Pick Your Perfect VE: How Farmers Agents Are Using Virtual Employees to Scale Faster
In this session, Jason Cass, CEO of Virtual Intelligence and owner of The Insurance Alliance, joined Farmers agent Trisha Roberts and VI Head of Sales, Athena Page, to break down exactly how Farmers agents can hire, onboard, and fully integrate a VE into their agency. The theme was fun and light, but the strategy was practical. This was a step by step breakdown of how high quality VEs help agencies operate with more efficiency, less stress, and stronger retention.
This session was not about outsourcing. It was about building real team capacity.
The Big Shift: VEs Are Not Assistants, They Are Employees
Jason opened with a reality that surprised many attendees. At VI, virtual employees are not treated as assistants. They are trained and integrated as full team members.
In his own agency, four VEs complete more than 80 percent of monthly tasks, including COIs, billing follow ups, quoting preparation, renewal outreach, documentation, and many other service responsibilities. They attend every sales meeting, every service meeting, and every growth meeting.
The reason is simple. Most of the daily workload in an agency does not require a license. When someone is trained and supported correctly, they can handle a large portion of the tasks that slow licensed producers down.
Understanding the Five Core Tasks That Dominate Every Agency
Regardless of size or model, every agency lives inside five major categories of work:
- COI’s
- Quoting
- Renewals
- Billing
- Endorsements
Jason explained that these tasks make up more than half of what every agency touches daily. Most do not require a licensed rep. This is where a VE becomes invaluable. With the right training plan, a VE can manage a significant portion of this workload so licensed staff can focus on conversations, coverages, and client experience.
Fresh Picks: How VI Selects High Quality Talent
Athena walked attendees through the most important differentiator in the VE hiring world. Quality.
VI receives over one thousand applicants monthly. Only three or four make it into the candidate portal. The screening process includes:
- C1 level English proficiency
- Multiple interviews with HR and managing directors
- Skills testing
- Time management and attention to detail assessments
- Personality and problem solving evaluations
- Verification of experience working with US customers
By the time an agency sees a candidate, VI has already filtered out ninety-nine percent.
This ensures stronger communication, better long term retention, and a higher success rate once they join an agency.
Farmers agent Trisha Roberts shared that she hired her VE after watching the initial interview recording inside the portal because the quality was so strong. Her VE, Selena, quickly became a key part of her team.
From Prep to Plate: The Eight Week Training Process
Most VE companies provide one to three weeks of basic training. VI’s onboarding is eight full weeks.
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Weeks 1 to 2
The VE learns agency language, insurance fundamentals, more than 180 industry terms, and common workflows. They enter the agency at a basic operational level rather than starting from zero.
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Weeks 3 to 4
The VE trains directly on your agency’s SOPs. If you do not have SOPs, VI helps you build them. Whether it is quoting, renewals, billing, or service processes, training is customized to the way your agency works.
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Weeks 5 to 8
The VE enters your agency, but the VI trainer stays with them daily. The trainer validates accuracy, reviews task performance, checks comprehension, and ensures the VE is following your processes correctly.
This prevents the classic problem of an agency throwing a new hire into the deep end before they are ready.
Trisha shared that her VE became independently productive within two weeks of joining her agency. Renewal calls, follow ups, and scheduling became consistent, and her overall cancellation count dropped significantly.
What VE’s Can and Cannot Do
Farmers agents asked many questions about compliance. Jason and Trisha clarified three key rules:
A VE cannot:
- Bind coverage
- Submit changes
- Explain coverage
A VE can:
- Gather information
- Prepare quotes
- Update systems
- Process billing tasks
- Prepare endorsement details
- Build documentation
- Handle COIs when no coverage changes are required
- Complete service tickets for licensed review
This division of labor allows licensed team members to protect compliance while VEs complete the majority of the work surrounding each task.
Freshness Guaranteed: Security, Monitoring, and Support
Security was a major focus for the Farmers audience. VI addresses this through:
- Lightspeed Solutions security and device lockdown
- Tech support for both software and hardware
- Insightful performance monitoring
- Device usage reports
- Productivity tracking
- Daily login, logout, and break reporting
Instead of relying on simple screen monitoring tools, VI provides a full compliance and protection structure for agencies that want clarity and confidence while working with remote employees.
Always in Season: Ongoing Training and the VI University
Every VE and every agency gets access to VI’s learning management system, complete with:
- More than 400 on demand videos
- Agency Zoom training
- COI workflows
- Billing processes
- Commercial lines fundamentals
- Task management lessons
- Service workflow guides
This allows continuous improvement long after the VE is placed. Agencies can even use the LMS for their licensed employees.
Trisha shared that her VE used the LMS and Farmers University resources together, which accelerated her training even further.
Why This Matters for Farmers Agents
Farmers agents on the call were candid. Renewals were piling up. Retention was slipping. Licensed staff were overwhelmed. Customer expectations were rising. And some tasks simply were not getting done.
Virtual employees help solve that by:
- Reducing cancellations and increasing survival rates
- Clearing backlogs of renewals
- Improving response times
- Allowing licensed staff to do higher value work
- Strengthening customer experience
- Stabilizing service during growth
- Supporting agency KPIs
- Creating capacity without increasing licensed payroll
Farmers opening the door for VEs is a major step forward, and agencies are already seeing measurable improvements.
Key Takeaways
- VEs are not assistants. They are fully integrated employees.
- Most agency tasks do not require a license and can be delegated.
- Quality screening is essential for long term success.
- An eight week training process leads to faster independence.
- Security and compliance structures must be strong.
- Continuous training improves skill, accuracy, and retention.
- VEs help licensed agents stay focused on revenue and relationships.
Ready to Pick Your Perfect VE?
Whether you need help with renewals, billing, service tasks, quoting prep, or full workflow support, a VE can immediately create space for your team to breathe.
Virtual Intelligence provides high quality candidates, full training, strong security, and hands on support every step of the way.