your insurance office vs. act! 2008

[Go Green]

I am contemplating purchasing either of these products. I am looking for the pros and cons of each. This is my very first post and I figured after exploring this site that there is a wealth of experienced and knowledgeable individuals willing to offer an opinion. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

No wrong choice here. Try them both and use what YOU like.

I personally don't care for either one but I'm way, way, way in the minority. I much prefer web-based systems that are either on someone else's server such as FREE CRM contact and lead management, sales tracking, customer service, sales pipeline and forecasting, document repository and more or one that you can put on your web-host's server such as SugarCRM - Commercial Open Source CRM. Sugar has a excellent online demo (no registration needed):

SugarCRM - Commercial Open Source CRM

and FreeCRM is... well free so you can register and give it a try.

Before you do anything spend a lot of time reading this site:

Small Business CRM Resource Centre - Your Free Guide To CRM Help

Al
MoO

 

[360]

Anyone know if there is an email specific template that has been written for insurance agents using ACT?

 

[TXINSURANCE]

YIO crashed my computer twice installing the demo. The website showed the last update several years ago which tells me updates are few and far between.

To me the choice is clear ACT is a very large company with big dollars behind them. That being the case as previously stated try both and see what works for you.

ACT has a huge learning curve and is not setup specifically for insurance. Also in an office ACT will run you thousands for licenses, add ons, and custom programming. You get what you pay for.

ACT has a 30 day demo try them both for free.

 

[susieQ]

I have ACT, was considering YIO because of the commission tracking. For those of you that use ACT, do you use Excel or how do you keep track of commissions?

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I have YIO - love it, never had any problems at all.

 

[Frank Stastny]

YIO crashed my computer twice installing the demo. The website showed the last update several years ago which tells me updates are few and far between.

To me the choice is clear ACT is a very large company with big dollars behind them. That being the case as previously stated try both and see what works for you.

ACT has a huge learning curve and is not setup specifically for insurance. Also in an office ACT will run you thousands for licenses, add ons, and custom programming. You get what you pay for.

ACT has a 30 day demo try them both for free.

As far as "crashing your computer" I find that strange since you are the only one who has ever reported a "computer crash" while downloading the demo. Possibly if you had called my toll-free number we could have discovered the cause.

Regarding updates, updates are only released on an "as needed or requested basis". YIO represents the input and requests for additional functions and features from successful, producing agents throughout the US and in eleven foreign countries. (The next upgrade is being worked on now and should be ready in the next several months.)

I don't believe in releasing updates just to get more money from the users of the program like a lot of companies do. Do you really think that agents would be happier to have a new update every 3 to 6 months just for the sake of issuing one and charging additional money for the new update? I think not.

My intent with YIO is to provide an extremely easy to use, virtually no learning curve, Contact Management Program specifically designed for L&H agents that every agent can easily afford. The first year commission from the sale of just one policy usually more than pays the cost of the program. From that point forward the agent is using the program, including support, for free.

YIO also has a free demo that is the actual, full-working version of the program. It is locked to limit a total of ten records, however, those ten records can be deleted and ten new ones added. This can be done as often as necessary.

Support is also unlimited and toll-free. Anytime anyone has a question all they have to do is pick up the phone and call. I live in the US and English is my first language. Ask anyone on the board what kind of support is provided. If an agent calls and I'm available I answer the phone regardless of the time of day or night. I recently had a user in Australia call me at 3am. We had a very nice conversation.

Some of you may find this difficult to believe but the majority of the agents using YIO would really prefer that it not be internet based. One woman who just purchased the Network version for her agency, a total of six computers, said she previously had two different internet based programs and she said they were a headache. Because of HIPPA requirements the program kept timing out. She said her agents were constantly complaining about the additional time it took having to log back in because it had timed out.

Internet programs are great for a large company that has offices all over the country where all employees need access to data. For an independent agent, having the program on their computer/laptop/PDA gives them instant access to data without having to wait for an internet connection.

When a client or prospect calls me I want to be able to bring up their data instantly without having that client or prospect wait on the phone while I connect to the internet. Time is money to me and providing excellent service is paramount.

Internet programs may be "sexy" and the "in thing" but not everything new is always better for everyone.

 

[Guest]

Some of you may find this difficult to believe

Probably because it is not true!

but the majority of the agents using YIO would really prefer that it not be internet based.

And you know this how? You've polled each and every one of your 100 or so users? (How large IS the user-base?)

One woman who just purchased the Network version for her agency, a total of six computers, said she previously had two different internet based programs and she said they were a headache. Because of HIPPA requirements the program kept timing out.

I fail to see the connection between HIPAA and time-outs. What server-side program was she using? I assume she told you.

She said her agents were constantly complaining about the additional time it took having to log back in because it had timed out.

After how long did it time-out? Was they no way to set it not to time out? How does YIO handle this so-called HIPAA requirement?

For an independent agent, having the program on their computer/laptop/PDA gives them instant access to data without having to wait for an internet connection.

Yes but when you have Joe working at the home office adding and deleting data and Mary is in the field at a client's office adding and deleting data, explain to me how YIO gets the "home office" system and the laptop to sync?

When a client or prospect calls me I want to be able to bring up their data instantly without having that client or prospect wait on the phone while I connect to the internet. Time is money to me and providing excellent service is paramount.

In the real world we are connected to the net 24/7. We call it broadband. You should try it. It's quite good and highly stable. I keep Sugar running all day long in a browser window. The seek and display time is about half a second... if that. Go try freecrm.com or the Sugar demo or agnencypro.com and see if that is fast enough? If so, great... because by internet standards these is slow as hell since the demos are not on a very fast server from what I hear.

Internet programs may be "sexy" and the "in thing" but not everything new is always better for everyone.

Maybe not but explain to me why Salesforce.com is a multi-zillion dollar business and YIO... isn't?

Here is the answer. Salesforce is the present and the future, YIO is a part of the past. That does not mean it won't work... for you... but I have no doubt that if Frank brought out a internet version that his sales of the product would sky-rocket... he could just run it as a service like I run jaya123.com or sell the system to people who want to run on their own networks (as I run Sugar on my server at pair.com)

Al

 

[The New Guy]

Ding

 

[Guest]

Ding

dong... Avon calling.

There must be someone who remembers that!

Or maybe Ding Dong School with Miss Francis?

Al