CRM!!! What Are YOU Using for Contact Management?

[BenefitLife]

Hello Group,

Great site here. I hope to contribute and will be frequenting this site.
My question is: What CRM software is typically used in the industry for independents? I have been looking at a few and would like to know what you are using and recommend?

Thanks!

 

[ims01]

We use ACT which we have modified to meet our specific needs.

 

[Guest]

Hello Group,

Great site here. I hope to contribute and will be frequenting this site.
My question is: What CRM software is typically used in the industry for independents? I have been looking at a few and would like to know what you are using and recommend?

Thanks!

People always ask that here and they don't understand that there is no one-size-fits-all or any "best."

Many here love Your Insurance Office. Others like ACT. Some use AgencyWOW. Some like Salesforce. A few use vTiger. Zoho has one. I use SugarCRM. There are a zillion other CRMs out there. Some of them are reviewed here and here.

Most are general purpose, but there are a number of insurance-specific system you can buy.

Let us know what you have tried and what you like.

Al
Find me here.

 

[Air Jer]

The question is, what CRM works in a P & C environment? I've not figured that out. I've dabbled with some but with the data entry they seem to be more work than benefit gained. At the suggestion of others, I am experimenting with OneNote which I got off of ebay for 20 bucks.
Off topic: To help in some regard, if you use Outlook, check out XOBNI (inbox spelled backwards). There is a free version that you can download which I used for about a month and was well pleased with. So much so I downloaded the pay version for $29.95 and WOW. This is a great time saver if you are losing time looking through your emails for that email you know you have but can't find or you do find but spent a lot of time looking for. I found a specific email from 2 years ago this past Thursday and it took about 20 seconds.

 

[Bertolinoins]

I use salegenie and I have become used to their built in CRM program. It is an expensive program ($120 mo) but since I do 90% commercial p&c the ability to pull my own prospect lists justify the cost. I use their crm because it pulls the info in from the prospect lists easily so there is no data entry other than my contact notes.

 

[gavros777]

Can you modify microsoft excel to your agency needs?

 

[sgriswold]

Can you modify microsoft excel to your agency needs?

Yes but doing so is a fool's errand, because excel is a spreadsheet, not a database. The time and cost to make excel do anything sales or service related is trumped easily by having a program made for this purpose.

An agency management / CRM system should be able to do the following for you at the least:

- Store client data (contact info, demographics, policy info)
- Allow you to sort, filter, and generate reports on the above
- Prospect/task/sales management (where your cases are in the sales process, etc.)
- Calendaring

Nearly everything on the market - from free/cheap software (SugarCRM, Zoho, Bento, ACT) to expensive large-market apps, does this. There's no reason to not at least use a basic CRM


To be an effective agency in this decade, you should also have:

- Email tracking (If you are one of those backwards weirdos who doesn't use email extensively, God help you)
- Policy management (renewals, policy downloading if applicable)
- Leads and marketing management (email blasts, mail merge, targeted marketing campaigns)


There are so many systems available, each with their own agenda about how "work" is to be done, that you really need to experiment with a few to see which jibes best with your office.

For us, we use Marketcircle's Daylite (mac-based). It's a freeform CRM that we've been able to mold into a fairly effective management system.

Of course, no software will do anyone any good if your customer service sucks!

 

[Broker007]

My advice is to use Google Apps and find the CRM that best fits your needs from their suite of providers in the Google Marketplace. I use xinbox crm because business happens in my inbox. Let me know what you go with.

 

[agencybloc]

BenefitLife,

Not trying to spam here - full disclosure: I work for an agency management system called AgencyBloc.

Our web-based platform was built specifically for Health and Life agencies. If you are interested at all, I am obviously willing to give you a demonstration of our product using GoTo Meeting. You can also create a 30-day trial through our website. Let me know if I can be of any assistance!

Thanks,

Adam @ AgencyBloc

 

[GreenSky]

Very refreshing to see someone come here, announce who they are, and make an offer in response to a question without spamming the forum.

Glad to see we did not add another Greg to our board.

Rick