Article 1 in a 6-part series
Sales automation is one of six primary categories we recommend independent insurance agencies invest in to build out their InsurTech strategy in 2020.
What Is Sales Automation?
Boost your sales by managing and utilizing relevant information on prospects, leads, and clients. Centralize information and streamline your workflow to increase sales efficiency and productivity.
Why It’s Important to Use These Tools
Sales are about contacts, numbers, and nurturing. Now, more than ever, technology provides you with actionable intelligence about your prospects and clients so you can tailor your engagement, convert more business, and keep happy policyholders coming back for new coverage, as well as renewals.
The Always Essential Role of Sales
There will always be market dips and other times when you’ll need to ramp up quickly or even rebuild your business. Sales automation tools accelerate the sales process, so you can do more in less time.
As you prepare for the US economy to reopen, these tools can make a big difference right now. Not only can you laser focus your prospecting, you can spot opportunities within your own data, and take your client nurturing to new heights.
Sales Automation Solutions To Consider Implementing
Here are some of the functions you can automate. We’ve included representative solutions vendors as well. These are just examples. Our list is not intended to be exhaustive of all the options out there, nor does ePayPolicy endorse or prefer one vendor over another.
CRM
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), also known as Sales Force Automation (SFA), captures every prospect/client interaction in a live record. This includes everything from emails and calls to quotes and renewal notices. Major platforms like Salesforce, Pipedrive and HubSpot let you:
- Replace multiple tools (or manual tasks) with a convenient, one-stop solution
- See where to focus efforts and receive alerts when action is needed
- Sell smarter, close faster, and grow your agency
Meeting Software
You might think of meeting software as a digital “time management assistant” that coordinates your schedule, organizes meetings, and keeps your team on track, wherever they’re working today. Apps (some free!) like Calendly, GoToMeeting and Google Calendar:
- Alert you about upcoming tasks and appointments
- Schedule team meetings without the back-and-forth emails
- Make it easy to attend video meetings remotely via any mobile device (or computer)
Tracking & Analytics
Business Intelligence (BI) solutions let you manage and support business data with analytics, easy-to-understand visuals, and reporting. BI software providers include Tableau, Sisense, Domo, and many more. For insurance agencies, advantages include:
- Securely connect, combine and manipulate data from multiple sources
- See key data in real-time across agency functions (sales, marketing, customer support, etc.) to track and plan
- Get trusted insights to make decisions faster and more confidently
Thinking Ahead
Who wouldn’t want easy-to-use tools that help you focus, organize, track, and ultimately, boost your sales? With powerful automation technology like CRM Solutions, Meeting Software and Tracking & Analytics (BI), your sales team becomes super productive—and nothing falls through the cracks.
Where Does Your Agency Stand?
Find out! The InsurTech Award presented by ePayPolicy is now open for entries. Top scorers will get cash and other awesome prizes. All entrants receive their InsurTech adoption score, along with valuable feedback. Enter today and find out how your agency stacks up against others (and how you’ve improved over time, if you’ve entered before). Judges even offer tips on specific ways to leverage automation for:
- Sales
2. Marketing
3. Team Collaboration
4. Client Experience
5. Customer Support
6. Agency Management Systems
Our 6-part series covers all of these InsurTech solution categories. We invite you to explore them all.
