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...a Vendor and a System Many system vendors are out there -- you only need to re...sting system to the new system. Some vendors might be able to do this for you,...

... In the next few years, you'll probably be devoting more time and resources to Life and Health insurance products - that is, if you're at all like the estimated 2,000 independent agents who participated in the "Future One Agency Universe Study." The study shows that independent agents are increasingly aware of the need to be full-service insurance providers. Agents who have traditionally focused on Property/Casualty insurance see the need to expand more aggressively into Life and other types of insurance products. In fact, slightly more than half the agencies surveyed said that over the next three years, they'll devote a higher proportion of agency resources to Life and Health products. Processing Challenges But Life is not Property/Casualty insurance in product or in process. Unlike Property/Casualty, no true turnkey agency system vendors exist in the Life industry. Instead, agents or insurance companies use multiple vendors and must pay someone to integrate the packages, or else they must enter the same data over and again. An agent may use several software programs to manage the business: Contact management programs help track prospective customers; fact-finding programs help document information from an initial sales call, such as current insurance and income investments; and needs-analysis programs process these facts to calculate how much Life insurance is needed by a customer. Next, illustration software reveals the costs and benefits of Life insurance over a certain period in different variations and amounts. Finally, the final recommendations are presented in a proposal package to the customer. This all happens before the sale! Once a customer buys insurance, agents use database programs to manage ...

...ty, no true turnkey agency system vendors exist in the Life industry. Instead,... before and after OLifE. "Over time, vendors and companies created software us...

...can communicate productively with vendors via an RFP or in any other way, you ... optimally. At this stage, beware of vendors who might “lowball” requirements ...

... for value-added customer service and sales. The ultimate efficiency of an agency's operations, however, depends very greatly on the interface capabilities of the agent's companies and on the ability of the agency's system to handle these electronic transactions effectively. ACT was faced with these facts: Agents were becoming increasingly frustrated with the proliferation of proprietary company Web sites. Companies, in contrast, were telling us that the agents haven't been delivering a clear message, leaving many company executives with the impression that agents were just fine with the Web sites. ACT decided that first it needed to assist agents by developing a clear message that reflects their perspective on current interfaces; and second, it needed to convince agency principals and managers that they should make this issue a priority and communicate their concerns and needs to their companies and vendors at every opportunity — whether at an agency advisory committee meeting, a convention, or a one-on-one meeting. The ACT Interface Statement , as well as Agent Talking Points, are available on the ACT Web site . Briefly, the ACT Interface Statement states that the benefits of real-time processing and access to information through company proprietary Web sites have become overwhelmed by the sheer inefficiency of agent having to deal with a multitude of sites. These inefficiencies result from agents having to entry data separately for each company site, log on separately to each site, learn different workflow procedures for each company, and train agency staff on all of these differences. ACT seeks to pave the way for our industry to enjoy the benefits of real-time processing while transcending the limitations on current proprietary Web sites. Companies should work ...

... for value-added customer service and sales. The ultimate efficiency of an agency's operations, however, depends very greatly on the interface capabilities of the agent's companies and on the ability of the agency's system to handle these electronic transactions effectively. ACT was faced with these facts: Agents were becoming increasingly frustrated with the proliferation of proprietary company Web sites. Companies, in contrast, were telling us that the agents haven't been delivering a clear message, leaving many company executives with the impression that agents were just fine with the Web sites. ACT decided that first it needed to assist agents by developing a clear message that reflects their perspective on current interfaces; and second, it needed to convince agency principals and managers that they should make this issue a priority and communicate their concerns and needs to their companies and vendors at every opportunity — whether at an agency advisory committee meeting, a convention, or a one-on-one meeting. The ACT Interface Statement , as well as Agent Talking Points, are available on the ACT Web site . Briefly, the ACT Interface Statement states that the benefits of real-time processing and access to information through company proprietary Web sites have become overwhelmed by the sheer inefficiency of agent having to deal with a multitude of sites. These inefficiencies result from agents having to entry data separately for each company site, log on separately to each site, learn different workflow procedures for each company, and train agency staff on all of these differences. ACT seeks to pave the way for our industry to enjoy the benefits of real-time processing while transcending the limitations on current proprietary Web sites. Companies should work ...

... has yet to be created. SOME HISTORY Historically, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards have been developed and implemented within national borders. Because insurance has been highly regulated and not traded internationally, standards sprang up in the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and other countries. With the development of the European Union, European countries saw the need for standards that all the member nations could share, leading to the development of EDIFACT standards for the property/casualty segment of the business. While EDIFACT has addressed property/casualty standards, there is no life insurance participation. ACORD has begun filling the void in global life insurance standards through initiatives in South Africa and Australia, where we have formal working groups; Canada, which participates in our national working group; as well as vendors in the U.K. and Japan. EDIFACT is a global cross-industry standards group under the auspices of the United Nations. In regions where insurance standards didn't previously exist, or where there was a practical need for a global standard, EDIFACT has seen wide support and implementation. ACORD participated in EDIFACT, but there weren't many opportunities for implementation in the United States, where strong standards were already in place. The EDIFACT Working Group (EWG), in an effort to support new technologies, is building the infrastructure to develop object models as the next generation of standards. The Insurance SubWorking group is a pilot for this effort. For any business application to trade with another, they first have to be able to communicate with each other, irrespective of software product or technology platforms. The United ...

... had been spent unnecessarily. Two thousand newsletters remained to be mailed. The client changed its 800-number and had to buy 2,000 stickers with the new 800-number (add to running total $100 to print stickers, $100 to affix, for total of $3 ,225) . The client decided to mail the newsletters to a new mailing list and bought a mailing list on computer disks without testing prior to purchasing. However, no one in the company could open the disks, which were unreadable. Time and money were being wasted at this point! The subtotal was $3 ,225 spent unnecessarily; this does not include the cost of changing the 800-number, paying for wrong numbers dialed to that number, the cost of computer disks, and the cost of hiring yet another vendor to read the disks and print labels. Not only was the original newsletter designed wrong, but it looked unprofessional, with bulk-rate and 800-number stickers all over it. The moral of the story is to think "big picture" during every step of the project, evaluating each detail no matter how minor it may seem. Here are some factors to consider when planning your next direct mail project: Consult the vendors and consultants who are knowledgeable about postal and mailing regulations. Seek expert advice prior to designing the piece to be mailed, and certainly before printing. It is helpful to call the mailing-requirements department of the postal service before hiring an outside vendor, and then using the information gleaned to "test" their knowledge. Be aware of design. Determine the proper size and weight of ...

...able in similar fashion from many vendors. Does that mean that Personal Lines ... the system competently. The systems vendors are as guilty as the agencies in ...

...NTATION IS A PROJECT “Most vendors help agencies implement their automa...egy that supports your goal. Because vendors keep enhancing their systems this...