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The idea of insurance is as old as recorded history: inscribed Babylonian tablets describe loss coverage for risky sea voyages as early as 1750 BCE. But just because the ancient and noble insurance industry has a venerated and salty history, doesn’t mean your agency needs to stay prehistoric in the way you handle client information.
Insurance records kept on paper (or stone tablets, as it were,) are easy to lose or misfile, and take forever to sort through. This is not good for making your 21st-century clients happy. In this day and age consumers are used to having the world’s information at their fingertips, lighting-fast.The good news is that the insurance industry is seeing a dramatic shift towards digital distribution as a response to the pandemic — and that shift isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. With more and more agencies investing in technology to advance their growth, it’s essential your agency keeps up and stays competitive.
Whether you’re an established agency looking to incorporate modern-day advances in technology, or a new agency hoping to hit the ground running, knowing which technology will help your agency flourish is vital to your success. Below, we’ll talk about the basics of technology for your small insurance agency and the incredible benefits of an agency management system.
What Should Technology Do for Your Small Insurance Agency?
The bottom line is that technology should help your agency. This seems obvious, but it’s important to remember when you’re looking at software. If a program is too expensive and hurting your gross income, it’s likely not worth the investment. Similarly, if a program has too many features (especially ones your agency won’t or can’t use), you’re probably going to end up paying more than the program is worth to your team.
Technology should make life at your agency run smoother. Whether that’s automated reminder emails, an internal communication app, or a financial organizer, the point of the product should be getting the job done, not looking shiny.
Sometimes, it’s all about the basics, so let’s take a look at what software your agency should already be operating with.
What Technology Should Your Agency Already Have?
Looking into insurance technology trends and suggestions can be overwhelming, especially for a smaller agency. Popular discussions online are all about the newest and most innovative software. But for a smart insurance agency, technology isn’t just about buying into all the latest bells and whistles. It’s about finding the software that meets your needs, and makes sense for your operation and budget.
At minimum, here’s some of the basic software your agency should already be using:
- Outlook for Business
- Google Workspace
- FormStack Sign
- Slack
- Dropbox
- Fintech (Paypal, etc)
If you’re not using these, it’s time to click the links and dive in. If you are using these, your next step is an AMS.
Why is an Agency Management System so Important?
An AMS, or Agency Management System, is a CRM (customer relationship management) software built for insurance agencies. If you’ve never used a CRM platform, think of it like a digital manager. You’re managing your agents and interfacing with in-person customers. It’s your job to make sure each component is performing well and that mistakes aren’t being overlooked.
Your AMS does the exact same thing with your digital records.
As you grow your agency, your AMS tracks your client interactions, your financial data, your customer history, and your agency activity. You can get alerts when you should reach out to a customer about renewal, compile quarterly data at the touch of a button, and easily communicate with your entire team knowing client information is accessible to everyone on the same system.
An AMS might sound like a tool only larger agencies need, but in fact, it’s the key to a small agency’s growth. When you can reorient your team’s time and effort towards clients instead of paperwork your productivity doubles, and your business thrives.
Why is Eclipse AMS Software the Best Choice for You?
Of course, the next question becomes: which AMS do I get? You’re a small agency — you need an AMS that is easy to use, affordable, and focuses on the features you need, not the fancy features you don’t.
Eclipse by NASA is that AMS. With Eclipse, digging endlessly for client data and struggling with external accounting platforms are problems of the past. Eclipse automates your process through pipeline management, client communication, and data reports.
You can’t halt your entire operation for a month to learn an overly-complicated new system. We get that. Eclipse is not only highly intuitive, but we alleviate the stress of integrating new software with our onboarding and training programs. When you invest in Eclipse, you’re also investing in a 60-90-day process where we give your agency a dedicated support consultant to help move your data into the new system and provide training to you and your staff.
AMS software is inherently beneficial to your business, but not if you can’t use it and you’re bogged down with hundreds of features you’ll never use. That is the Eclipse difference: simple, affordable, and made with you in mind.
NASA Software is Your Technology Solution
Running an insurance agency is already a challenging job — your software should help you, not make it more difficult. At NASA, we design our software specifically for smaller agencies. We are determined to eliminate the roadblocks that stand between independent insurance agencies and success.
When you choose the Eclipse Agency Management System, you’re not just getting an AMS: you’re getting a support team and a company dedicated to continued software improvements. Request a demo of Eclipse today to see how NASA’s insurance agency management system can help your business stay competitive in the 21st century.
