Electronic Filing = Higher Sales, Lower Costs, and Better Service
By: Jack Fries

The Internet is a non-discriminate competitor. It affects not only agents in big cities, but also agents in rural communities. E-commerce has already hit $1 Billion dollars and will reach $1 Trillion dollars by 2003. How is the local agent going to compete?

The fact is, "People will pay more, when they feel that they are getting more." Customer service can no longer be a nebulous term. An agency's focus must shift away from processing to perceptible customer service. But, how can an agent's staff spend more time with the customer when they are still bogged down with processing paper. The answer is Electronic Filing. Transactional Filing has been touted as the answer to the paperless office. While it was a great interim step, it continues to require paper. There are also problems with reconstructing files, misfiled items, and more.

T-Filing touches only one aspect of the paper problem - the filing. It has not solved the problems of searching, handling and the day-to-day processing faced by the CSR. T-Filing has also presented a challenge to producers who are not typically as computer friendly as the CSR. They have resented being forced to lookup dates, and then search through T-Files only to be told they cannot remove anything from the file.

Over the past few decades, CSRs have witnessed an increasing amount of paper to be processed. Today, most experienced people feel their job has degraded to that of a paper-pushing processor. For a CSR who has been in the business for 10-20 years, this can be quite depressing. Studies have shown that people's mental attitudes have a direct correlation to their effectiveness and productivity.

Many agencies continue to work with traditional customer files, and have not yet made the move to T-Filing. For these agencies, we suggest a move directly to Electronic Filing.

The Electronic Filing System allows a CSR to eliminate handling paper, and focus on what is truly important - the customer. Electronic Filing impacts not only the paper, but also the entire mindset of the CSR and agency. It encompasses filing, distribution of information, and the entirety of customer service. Electronic Filing gives the CSR the ability to do virtually everything from their desk, with little or no interruptions. This ability will save the average CSR over 2 hours per day currently spent faxing, filing, copying, printing and mailing. Electronic Filing allows the CSR to use their knowledge to actually help clients protect their assets, which is certainly more satisfying than processing paper. Electronic Filing is a mindset and a way of life, with the objective to eliminate the problems with paper, not simply the paper itself. Electronic Filing will result in an immediate hard cost savings for the agency, something T-Filing could never do.

Postage and supply costs have escalated to the point they represent a substantial percentage of an agency's expenses. In The Electronic Agency, an agent can reduce these costs substantially. In order to do so, they must begin to retrain themselves and their customers to move away from costly, old-fashion mail to an economical electronic method.

Postage costs are only a part of the picture, and does not include the tremendous cost in personnel, toner, paper, etc. Studies show that the average cost for mailing an envelope is not thirty-three cents but two dollars. When you multiply this times the number of items mailed every day, you arrive at a staggering figure.

Agencies are beginning to think electronically and communicate electronically as well. In a perfect world, no one would print or mail anything ever again. Why mail something when it can be sent electronically? With the scanning software we propose, a CSR is able to combine a scanned document with any other document from the Electronic File and fax or E-mail them to a company or even a client.

Let's say that your claims person wants to send a Loss Notice along with an E-Filed copy of a Dec Page plus a scanned copy of a police report. The Loss Notice and the Dec Page can be printed directly to some scanning software, stacked on top of the Police Report and sent directly to the company without the CSR ever leaving their desk. Individual supporting documents such as receipts, doctor's bills, etc. can be filed in certain software, until the claim is settled and then archived to disk for future reference.

Likewise, the CSR can scan a copy of a commercial endorsement, copy the invoice and cover letter to the scanning software and send all three documents to the customer in one step. Both the agency and the customer copy can then be tossed.

Another benefit of electronic communication is that most fax/email systems keep a log of all items sent and received. This provides proof that a customer received their document. Logs can be printed and stored on paper, or they can be copied to the software and stored electronically.

Not only will the Electronic Filing system cut costs, productivity will increase dramatically for your CSRs, marketers and claims people. Increased productivity estimates range from 25% to 48%. The new available time can be spent providing the perceptible customer service that will overcome some of the price differentials found on the Internet. Also, this new concept can show you how to integrate technology to match, and even exceed, the benchmarks in the Best Practices Study.

While the hardware and software costs of Electronic Filing are minor (With some management systems the cost is less than $300 per work station), there are many new techniques involved. The whole manual and T-filing way of doing things must be abandoned for these new concepts. Just like the trapeze artist that must let go of one rung to grasp another, so must an agent let go of the old way of doing business to the past and grasp this new concept.

If you are more interested in selling insurance than in re-inventing the wheel, we can help. Today, Fries & Fries Consulting is providing the ProImage program to agents nationwide. Our trained professionals will teach your agency to make the transition to Electronic-Filing, reducing stress, enabling them to handle more customers and increase revenue per employee. During the two days in your office, your specialist will motivate and challenge your staff to actually embrace these important changes. You will learn how to setup your Electronic Filing system, decide on which documents to scan, and what hardware is required. Depending on your state's requirements, you may also receive Continuing Education Credit of 3-6 hours per person.

Will you continue to be frustrated with the impact of technology on your bottom line and your return on investment? Why not position your agency right now for the next millennium? Why wait and catch up with others later on when you can be setting the standards right now?

Jack Fries has the systems, the support and the answers to make it happen. Contact us and speak with an insurance professional who understands your needs as well as your frustrations. Ask for the name of other agencies that have already made this critical decision - possibly including many of your competitors. We will explain how easy it is to make these important changes to your agency.

Jack Fries Fries & Fries Consulting P. O. Box 66 Alexandria, KY 41001 Phone: (859) 694-1580 Fax: (800) 887-5874 E-mail: jfries@jackfries.com

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Fries & Fries Consulting • P. O. Box 66 • Alexandria, KY 41001
phone (859)441-4528 • fax 1-800-887-5874• e-mail jfries@jackfries.com