Get the right “fit” between your agency’s needs and the technology you use.
The analogy between marriage and a good “fit” between an agency and its automated system becomes more apt as technology becomes more prevalent and decisive. Whenever someone mentions the term “Request for Proposal,” my mind automatically pictures a frenzied bachelor (or bachelorette) trailing a “wish list” of the perfect traits for the ideal mate. This mental image is quickly replaced with a somewhat older, wiser person with a significantly shorter list. One wonders if the list will be the same whether or not it’s revised after an unsuccessful marital experience.
Looking for good automation is not unlike finding Mr. or Miss Right. It’s difficult to write a “wish list” if you haven’t yet defined what makes up a good marriage (or automation experience).
A good marriage doesn’t necessarily make your life more efficient; but it does change its quality and style — it’s hopeful and optimistic. Good automation doesn’t just speed up your old work process; it alters it to the core and improves it in all respects.
Of course, it follows that you can’t request a proposal for a new system (from its current vendor or a new one) until you’ve determined what the new system will or should do for you. If you’ve never operated in the “new and improved” way, how can you specify what this is and what you need to support it?
Even for upgrading agencies, let alone those automating for the first time, past experience doesn’t indicate how they want to operate. If it were, upgrading agencies probably wouldn’t be looking for a new system in the first place.
So, before you can communicate productively with vendors via an RFP or in any other way, you need to determine how you want to operate — to define your philosophy of doing business. Outline your service standards in detail and set the business practices that will achieve those standards using the best available technology, carriers, and staff.
Those factors explain why using an outside consulting service can yield significant value. A consultant should know what’s “out there,” what has worked in other agencies (and what hasn’t), the current E&O environment, and how the courts look at electronic evidence and procedures, etc – expertise that you probably don’t have.
Defining the level and type of automation you need often leads to planning changes in the carrier lineup and relationships. After all, if you want automating to pay a dividend, why stay “bogged down” with less than responsive markets?
It’s also likely that agency staffing patterns will change. Staff changes reflect not so much the need for “technology wizards” (because good automation should be “user friendly”), but rather the need for staff with refined “people” skills and marketing talents. Good automation will free up your staff to attend to client needs and refocuses them from processing to account managing; from responding to requests to predicting and filling client needs proactively. It makes no sense to get a great system and not maximize its profit and service potential
Although upgrading the carrier lineup and the staff talent in the office are byproducts of the process, you started out looking for a new system, so let’s return to that task. It makes sense to reduce the business practice analysis to three “products':
- A vendor comparison matrix that identifies each function any system must provide to make it viable for you. This allows you to participate in (not just view!) an online, hands-on, in-house exhibition of the system by a representative of the vendor. Notice that I didn’t use the term “demo.” This should not be a canned demo, but a response to your specific set of questions in an agenda that you set.
- A hardware and office configuration plan that’s given only to those vendors that pass the matrix screen detailing what and how much equipment you need.
- A conversion, download, input game plan that provides an accurate, expeditious population of the new system’s database — an essential element for implementing your business practice plans.
The resulting proposals/quotes will come from only those vendors who you know can do the job and will provide at least three benefits:
- Configuration enhancements that will suit the proposing vendor the best, allowing their system to operate optimally. At this stage, beware of vendors who might “lowball” requirements now to “get the sale” and then suggest “add-ons” when the system is in place and paid for — in effect, jacking up the original price.
- Data population, training, and implementation strategy. Evaluate the wisdom of the suggestions, resources, and time availability of the vendor to fulfill the strategy they recommend.
- Overall pricing.
CONCLUSION
Although no one ever prided themselves on how fast they bought a system, agencies often bask in the financial glory of the correct system choice (or the horror and missed opportunity of the wrong one). Marry in haste, repent in leisure, or rely on luck. It’s your agency and your choice.