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Originally Posted On: Insurance Agency Management System – The Ultimate Guide for Agencies (agencyheight.com)
So, you are searching for the best-fitting Insurance Agency Management System (AMS) for your agency? Congratulations! You’ve made the right decision and come to the right place. The insurance software that you choose to integrate determines whether you are growing your business intelligently.
Take a tour through this blog and explore helpful tips that will help you choose the ideal AMS for your agency.
But first, let’s begin with a quick introduction to ensure that you fully understand what AMS pertains to.
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Insurance Agency Management System
Insurance Agency Management System (AMS), refers to a SaaS (software as a service) technology used by insurance agencies to streamline operations and improve relationships with employees, customers, prospects, and other stakeholders. Moreover, it helps your agency systematize the processes, improvise relationships, and expand your business through the integration of technologies.
The recommended best Insurance Agency Management System in 2020 are:
- Applied Epic
- AMS360
- HawkSoft
- Applied TAM
- QQCatalyst
- Jenesis
Insurance software can facilitate your agency with market automation, CRM platforms, back-office functionalities, and many more. As a result, you can manage customers, finances, personal and commercial lines of business in a single platform.
Agency Management System for A Well-rounded Approach
Before moving on to the beneficial tips to help you choose the right insurance software for yourself, it is imperative to explore the role of the software in your independent insurance brokerage.
Documentation and data integration in AMS
AMS organizes chunks of information–such as carrier information, submissions, ACCORD forms, quotes, and many more—all in a single interface. Data are centralized and easy to retrieve in just a few clicks. Imagine the time you will save when you don’t have to scan through every file to get the required information!
Insightful dashboard: A must for any AMS
The dashboard is a see-through window to keep an eye on key performance factors. To clarify, AMS tools provide you an interface with flowcharts, graphs, diagrams, and other data without much hassle. Therefore, you can understand how well your agency and agents are doing by tracking your agents’ work hours, productivity, pipeline, monthly sales, and commissions. You can also recognize any discrepancies, keep track of company efficiency level, and reduce errors.
Customer service improvisation: Going beyond the traditional CRM
AMS makes your agency’s process effortless, including that of customer service. Proper data collection and organization aids in identifying market trends as well as anticipating customer needs. In case of any change requests or issues on behalf of the customers, AMS tools expedite the process for reliable and highly-responsive customer service. Consequently, the convenience brought about by AMS leads to higher customer retention.
Up sell/cross-sell: Leverage technology to sell more
Keeping track of clients – both existing and potential – can be strenuous for you. AMS automates the process, creating a standardized system that shortens the sales cycle and expands leads. Additionally, AMS aids your agency in anticipating customer needs and boosts customer loyalty, resulting in tremendous opportunities to upsell and cross-sell. Therefore, you’ll find a bigger market within your existing market pool.
That’s pretty awesome, right?
Accounting: AMS that manages ALL your needs
AMS tracks payments, records detailed account histories, invoice customers, etc. As a result, you can efficiently retrieve real-time reports and analysis to make informed decisions for your agency. Quick decision making is crucial for recognizing opportunities. To that end, AMS helps you make the right decision at just the right time.
The importance of insurance software reflects in the claim of a survey by Insurance Journal that ninety-five percent of insurance agents employ a management system.
How can you find the right Insurance Agency Management System?
According to Independent Insurance Agents of Maryland (IIAMD), there are over 70 AMS options available in the USA. Therefore, you can choose from a simple CSR to a sophisticated multi-user system. Below are some steps to follow while choosing the best among many.
What are your goals?
Firstly, understand the needs of your agency. Ponder on a few questions to outline the objectives of employing AMS. For example, Why isn’t the currently used methods working out for you? What do you expect from the AMS? What are your targets five years from now? Or in the next ten years? Your goals should be clear and measurable. Moreover, the insurance technology that you select should align with the goals.
Are your needs in tandem with your goals?
Your needs and wants should align with the pre-set goals. While needs are integral features to your business, wants are the additional features facilitating convenience to the agency. Therefore, identifying both are equally important. To identify, ask questions such as: Which process would you want to automate in day-to-day operations? Which features will most likely ease the processes?
Shop available AMS options
Find out available options for your needs. Check industry publications, participate in user group meetings, attend seminars, surf on the internet, and so on. Utilize these platforms widely to extract information that will help you decide the most reliable AMS for your agency. User group meetings, for one, is a great source for experience-based feedback of AMS. You can track user groups with the help of a sales representative of the AMS.
Evaluate AMS options
Often, the price of the AMS influences the purchase decision. But you must comprehend the agency management system’s usability in daily operations for at least three to five years. Think about the efficiency, productivity growth, cost savings due to timely identification of errors, and so on that the system will bring to your agency. While cost is a major concern, remember that AMS without useful application is as worst as no AMS.
Other things to consider:
- Does it have cloud-based access?
- Can you integrate information towards targeted marketing activities?
- Can you transfer information to and from multiple carriers and clients in real-time?
- Are errors and omissions automatically logged?
- Can you access the system through your smartphone?
To summarize, insurance Agency Management System is a vital building block for your insurance agency as it takes care of your customer relations and marketing automation. Additionally, the back-end functionalities become hassle-free with AMS. From a variety of options in the market, choose the one which aligns with your goals, needs, and wants. While cost may be an influential parameter, you must consider several parameters to make your investment on AMS count.
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