Activator and other CRM versus client database

[wilkin]

For those of you using any of the many CRMs discussed, are you also using a separate client database to keep track of policy info?

I am leaning towards the Activator add on to Act for its advanced productivity features that would be great for keeping track of prospects but I already use an insurance specific client database program with all my existing clients and policy data.

Is it common to use a CRM for prospects and a separate database for existing clients?

 

[Newby]

For those of you using any of the many CRMs discussed, are you also using a separate client database to keep track of policy info?

I am leaning towards the Activator add on to Act for its advanced productivity features that would be great for keeping track of prospects but I already use an insurance specific client database program with all my existing clients and policy data.

Is it common to use a CRM for prospects and a separate database for existing clients?

What I used is ACT and Activator with one database for both clients and prospects. I actually used one database for two businesses. I have an insurance agency and a funeral home I market the pre-need plans for.

I created check boxes in ACT for Insurance prospect, insurance client, FH prospect, FH client. Many of the insurance agency clients and prospects live in the same town as the FH prospects and clients so I didn't want the databases to be separate.

I would just create the fields within ACT that you track in your other database and import them. Create a new Tab for "policy information" and put all that info there.

Just because someone is sold doesn't mean they are no longer a prospect for the additional services.

 

[wilkin]

What I used is ACT and Activator with one database for both clients and prospects. I actually used one database for two businesses. I have an insurance agency and a funeral home I market the pre-need plans for.

I created check boxes in ACT for Insurance prospect, insurance client, FH prospect, FH client. Many of the insurance agency clients and prospects live in the same town as the FH prospects and clients so I didn't want the databases to be separate.

I would just create the fields within ACT that you track in your other database and import them. Create a new Tab for "policy information" and put all that info there.

Just because someone is sold doesn't mean they are no longer a prospect for the additional services.

Newby- Would I be able to then search and create a list of policyholders by carrier and/or plan type, ie life, health,group?

Are you using something other than Act w/Activator now?

 

[Paradigm]

Newby- Would I be able to then search and create a list of policyholders by carrier and/or plan type, ie life, health,group?

Are you using something other than Act w/Activator now?

Check out avidian prophet-- works within outlook and does all that including sales automation. I have it set up by sales stage and insurance type but you can use any sorting you'd like as there are over 30 optional fields.

 

[Newby]

Newby- Would I be able to then search and create a list of policyholders by carrier and/or plan type, ie life, health,group?

Are you using something other than Act w/Activator now?

With ACT you can do a simple search just by right clicking within any field and doing a search. If the field has a drop-down list that will show as your search options.

If you want a more complicated search such as clients in zip code 45678 that you haave not contaacted within the last 12-months, you build a quiry (also pretty simple within ACT) and you can save the quiry once you build it so that becomes a simple search also.

A big advantage of ACT is that you can buy a million different books on it like Act for Dummies. It helps.

I am currently testing out i-relay due to I need it in several locations. I like what I see with i-relay so far except it is very uncustomizable and many fields are not usefull to me.

 

[wilkin]

I am currently testing out i-relay due to I need it in several locations. I like what I see with i-relay so far except it is very uncustomizable and many fields are not usefull to me.

i-relay is hosted correct? I can see that as an advantage if you want/need to access it from several locations, but what happens if the company hosting it goes out of business?

Newby, have you looked at Prophet? Is it as capable as Act for insurance agents?

 

[Guest]

For those of you using any of the many CRMs discussed, are you also using a separate client database to keep track of policy info?

It really does not matter what "works" for other agents... what matters is what works for YOU... and you can only find out by trying different office procedures.

I use SugarCRM (on my web server) to keep all my "people" data: leads and accounts. I convert a lead to an account when they make application for a policy. (Some people just keep everyone as accounts and don't bother with the lead feature but I like it.)

I run a lot of quotes and illustrations in PDF format. I could if I wanted to easily upload these to the Sugar database for storage and retrieval. However, I don't. For me it is a waste of bandwidth. I keep a folder on my desktop where I keep these PDF files, labeled with the person's last name. After about six months I purge the folder of old quotes no longer needed (for prospects who never bought.)

When I call a prospect or client I have their SugarCRM record in front of me... which are short HTML files... takes no time at all to pop up on the screen (with copious log of previous conversations and other data (wife name, cat/dog's name, kid's school, etc.) If I need to look at the quote it is easy to find in the desktop folder... and the file does not have to be downloaded from the web server to see it. That saves a bit of time, especially on life illustrations which are large files.

The only time I upload the PDF illustrations to SugarCRM is if I'm going out of town and I think I might have to access a "case in progress" info while on the road (via a laptop, a hotel computer, or the Safari browser on my iPhone.)

FYI, SugarCRM is free... if you place a low value on your time... because it will take a bit of effort to install it and get it running. If you are looking for a web-based system, you might try freecrm.com and see if that works for you. I used it for a while until I discovered SugarCRM which was a slightly better fit for me... especially since I have my own dedicated web server (costs about $2,000 a year... from pair.com on which we run our jaya123.com service for small businesses (but not insurance agencies... not a good fit there.)

Al

 

[Newby]

Anybody know how to replace a keyboard on a Tosheba laptop.

Usually when I hit a "b" it types 2-bs but now it is apparently starting up with the "a" also. POS!

 

[Guest]

Anybody know how to replace a keyboard on a Tosheba laptop.

Usually when I hit a "b" it types 2-bs but now it is apparently starting up with the "a" also. POS!

Piece of cake. See one of the links here:
replace a keyboard on a Toshiba laptop - Google Search

perhaps this:

How to remove keyboard from Toshiba Satellite A55 laptop.

Start with a good cleaning before replacing it.

Al

 

[Newby]

The perfect solution for me doesn't exist yet. It would be as simple to customize as ACT, web based (but only if you need it in multi-locations by more than one user) sync with a Palm, or other PDA and have automation using Word documents and e-mails like Activator.

I-relay would be great if I could customize it easily.