Data Base Marketing

[Newby]

I am trying to set up my data-base for marketing insurance products and keeping track of all my contacts. I have talked to Frank who has "Your Insurance Office" and find him very knowlegeable and helpful. His program is well thought out and a real bargin but...

I have always (for 10-years anyway) used an automated program for my letters, e-mails, faxes, and call reports. In other words when I talk to someone and qualify them as a good prospect but not ready to day, I assign them to one of my marketing sequences and don't have to think about them again until my database automatically reminds me at the right time in the future. In the meantime they are getting letters etc. from me "nurtureing" them along and keeping my name in front of them.

This is the only way I have ever worked and I don't understand how you can market without a system like this.
Currently I use ACT with the Activator add-on for automation (about $1,500.) I will need to do a lot of modification to the ACT layout to make it ready for the Insurance market.

I think the perfect solution would be Frank's "Your Own Insurance Office" with the Activator add-on but Frank says he doesn't have anything like that.

How important is this? Am I just being closed minded? Do you guys have success with no automation?

 

[natem2112]

I think that if it is something that you are used to having done, you might want to take a look at changing ACT! for the insurance industry.

I use Smart Office online from E-Z data, which has some of the capabilities as the ACT! Activator, but not all of them.

Check out Smart Office here.

Frank's programs is a pretty straight forward program, I think for someone especially just getting into insurance it's a must have.

After you've built up a bit of a database and have a bit of time under your belt, then you will have a real idea of what you want a CRM program to do for you.

Good luck!

 

[Newby]

Thanks Nate!

That looks like a well laid out program but again it has the same limitation of no automation.

I guess what I am asking is...is there a program that is set up for life and health agents that has automation built in?

When I go in my office each morning I want to just turn on my computer, hit one button and have it tell me I have 21 letters to print, 13 call reports, 2 appointment sheets, 1- fax, 4-e-mails and 21 envelopes. Then I hit "send" and everything happens. I spend 5-minutes stuffing a few envelopes with the letters and reply cards and start making my calls for the day.

Without this feature, I assume you would turn yourself into a full-time secretary real quick. Here is another version of what I am talking about: http://www.actaddons.com/products/2005/sales_auto_mgr.asp

I guess what I need is someone who has created a real good layout for ACT within the insurance industry. I will pay for a templet of that. Otherwise I will have to create one from scratch which I can do but it just takes time away from producing.

 

[djs]

I've been looking for a similar thing, and there are bits and pieces all over the place, but ironically, nothing that I've found, that is comprehensive.

Sales automation must be much harder to work out than I imagine. There are only a few programs that have it.

Several options:
- Goldmine does it all. It's actually one of the best sales automation tools I've seen. It has an insurance template (albeit, you may not like it). My issue with Goldmine is it is almost impossible to understand, and you have to conform to it, not it to you. People who use it, love it, though I've found most people give up on it before they figure it out (I did).
- Act with activator can be done. It's expensive.
- Salesforce.com has a decent CRM system, and some add-ons for automation, but it is prohibitively expensive.
- Yeah, all the rest, Maximizer, freecrm, sugarcrm, etc, etc. All have strong points, all have weaknesses.

Getting back to the basics, you just want to correspond with them, I use sendoutcards.com, setup a campaign, with a trigger at the end of the campaign to remind me to call them. It's not ideal, but it does work, and the advantage is, if you use the cards as a personal card, not as a hard sell, they get read and make a real impact.

Of course, I do this more for my P&C business, where I'm trying to recruit referral partners, but it is a very workable scenerio.

Alternatively, day one, due up all of the correspondence for the person, put it in folders to mail out each month, and then a note in the last one to remind yourself to call them. It's darkages mentality, but it is actually very efficient.

Dan

 

[natem2112]

Thanks Nate!

That looks like a well laid out program but again it has the same limitation of no automation.

I guess what I am asking is...is there a program that is set up for life and health agents that has automation built in?

When I go in my office each morning I want to just turn on my computer, hit one button and have it tell me I have 21 letters to print, 13 call reports, 2 appointment sheets, 1- fax, 4-e-mails and 21 envelopes. Then I hit "send" and everything happens. I spend 5-minutes stuffing a few envelopes with the letters and reply cards and start making my calls for the day.

Without this feature, I assume you would turn yourself into a full-time secretary real quick. Here is another version of what I am talking about: http://www.actaddons.com/products/2005/sales_auto_mgr.asp

I guess what I need is someone who has created a real good layout for ACT within the insurance industry. I will pay for a templet of that. Otherwise I will have to create one from scratch which I can do but it just takes time away from producing.

I think that if you set aside the time to reconfigure what you currently have, it would be worth the time to you.

It sounds like you are already used to a system, but you just need that system to change what you are using it for, seeing as how you are using ACT!, this should be a heck of a lot easer to do.

After all, that's the best thing that I've seen that ACT! has that most other programs have, flexibility.