th year and each year the organization has grown by leaps and bounds. In 2012 alone our membership grew by 20%. More ORBiT members mean a bigger voice for brokers on critical industry issues. It also means more volunteers participating in ORBiT Working Groups, and ultimately, more Real Time workflows being rolled out in the Canadian broker distribution channel.

 

As a young organization, ORBiT is still something of a "best kept secret" in the industry. We would like your help in changing that. If you are a satisfied ORBiT member, we would like you to refer us to others in your network. To encourage you in this, we have launched our Member Referral Program.

 

Here's how it works:

1. Click here to go to ORBiT's website and download our Referral Program form
2. Enter the names and email addresses of the individuals you would like to refer, then email the form to info@orbitcanada.ca    
3. We will send an email to each of those individuals indicating that you referred them to us. The email will include an introduction to ORBiT and information on how to join.
4. As a Thank You, for each individual who becomes a member, we will send you a $25 VISA gift card.

 

ORBiT is very excited about our growing membership. We currently we represent more than 5000 brokers from 100 brokerages, accounting for over $5 billion in premium, as well as 13 companies, 10 vendors and 2 sponsors.

 

Our membership grew by 20% in 2012 and we expect the growth to continue in 2013. We hope our new Member Referral Program will encourage you to share the news about ORBiT with your friends and associates across the industry.