As technology in the insurance industry continues to advance, so will the way companies approach those technologies. With Salesforce Financial Services Cloud (FSC), insurance businesses have the opportunity to integrate all the systems, tools, and technologies they need from a single, cloud-based platform.
In this blog, we’ll elaborate on the following topics:
What Is an Insurance Agency Management System?
Insurance Agency Management Systems (AMS) support the daily operations of insurance companies. An AMS is software that insurance agencies use to organize their book of business and operations. AMS solutions often incorporate integrated benefits management, policy management, market access and quoting, document management, and more.
Key Features To Look for in an AMS
In addition to the features mentioned above, key features to look for in an AMS include:
- Workflow automation: An effective AMS allows agents and reps to streamline their day-to-day tasks.
- Customized reports and dashboards: AMS reports and dashboards should be customizable and provide detailed information. This allows agents and reps to interpret market trends and make informed business decisions.
- Streamlined policy management: Policy management is the foundation of the insurance industry. An AMS should be built to keep policies organized and easy to interpret by each agent and broker.
- Easy-to-follow lead management: Each AMS should enable insurance agents and reps to track leads and pitch new business opportunities.
Best Agency Management Systems That Integrate With Salesforce
While there are many different AMS options on the market, some are easier to integrate with Salesforce than others. The three best AMS solutions to integrate with Salesforce are:
Applied Epic
Applied Epic manages all lines of business in a uniform, integrated system on Salesforce. It seamlessly exchanges P&C and benefits data between systems and allows agents to manage benefits plan details and attributes, commission schedules, and service plans natively in Salesforce.
Applied Epic is built to work across all Salesforce Clouds, such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Financial Services Cloud (FSC), Marketing Cloud, and Experience Cloud. Industry-specific integrations have been built with FSC to integrate policy term lines and agency structure.
This AMS fully integrates with Salesforce to exchange data for accounts, contacts, policies, activities, and more. The data from these programs can flow one way or interchangeably, depending on the needs and requirements of your insurance business.
Applied Epic offers significant AMS capabilities, including:
- Purpose-built data models
- Real-time benefits plan modeling
- Customizable reports and dashboards
- Lead management
- Renewal management
Veruna
Veruna enables insurance agencies and brokers to sell more products and services while continuously building customer relationships. With 80,000 users, Veruna AMS partners with Salesforce to help agencies and brokers discover great opportunities, close business deals, and interact with customers.
Veruna is an insurance technology solution that uses Salesforce to its advantage. This AMS enables insurance agents and reps to genuinely understand their customers through detailed reporting and analytics.
There are many benefits of integrating Veruna into Salesforce, including:
- Increased sales
- More deals closed
- Better customer retention
- Deep understanding of the customer
- Comprehending the full scope of the business
- Back-office efficiencies
AMS360
AMS360 allows insurance agencies to sync Salesforce data with AMS data. This includes accounts, contacts, opportunities, policies and policy information, tasks, customers, submission shells, and activity.
After the AMS360 setup, the initial sync collects customer data from AMS360 and integrates it into the Salesforce software. The next steps are as follows:
- As a producer develops a new opportunity, the connector transfers to AMS360 as a prospect.
- As a CSR writes a quote, Salesforce prospect data is copied in a submission shell in AMS360.
- Once a client agrees to a policy purchase, the opportunity is identified as “closed-won” in Salesforce, and the CSR is notified that it’s time to create a policy.
- After a policy is created, it’s shown in Salesforce and a producer can use the information for client engagement.
There are many benefits of integrating AMS360 into your Salesforce software, including:
- Growing sales opportunities
- Promoting a better client experience with more insight
- Presenting accurate data with minimal errors
What Other Tools Can Be Integrated With Salesforce Financial Services Cloud?
Although AMS is a significant component of the insurance industry, other tools are also needed to ensure smooth processes for customers and agents. There are a variety of insurance tools that can be integrated with Salesforce, including:
E-Signature
DocuSign
With over 700,000 customers and millions of signers, DocuSign is one of the most trusted eSignature solutions available. DocuSign enables insurance businesses to maximize their Salesforce use by sending agreements to contacts or specific email addresses for signatures. These signature agreements can include clear messaging, signing reminders, and authentication options.
DocuSign has signature and agreement templates that users can take advantage of to save time and maintain consistency. In addition, this eSignature solution is responsive to all devices, including laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. This allows agents and customers to sign documents at their convenience.
DocuSign is compliant with ISO 27001, HIPAA, 21 CFR Part 11, Sarbanes-Oxley, and FedRAMP standards, so customers don’t have to worry about shared information. In addition, DocuSign provides SOC-audited data and full encryption for all archived documents.
Conga
Conga simplifies the signing process for insurance companies and their customers. Conga helps businesses maintain agreement consistency and establish control of their agreements. This eSignature solution uses Salesforce to its advantage to gain visibility into the customer portfolio and identify where current contracts are in their lifecycle.
By integrating Conga into Salesforce Lightning, users are ready to do business and are able to negotiate contracts quicker. Conga stores pre-approved clauses and alternate clauses when necessary. Once an agreement is settled, approved changes can be updated in Salesforce.
Conga is a scalable and configurable eSignature solution for any business. It offers a variety of contracting situations, including:
- Quotes
- Work Orders
- Statements of Work (SOW)
- Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA)
- Master Service Agreements (MSA)
- Terms and Conditions
- Payment Terms
- Service License Agreements (SLA)
- And more
Adobe Sign
Adobe Sign is a valuable eSignature solution for insurance companies looking to boost productivity, reduce costs, and enhance legal compliance. It’s a seamless signing experience for all users. It’s also easily customizable and requires no back-end coating.
With Adobe Sign, users can merge Salesforce data into well-structured documents. Adobe tracks contracts in real time and allows the insurance company to receive Chatter updates after deals are reviewed and signed by the necessary parties.
All signed Adobe documents are automatically stored and filed in the appropriate Salesforce location. This eSignature solution can be easily integrated with all versions of the Cloud.
By automating start-to-finish approval processes, insurance companies have the opportunity to improve contract compliance, reduce the risk of errors, and save money in the long run.
Without leaving Salesforce, insurance companies have the opportunity to access LinkedIn profiles to discover insights on customers, stay in the know of relevant trends in the industry, find introductions via TeamLink, identify potential leads, and send InMails directly to contacts.
With Salesforce Lightning, admins can customize the interface and develop a more engaging experience to fit their business’s needs. Insurance companies can keep their Salesforce updated by taking advantage of LinkedIn Data Validation. LinkedIn Data Validation identifies which contacts are associated with inaccurate accounts. This report allows agents and reps to find opportunities where an associated contact is no longer with a company or contacts listed as a closed-won opportunity are now employees of a different company.
Data Enrichment
ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo is a sales intelligence tool used by insurance companies to find, connect, and sell to prospective customers. Through ZoomInfo, data is gathered and updated using a combination of technology and tools. After the research is collected, each contact is verified by an in-house research team. Information gathered includes:
- Full name
- Job title
- Company they work for
- Email address
- Direct phone line
- And more
By integrating ZoomInfo and Salesforce, insurance businesses have the opportunity to discover new points of contact and boost engagement rates. ZoomInfo allows agents and reps to uncover business opportunities and personalize conversations with customers.
D&B Hoovers
With over 120 million business records from 30,000 sources in 190 countries, D&B Hoovers provides a combination of data, analytics, and technology to boost insurance sales efforts. D&B Hoovers helps insurance businesses achieve strategic customer targeting and engage in more informed and timely conversations.
D&B Hoovers integrates with Salesforce to provide analytical features to help insurance businesses identify relevant sales opportunities. This data enrichment solution’s Conceptual Search® capabilities and consistently updated SmartLists® offer a list of viable prospects for agents and reps to contact.
Communications
Zoom
In only a few clicks, Zoom enables insurance companies to start a Zoom Meeting, Zoom Phone, or Zoom Webinar with contacts in Salesforce. In addition, Zoom Meetings can be recorded and shared with other Salesforce users for convenience. This allows customers and agents to manage and sync inbound and outbound conversations easily.
Five9
Five9 collaborates with Salesforce to create a unified, digital experience to deliver quick, smart, and personalized services. Five9 provides a variety of sales optimization capabilities. It offers an intelligent dialer, click-to-dial functionality, and synchronization of customer lists and data.
When integrated with Salesforce, Five9 gives agents convenient call controls for inbound, outbound, and blended calls under one system. This enhances user experience and enables agents to productively enrich the customer journey.
RingCentral
RingCentral integrates with Salesforce to give insurance companies click-to-dial capabilities for leads, contacts, or account records. RingCentral offers advanced Salesforce features, including offline call longing and a multi-call log option; this allows agents to address the most pressing tasks first.
Amazon Connect
Amazon Connect is an on-demand service with no long-term contracts or hefty upfront charges. Amazon Connect users are charged based on the number of minutes that are used to engage with customers.
Amazon Connect and Salesforce combine forces to build a complete, personalized experience. This duo provides accurate scaling and pace of innovation to aid insurance companies in growth to meet both business and customer needs. Through the AWS Management Console, insurance agents and reps can develop effective customer interactions without coding.
Amazon Connect runs on AWS proven infrastructure that operates in 77 Availability Zones within 24 geographic regions. This infrastructure makes Amazon Connect much more available, scalable, and resistant to errors than if a contact center was run from a single data center.
Integrate Salesforce and Insurance Technology With Abstrakt Cloud Solutions
At Abstrakt Cloud Solutions, we understand that the insurance industry uses a wide range of tools and technology to support customer relationships. Salesforce allows you to integrate these various applications so your insurance company has a unified, holistic view of the customer from a 360-degree angle.
Salesforce Financial Services Cloud is a way for insurance businesses like yours to optimize the way they do business.
Our expert Salesforce Consultants collaborate with businesses across the nation to streamline processes and adapt to a constantly changing industry.
Contact Abstrakt Cloud Solutions today to make sure you’re getting the most value from your Salesforce investment!
