What is a good client tracking/organizer software? Filemaker Pro?

TXINSURANCE · 12-31-2008, 12:41 AM

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM, On-Demand CRM Software, Customer Relationship Management

Free, powerful and high tech.

liquidblue33 · 12-31-2008, 12:58 PM

Has anybody used I relay? Been doing some research and i thought they looked good. However it is web based, so you guys brought up some good points about that. I-Relay: One Great Insurance CRM!.

Newby · 12-31-2008, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by liquidblue33

Has anybody used I relay? Been doing some research and i thought they looked good. However it is web based, so you guys brought up some good points about that. I-Relay: One Great Insurance CRM!.

I just canceled my i-relay today after 6-months with them. I really liked part of it BUT it is completely inflexible. You can only add fields to one area of the program.

I want to track many things and I want drop downs on my fields that track MY info. If i-relay wasn't so cookie-cutter it would be a GREAT program.

ACT is the ONLY program I've found that does everything I want. Franks program looks real good too IF you don't want to personalize it too much.

If I could go back in time I would have ACT 2008 on a computer running either Windows XP or Windows Vista 32-bit with a Palm PDA with Act for Palm on the PDA. THAT is your ultimate setup in MY opinion.

I messed up going with ACT 2009 (won't work with Act for Palm) and Vista 64-bit laptops (won't work with much of anything)

The resident MAC expert is AL and he says ANY program that runs on Windows will also work on a MAC these days. So I don't see where the problem is with MAC.

al3 · 12-31-2008, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by Newby

The resident MAC expert is AL and he says ANY program that runs on Windows will also work on a MAC these days. So I don't see where the problem is with MAC.

They no longer make Act for the Mac. They used to many years ago. However, ACT runs fine when you run Windows on the Mac via a virtualization program like Parallels or VMware or VirtualBox (which is free.) You must have at least 1 GB of RAM on your Mac but 2 GB is much, much better.

Drewrilla · 12-31-2008, 04:20 PM

Sales Logix is a great program. I used it before I obtained AgencyWorks, which I believe is difficult to obtain as an "individual."

retread · 01-01-2009, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by Drewrilla

Sales Logix is a great program. I used it before I obtained AgencyWorks, which I believe is difficult to obtain as an "individual."

It appears to me that AgencyWorks is a package of products. It looks like "InsureSocket Retail" would work for an Independent Agent, but you would need to link to someone with "Agency Integrator".

What can you say to this, and what would be the cost?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Originally Posted by Newby

I just canceled my i-relay today after 6-months with them. I really liked part of it BUT it is completely inflexible. You can only add fields to one area of the program.

I want to track many things and I want drop downs on my fields that track MY info. If i-relay wasn't so cookie-cutter it would be a GREAT program.

ACT is the ONLY program I've found that does everything I want. Franks program looks real good too IF you don't want to personalize it too much.

If I could go back in time I would have ACT 2008 on a computer running either Windows XP or Windows Vista 32-bit with a Palm PDA with Act for Palm on the PDA. THAT is your ultimate setup in MY opinion.

I messed up going with ACT 2009 (won't work with Act for Palm) and Vista 64-bit laptops (won't work with much of anything)

The resident MAC expert is AL and he says ANY program that runs on Windows will also work on a MAC these days. So I don't see where the problem is with MAC.

Yeah, about 64 bit OS's. Not many applications written for them yet. Get the 32 bit OS with upgrade rights, and don't upgrade until the apps you need are available.

Newby · 01-01-2009, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by retread

It appears to me that AgencyWorks is a package of products. It looks like "InsureSocket Retail" would work for an Independent Agent, but you would need to link to someone with "Agency Integrator".

What can you say to this, and what would be the cost?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Yeah, about 64 bit OS's. Not many applications written for them yet. Get the 32 bit OS with upgrade rights, and don't upgrade until the apps you need are available.

Is a 32-bit upgradeable to 64 bit? That's a tidbit of information that would have been usefull to me when I bought the laptops. I thought it was different hardware.

Thanks Best Buy for taking your salespeople off commission so you only have useless morons working there now that don't know anything about your products.

retread · 01-01-2009, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Newby

Is a 32-bit upgradeable to 64 bit? That's a tidbit of information that would have been usefull to me when I bought the laptops. I thought it was different hardware.

Thanks Best Buy for taking your salespeople off commission so you only have useless morons working there now that don't know anything about your products.

Hardware is either 32bit or 64bit, depending on the CPU at the moment (I grew my teeth on 8bit machines and s/w). Software applications are written for the Operating System interface (OS). If the OS you choose only handles 32bit processes, it will still run on a 64bit machine. This is called "backwards compatibility". The reverse is not true... if the OS demands 64bit chunks of data, it requires a 64bit machine, and the apps need to be written (coded) to provide 64bit chunks to the OS. This is why most people are not eagerly buying the 64bit version of Vista.

Hardware is always ahead of software. 64bit machines have been out for quite a while, but very few software applications were written to take advantage of the increased function because the OS (XP and early Vista) were 32bit s/w, and, being more popular, therefore more profitable. Sales demands for 64bit software just wasn't there. So the early adopters pay through the nose until critical mass brings down the cost. Early adopters either have a sugar daddy (business) or fat pocketbooks, or they are suckered into purchasing a product they don't know will not work without buying more expensive compatibles.

Now that 64bit Vista is available, expect more apps to be written for it, but at the moment there are a lot of reports of 32bit apps that will not run on the new Vista platform. I have heard that Microsoft did not write backwards compatibility into the new 64bit Vista. You used to be able to choose a compatibility mode in an application.... whether or not the new Vista allows this or not, I am not sure since I don't have a copy.

*midwestbroker* · 01-01-2009, 07:47 PM

With a web based program, how safe is it?

I have Medicare ID's, SS numbers, dates of birth, etc on file for most my clients. I would be worried about putting it out there...

SayBob · 01-01-2009, 07:53 PM

I have used Salesforce in the past and found it to be helpful,

Vitamin C · 01-01-2009, 08:11 PM

Food for thought...I've heard several times that data cd's have a surprisingly short shelf life. Here's a quote I found online claiming possibly as short as 2 years.

Researchers for IBM Germany have discovered that burning a CD-R disc activates a heat sensitive dye and brings the shelf life from 5 - 10 years of a an un-burned disc down to a measly two years. (Source: Popular Mechanics Mag)

I've also had a USB Hard drive decide not to turn on one day... fortunately, I didn't need to research how to get the data back off of it becuase I keep two usb hard drive backups.

al3 · 01-01-2009, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by midwestbroker

With a web based program, how safe is it?

I have Medicare ID's, SS numbers, dates of birth, etc on file for most my clients. I would be worried about putting it out there...

Why do you keep SS info at all? I never do and have never needed it. I keep policy or app numbers, but never SSNs. I've never had a problem calling in to a health carrier, giving a policy number and being able to have the gal on the phone find the records.

Most CRM system have an option to encrypt various fields if desired.

As too how safe is your data? It is going to depend on how safe your web host is. If you deal with a first-class outfit like Pair.com you don't have much to worry about. However I am suspect of the el cheapo hosts (1and1, etc.) out there.

If you have the option of a VPS (virtual private server), (Dreamhost offers it) that will increase your security. The fewer people who have FTP or control panel access to the physical box the more secure.

I have my own dedicated server so it is not shared by anyone... and that greatly increases security. (I pay about $1800 a year for the server but I host Jaya123 on it and that more than pays for it. And since I wrote Jaya123 I made sure it was secure!)

Bottom line it comes down to your comfort level. If you don't think you will sleep at night by using a web-based system like Zoho or Salesforce or SugarCRM or FreeCrm, then use ACT or YIO or something local to your office. I'm confident that the data on my web databases are secure so I go with that route.

Again, don't keep sensitive data that you don't have to keep. I have no need for SSNs and I encrypt policy and app numbers via the database field options. Some people create their own encryption... like taking a number, determining what position in the alphabet it is, adding 3, and using that letter: 4876 is gkji (4=d (4th letter in alphabet) and adding 3 to 4 is 7 which is g). Make up your own code for SSNs if you want to keep them.

*midwestbroker* · 01-01-2009, 09:35 PM

The only reason I have SS numbers is their Medicare ID.

I use ACT right now, and have modified it enough to make it what I want. I know zoho will allow me to import all my files there from ACT.

I like the idea of using an online database so I can access it from anywhere.

tkirk97 · 01-01-2009, 11:03 PM

www.redtailtechnology.com, best I have used. Interent based, no servers needed, you can setup your own email, document imaging. It has about anything and everything you could ever want to do. PM me if you want more specifics. $50 bucks per month

BiggitySwat · 01-02-2009, 03:23 AM

In case anyone is wondering, since I have a Macintosh, I ended up buying BENTO. Bento is a simpler database software from the makers of FileMaker Pro.

To remind me of client birthdays, I just use birthdayalarm.com

I'm very happy with Bento as it integrates with the Mac application called "iCal," which tracks your upcoming events and even can be set up to give you reminder emails and alerts. Bento has full support for a "to do list," customer list, and professional business contacts list.

You can also export any list as an Excel file for easy mail merging....I did it already to send mass mail to my current book of business.

al3 · 01-02-2009, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by BiggitySwat

To remind me of client birthdays, I just use birthdayalarm.com

I'm very happy with Bento as it integrates with the Mac application called "iCal," which tracks your upcoming events and even can be set up to give you reminder emails and alerts. Bento has full support for a "to do list," customer list, and professional business contacts list.

You could have just set up a new calendar in iCal called "Birthdays" and entered each client's birthday with a reminder set to a few days (or weeks) before.

Most CRM systems (like SugarCRM, FreeCRM, Salesforce, ACT,) have a built in calendar that will pop up reminders or email them to you. Sugar is very weak in this area so I use iCal local on my Mac. Works fine. I'm told Sugar is working on a new, improved calendaring system, somehow tied to Google calendar (whatever that is.)

Patriot · 01-02-2009, 02:51 PM

In Outlook, if you enter the birthday in the contact record, a recurring event shows up automatically in the calendar view.

Use Contact/Categories to assign "leads, prospects, clients" etc. and sort by category.

Use Activity/Categories to track policies "submitted, issued, inforce" etc. and sort by category.

Back up your data (.pst file). All this is Local PC, not internet.

Simple. (...and free - I still use Outlook 2003)

You could also sync via Plaxo or Carbonite etc. for an offsite internet backup (not free).

------------------------------

Or use OCS (One Card System) or some derivative; also simple, local (computer-free), portable, and doesn't crash or need backing up (unless you spill the cards or they get rained on).

retread · 01-03-2009, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by midwestbroker

The only reason I have SS numbers is their Medicare ID.

I use ACT right now, and have modified it enough to make it what I want. I know zoho will allow me to import all my files there from ACT.

I like the idea of using an online database so I can access it from anywhere.

If you use "Laplink Everywhere" you can also access your database from your own office computer remotely, and not have to expose it to a third party. The program uses 128 bit encryption to avoid intercept in transmission, and other than that limited exposure during transfer, you can keep your data in house.

Personally, I would rather keep my data in house. That's the original philosophy that drove the desire for "Personal Computers" back in the day. This way I am never at the mercy of another business that I don't have control over. And in this business where you are responsible for the privacy protection of your client's data, this is a prudent measure.

MedicarePlanSolutions · 01-03-2009, 06:18 PM

I have SugarCRM on one site and it works really well to work between different computers because it's web based. Because I want something to work more specific to my needs, I'm developing my own. Anyone want to guess what it's called? Yup, MedicarePlanSolutionsCRM. It's specific to Medicare and works well for agencies and Medicare Advantage plans. It also helps store scope of appointment forms so audits go easy

al3 · 01-03-2009, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by MedicarePlanSolutions

I have SugarCRM on one site and it works really well to work between different computers because it's web based. Because I want something to work more specific to my needs, I'm developing my own. Anyone want to guess what it's called? Yup, MedicarePlanSolutionsCRM. It's specific to Medicare and works well for agencies and Medicare Advantage plans. It also helps store scope of appointment forms so audits go easy

Why not take SugarCRM and modify it it instead of re-inventing the wheel.

For those who don't know what I mean, SugarCRM has a "community edition" which is open-source... meaning anyone can get the code and change it. You can even create a brand new product so long as whatever changes you made are available to anyone who asks. So you could create MedicarePlanSolutionsCRM, pop it on a server and take subscriptions. It could be a big money-maker. Of course... you have to be a pretty good programmer because SugarCRM is about 1000 code modules... some with several hundred lines of code...and most of the code is not well documented.

I can easily read it, but it would take several months of learning PHP and SQL before the average person would have enough skill to not only figure out what the code is doing, but what he WANTS it to do.