Agency Management System

[Undecided]

Hello, first timer here. I will read all 10 pages of these posts this weekend. But for now need opinion on Hawksoft. We have Applied System TAM for 20 years. The HS reps made this look good, but what are is the downside? Thank you.

[JAM]

We have HS and its great for personal lines. However, we are a commercial heavy agency and I hear AMS is better for commercial as well as managing the entire operation. Im thinking about looking into a demo.

[gforaker]

The latest word on the street is that Applied is a bit higher on the purchase, but AMS is higher for support. That is just 2nd hand info, I have no figures.

Hawksoft is fine for a first system, but won't do many things TAM can do. Check with your Applied sales rep for full details. I;m sure they have a list. I wouldn't expect Hawksoft to tell you what they CAN'T do.

[onstar]

In California. 18 months being independent agency (3 years with State Farm before that).

We use FSC Manager (from the people that make FSC Rater). The biggest selling point was that it bridged with FSC Rater "perfectly" but we never use that feature. For 95% of the quotes that we use the FSC Rater for, we bridge from the Rater to the insurance company's web, then we get the data to Manager through company download. I'm not a big fan of FSC Manager, but it's affordable. It's too buggy (feels like a beta), and I feel very limited by it.

Wish we started with Hawksoft. Only test drove Hawksoft for about half hour, but it feels much more polished a product.

And why is TAM so freakishly expensive? Holy crap! Really? Maybe one day when we become huge. How much a book do you need before you can justify that cost? $5M?

[Solofletch]

Thanks so much for this information. This is a treasure and I appreciate your effort. I own a Commercial P&C agency with majority agency bill business. We currently use Agency Pro and it's about to frustrate all of us. Looking at Applied and maybe Hawksoft. Thanks again for the pricing info.

[SteveAnderson]

As a resource for your research for the best agency system for your organization you should take a look at http://www.AgencyUserReviews.com. It is a rating and review site that allows anyone to post their experience with the systems they use. There is a section for Agency Management Systems.

[AgencyEquity]

When started my Independent Agency over a decade ago there were a small handful of management systems on the market, of course the two big ones, Applied and AMS. The ballgame has changed, there are now well over 20 systems that are designed for insurance agencies and the best thing is, the technology is just getting better and better. I have compiled a list of these systems, you can view this on my site which is linked below.

[justjack]

We have been using Paris, the vendor is Noria, for about 10 yrs, I mean there has been ups and downs, but then again the tech industry has been moving to quick for insurance software to follow. But we're now happy with the solution. They allow you to tailor your screens without coding so basically you get a personalized, generic system and without download costs as well as it has a great range of functionalists. Definitely worth a browse - http://www.noria.no.

[Jcoy12]

We are currently looking into switching from TAM Online to a system made by Impowersoft called "Aspire". I have done a few demos and played around in the system a few times and from what I can tell it does everything that TAM Online does and a decent amount more. I also liked the fact that the system is entirely web based. I've been searching for some reviews but I havent found very many. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

[SteveAnderson]

You can go to http://www.AgencyUserReviews.com and look for Aspire for any reviews that other agency users might have left.

Steve Anderson
www.SteveAnderson.com

[marcwsu]

Any opinions on QQ catalyst? We are a newer agency that will be purchasing our first management system. I have used Eclipse and the other partner has used TAM. Both are out of our price range. We will handle both personal lines and commercial. We also have a sizable life/heatlh book that we'd like to use some features of the management system for this end of the business.

We will only be 2-3 users at a single location. We are looking for a cloud based system that can handle downloads. I am hoping to stay under $200/month.

Any other recommendations for a solid system in the range.

[aem84]

I have read through many of the responses on this posting. Many are a few years old now and I feel "out dated" given the advancement in technology and software over the past 2 years. If you were looking for a new agency management system that is web based and has social media aspects to it AND can "talk" with digital marketing software what are the options out there???? I am very interested in Aspire by Impowersoft. Is there anyone that currently uses it? I have also looked at Hawksoft and QQ Catalyst. However, it is vitally important that it talks to a solid (and affordable) digital marketing (drip marketing) software so it syncs up automatically. Thoughts??? I have checked out the review website that is referenced a couple times but how updated is that? I see where Aspire is clearly the winner but how many people voted in that? Thank you.

[yoyowordup]

I have read through many of the responses on this posting. Many are a few years old now and I feel "out dated" given the advancement in technology and software over the past 2 years. If you were looking for a new agency management system that is web based and has social media aspects to it AND can "talk" with digital marketing software what are the options out there???? I am very interested in Aspire by Impowersoft. Is there anyone that currently uses it? I have also looked at Hawksoft and QQ Catalyst. However, it is vitally important that it talks to a solid (and affordable) digital marketing (drip marketing) software so it syncs up automatically. Thoughts??? I have checked out the review website that is referenced a couple times but how updated is that? I see where Aspire is clearly the winner but how many people voted in that? Thank you.

If you click on the specific company at agencyuserreviews.com it shows you how many customers reviewed the software and their comments. Probably not a complete method of due diligence, but certainly a good starting point. My best reference for this type of purchase has always been peers through the Big I.

[jtmgolf00]

You should look at the new system from quikfuzion. It uses the latest technologies (mobile, social media built in), is cloud based uisng Amazon, and has a great pricing structure (you only pay for the features you use). Also has a free trial.

[aem84]

How long has Quikfuzion been around? Roughly how many agencies do they work with? Have they developed previous AMS software? I am worried about working with a company that might not truly uderstand the industry and just has a "neat" system. I will check them out though. Thanks for the referral.