Mgmt Systems-Nexsure vs Ebix vs Hawksoft vs OTHER??
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:29 pm
short time lurker, first time poster. Looking for some advise/conversation on mgmt systems for small agents.
I am in a small town and have been a 1 man shop with a PT CSR for about 5 yrs after a 10 year career with a commercial direct writer. I started from zero and have built a decent commercial book for a small town commercial guy. Mainly main street type biz with a majority of those being small contractors. My accounts are pretty spread out geographically (all within an hour and a half of me) partly by plan so as to insulate my self from competition so to speak.
I only have 15-20 personal lines (home/auto) accts. A dozen group health accounts and probably a dozen ind health customers and I usually write 3-5 individual life/DI policies a year.
With my kids about to leave the house, it's about time to ramp up the production again....I have brought on a personal lines producer to help grow the personal lines segment and now the issue of a mgmt system is on my mind again.
I've never had a mgmt system other than CAPDAT for Acord apps and certs but am thinking I am going to need to bite the bullet and get a good system soon but I don't want to bankrupt my self with a mgmt system. I've heard some real horror stories from people going with AMS or Applied years ago and how their up front costs are ridiculous and their monthly fees are crazy as well. Therefore, I'm not really interested in either one of those companies. Partly because of the fact that I think they have taken advantage of agents over the years (I'm stubborn that way!) and partly because they seemed antiquated when I first looked at mgmt systems 6 years ago before I started my own agency.
I've seen older posts on this subject but wanted to get some up to date input and maybe try to keep it on these systems unless there are others that might make sense. (again, I'm not interested in AMS or Applied)
When I first started looking 6 yrs ago and decided just to hold out and see how it went with nothing (it went fine), I felt like Nexsure seemed like the best option from a functionality basis but it was apparent there were some kinks to still work out from seeing online reviews etc.
I looked at all of the following and did a DEMO with every single one.
AMS
Applied
GBS
Quickfile
Agency Software
Special Agent
MI/FSC
Nexsure= at that time, it was still a ridiculous $1,500 per user with a min of 3 users +$100/month (is this still the same? (I understand the concept of getting what you pay for but I can still bitch, right?)
I created a spreadsheet and compared them all. The big pluses to me were:
1] Nexsure seemed to be the only one that was SALES based. you could keep track of prospect information, x-dates, carrier info etc.
All the others were CLIENT based and couldn't easily keep track of prospect information. As an agent in growth mode that was huge.
2] Online system. Can access anywhere.
3] They go direct through Realtime and don't use a 3rd party vendor for it like most others.
Nexsure also seemed to as user friendly as any other system. Much better than the big 2.
Cost is a huge concern. If Nexsure still costs $1,500/user with a minimum of 3 years and then $100/month, I'm not sure how interested I am in paying $4,500 up front.
What are others opinions on Nexsur? On other mgmt systems? Keeping in mind my size etc. Any information or discussion would be great.
I am in a small town and have been a 1 man shop with a PT CSR for about 5 yrs after a 10 year career with a commercial direct writer. I started from zero and have built a decent commercial book for a small town commercial guy. Mainly main street type biz with a majority of those being small contractors. My accounts are pretty spread out geographically (all within an hour and a half of me) partly by plan so as to insulate my self from competition so to speak.
I only have 15-20 personal lines (home/auto) accts. A dozen group health accounts and probably a dozen ind health customers and I usually write 3-5 individual life/DI policies a year.
With my kids about to leave the house, it's about time to ramp up the production again....I have brought on a personal lines producer to help grow the personal lines segment and now the issue of a mgmt system is on my mind again.
I've never had a mgmt system other than CAPDAT for Acord apps and certs but am thinking I am going to need to bite the bullet and get a good system soon but I don't want to bankrupt my self with a mgmt system. I've heard some real horror stories from people going with AMS or Applied years ago and how their up front costs are ridiculous and their monthly fees are crazy as well. Therefore, I'm not really interested in either one of those companies. Partly because of the fact that I think they have taken advantage of agents over the years (I'm stubborn that way!) and partly because they seemed antiquated when I first looked at mgmt systems 6 years ago before I started my own agency.
I've seen older posts on this subject but wanted to get some up to date input and maybe try to keep it on these systems unless there are others that might make sense. (again, I'm not interested in AMS or Applied)
When I first started looking 6 yrs ago and decided just to hold out and see how it went with nothing (it went fine), I felt like Nexsure seemed like the best option from a functionality basis but it was apparent there were some kinks to still work out from seeing online reviews etc.
I looked at all of the following and did a DEMO with every single one.
AMS
Applied
GBS
Quickfile
Agency Software
Special Agent
MI/FSC
Nexsure= at that time, it was still a ridiculous $1,500 per user with a min of 3 users +$100/month (is this still the same? (I understand the concept of getting what you pay for but I can still bitch, right?)
I created a spreadsheet and compared them all. The big pluses to me were:
1] Nexsure seemed to be the only one that was SALES based. you could keep track of prospect information, x-dates, carrier info etc.
All the others were CLIENT based and couldn't easily keep track of prospect information. As an agent in growth mode that was huge.
2] Online system. Can access anywhere.
3] They go direct through Realtime and don't use a 3rd party vendor for it like most others.
Nexsure also seemed to as user friendly as any other system. Much better than the big 2.
Cost is a huge concern. If Nexsure still costs $1,500/user with a minimum of 3 years and then $100/month, I'm not sure how interested I am in paying $4,500 up front.
What are others opinions on Nexsur? On other mgmt systems? Keeping in mind my size etc. Any information or discussion would be great.