Agency management system or CRM: which one is the system of record for what?

What is each one the record for?

Where does that split come from?

A Nationwide article for agents puts it in one sentence: “An insurance agency management system, or AMS, is an agency’s system of record.” It describes carrier downloads as daily updates pushed to the AMS that keep “policy data, claims data, billing alerts, client messages, policy prints and direct bill commissions” in one place. An Applied Systems brochure describes IVANS Download as connectivity software for automated exchange of policy-related information between insurers and agencies’ management systems.

Salesforce defines CRM as “a technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers.”

Vertafore, which sells both kinds of product, says a CRM lacks the ability to keep a real-time record of policies and policy changes, process commissions or service policies, and that an AMS “is designed to be your system of record” but lacks complete customer journey tracking. The line is not fixed. Applied Systems says Applied Epic’s native capabilities include prospecting and pipeline management alongside accounting and policy management. Check what your own system does before buying another.

Where do service requests fall?

Between the two. A certificate request arrives as an email, which is a conversation. Answering it needs the policy record, which is in the management system. The result is a document that has to be filed against the policy. The follow-up is a task that could sit in either system.

An agency with both tools can end up with requests in three places: the inbox, a CRM task and a management system activity. Each holds part of the story and none holds the status.

Pick one home for an open request and keep to it. If the management system has activities with owners and due dates, that is usually the shorter path, because the policy and the documents are already there. If requests are tracked elsewhere, each one should link to the policy record and the finished document should be filed back to it. The rule that matters is that anything stating or changing coverage is produced from the system of record, not from a copy.

What should an agency check before adding a second system?

• Whether the current system already does it. Read the vendor’s own feature list first.
• Whether the two are integrated by the vendors, or whether you will be building and maintaining the link. Vertafore’s guide asks the same question.
• Which system owns each field: client name and address, contacts, policy numbers, dates. Decide which one wins when they differ.
• What happens when a carrier download updates a policy. Find out whether the change reaches the second system, and when.
• Where documents and servicing notes are kept for errors and omissions purposes, and whether staff will have to enter anything twice.
• Who can see what. Client and policy data in a second system needs the same access controls as the first.
• How to get your data out if you stop using it.

Related questions

Does an agency need both an agency management system and a CRM?

Not necessarily. The management system is the one an agency cannot do without, because it holds the policy record and receives carrier downloads. Some management systems include prospecting and pipeline tools, so check yours before adding a CRM.

What is a carrier download?

An automated feed of policy information from an insurer into the agency’s management system. Vertafore says of its AMS360 product that carriers directly download new policies, endorsements, claims and renewals.

Should certificates be issued from a CRM?

They should be produced from the system that holds the current policy record, which is the agency management system. A CRM’s copy of policy data can be out of date.