Countless software companies these days are targeting insurance agents and financial professionals with specialized products. These organizations often claim that their user-friendly products will simplify your life and boost your bottom line. Unfortunately, the programs that actually live up to these lofty promises are few and far between.
Much of the software designed for financial professionals can be overly complex, difficult to download, and just plain user-hostile. So how do you sort through the clutter of products to find some useful tools? Read on to learn about two tech tools we dug out of the software bin.
Adobe Acrobat Connect Web conferencing
With Web conferencing, financial professionals can hold a meeting with anyone anywhere in the world without leaving their office -- in theory.
Regrettably, many agents have found that a Ph.D. seems to be required to download and use certain Web conferencing programs. The folks at Adobe have set out to eliminate this problem and other common Web conferencing flaws with Adobe Acrobat Connect.
Obviously, it can be rather embarrassing to spend the first 30 minutes of your Web conference guiding your attendees through a complex downloading process. Adobe tackles this and other potential issues with this product -- and because Acrobat Connect requires only a Flash player to function, which is available on most Internet-connected PCs, it could work for just about anybody.
When you invite a client to attend an Acrobat Connect meeting, they click on a URL to connect with you. Within seconds, you're both online, sharing the same screen and documents.
Acrobat Connect also includes the following features:
o Personalized URL for instant meeting access
o Unlimited online meetings with up to 15 participants -- because your personal meeting room is available 24/7, you don't have to schedule a time to use it
o Screen sharing, white boarding, and chat features
o Audio and video conferencing
Acrobat Connect costs $39 a month or $395 a year. For a free Acrobat Connect demo, visit www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnect .
MySalesResults tracker
Without clear objectives, we'd probably aimlessly stumble through our work day without ever accomplishing a thing. Setting goals and tracking results are two essential functions for any insurance agency, and Hetrick & Associates, the Marquette, MI-based independent agency, aims to meet those needs with MySalesResults.
"We have always measured and tracked sales goals for our producers. How can you expect your agency to grow if there are no set goals? That's just not a good business model," says business development coordinator Jessica Hokenson. She explains that in the past, her agency manually tracked the sales goals for each individual producer, division and the entire agency -- which can be extremely time-consuming.
"We wanted to be able to more efficiently allow producers to manage their whole sales process," she says. "Instead of keeping random Excel spreadsheets here and there with their prospects, we wanted one centralized location where they could manage and track their prospects throughout the sales process."
A Web-based tool designed to improve sales management, tracking, and accountability, MySalesResults recently launched its second version. Over the past year, 20 agencies have purchased MySalesResults.
The program features the following three sections:
o My Reports: Producers enter accounts and activity information, including prospects, sales, and referrals
o My Results: Each producer's results are automatically tracked, including accounts quoted, policies sold, closing ratios, and gross commissions.This information can be viewed on a monthly, quarterly, year-to-date, or annual basis
o My Department/Agency Results: This area includes performance results for each department and the agency as a whole, based on each producer's accomplishments
Constantly updated with real-time information, these reports can be accessed via the Internet.
For more information, or to schedule a demo, visit www.mysalesresults.com.
Amy Bell is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to the Agent's Sales Journal. Visit her Web site at www.writepunch.com or email her at amy@writepunch.com.
