They were supposed to make multi-tasking quotes a cinch for auto insurance agents, but the recent releases of Windows-based comparative raters by QuickQuote and TurboRater weren’t all they were cracked up to be.
Conversions from the former DOS operating systems have not gone smoothly for a sizeable portion of agents, causing both companies to postpone ditching the DOS versions for good.
Florida-based QuickQuote puts a lot of the blame on agents, saying they have not done their part in making the transition to Windows a smooth one. Roughly 700 of QuickQuote’s 2,000-or-so users have made the switch, but the remainder are switching back and forth, having problems with the program and, in many cases, inadequate hardware.
“The agents haven’t done their part to make this a smooth transition,” QuickQuote President Ira Saunders was quoted as saying in a recent article published by Unite, a Florida agent’s magazine. “We alerted agents months ago that we were moving to a Windows version of our rater. We urged them to make sure their computers were ready. Our July 5 changeover date was publicized well in advance. We shipped the new CD so agents could install the Windows program and get comfortable with it before we pulled the plug on the DOS version. However, on July 5, the phones started ringing and we discovered very few agents had even opened the package. We held training sessions for the program, but less than 100 agents attended. It has been a nightmare.” QuickQuote has since extended the life of its DOS-based system at least another 60 days.
At Carrolton-based ITC, the creator of TurboRater, the story is somewhat different.
Gary Shapiro, vice president of sales and marketing, said many of the company’s 2,300 customers nationwide have had problems with the Windows-based rater since it was released in early 1999.
“It hasn’t been the easiest transition in the world,” Shapiro said. But, while agent hardware has had something to do with the difficulties, Shapiro said the software is mostly to blame. “It did not come out as clean as we would like,” he said.
As a result, TurboRater has extended the availability of its DOS-based system until it can re-launch a new and improved Windows-based system within the next six months. The company sent out a letter to each of its customers explaining the situation, and that the Automobile Insurance Agents of Texas had assisted in remedying the situation.
So far, only about 50 agents have requested using the DOS system until the Windows system is repaired, Shapiro said. Not surprisingly, agents who never used the DOS system have had a higer success rate with the Windows-based TurboRater.
Shapiro estimates somewhere around 20 percent of customers have experienced problems.
“Rolling out a Windows product was more difficult than we expected,” Shapiro said. “We underestimated the forces of human nature [people don’t like change]. In addition, we experienced some issues that affected product acceptance. In working with a users group of the Automobile Agents of Texas we feel we have identified these issues and are working quickly and effectively to resolve them.”
If an agency is having difficulties with the Windows rater they can request to receive updates on the DOS comparative while ITC addresses their issues, Shapiro added.
TurboRater and QuickQuote are both committed to a Windows-based system because of the benefits that go hand in hand with it.
“We are fully committed to the Windows program,” Shapiro said. “This system is definitely the program of the future.”
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