Not sure how I feel about Salesforce, but I know there are (2) programs that run in conjunction with Salesforce.
One is Tech Canary and the other is Veruna. I know next to nothing about either of these. Problem is that Salesforce can be expensive. The other, at the risk of sounding like a luddite is that running completely in the cloud? I'm not totally convinced. There are companies that offer solutions that are not cloud-based, so I don't think it's necessarily the best thing. If it was so good for the end consumer, everyone would have done it already. It's slower than a program that is installed in house, on a server, and it is inherently riskier. I don't care where the data is being stored, it's riskier. Thieves are lurking in every corner of the earth trying to hack into Amazon servers, Google servers, wherever there is data...so for anybody to say that cloud based apps are safer than in-house is pure nonsense. They are smart and persistent hackers, for sure.
That being said, it's hard to make a really educated decision about a system when companies will not let you demo a working version. Even if you could get a login and password, that is limited in giving you a true feel for a program.
Let me bold and say that a small group of agents (NOT a users group of hundreds of users, or even an advisory group of 50 principals) sharing the same vision could come up with a blueprint for a system that would do everything an agency needs. It would be critical that CSR's be involved, so they could comment on the ease of processing transactions.
Yes, reports are important, and sales are important, and email integration with MailChimp is important (because it's free up to 2,500 email addresses), and integration with Docusign OR RSign is important...but first it needs to do basic stuff like keep track of Contacts, Policies, Transactions, Correspondence, Documentation. More than anything it needs to keep track of everyday tasks very, very well. Nothing fancy.
Then...you can dress it up with all the other features.
Honestly, I think it should cost as little as possible...I think it should be modeled after ACORD, as someone else suggested.
Here's a snippet from Wiki entry "Established in 1970 as a non-profit organization, ACORD was formed by insurance carriers and agents focused on
building efficiencies in the United States Property Casualty Insurance Market."
This probably sounds simplistic to those working in the software industry, and I would not disagree...but I would say that it has to first be simple, straightforward, and intuitive.
Building efficiencies, yes! There is enough inefficiency in the varied company interface systems.
Interested in taking this conversation offline? Get in touch with me by email or phone.
George Page
(203) 453-5259
george@pageins.com