If you needed yard work done in your backyard, would you hire several companies to get the job done? Would you hire one just to cut the grass, another to put down mulch and another to plant flowers? Unless you’re fairly affluent and particular about landscaping, the answer is most likely “No”. So why should the software solutions that run your business and hold your client’s data be any different?

Historically most companies invested in software with a “Best in Breed” approach, implementing several different specialty solutions for each part of their business that can integrate with each other. Despite this being a common business practice in the past, there are several drawbacks to having multiple systems with the first being the time and money that goes into integrations.

Time

Oftentimes software solutions don’t have a native integration built out with another platform. For example, take your company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and quoting software. You must either allocate time and resources to build out the integration yourself or hire a third-party vendor to build out the integration for you and make sure they’re connected and talking to each other. Unlike with all-in-one solutions, when problems or questions arise, there are multiple product vendors you need to speak with in order to answer questions or resolve issues regarding the software. 

Maintenance

Any challenges that come with the integration can lead to prolonged or costly delays if the right team and tools aren’t in place to manage the process from the beginning. Even with some of the more-popular and well-known software vendors, like Microsoft, the ability to support and maintain these complex systems can be overwhelming for even the most-advanced administrators. Not to mention, when you have various data sets across multiple systems, your clients can’t quickly and easily review them because you’re bouncing between solutions.

Human Capital

One factor that often goes overlooked when implementing multiple solutions at your business is Human Capital. When you add new features to your tech stack through different platforms, you have to continuously train your employees on how to use the new solutions. Much like the example of the CRM and Quoting software, each of those solutions had to be learned by your employees which took away both time and opportunity.

The Solution 

All-in-one solutions like AgencySmart are designed with a single user interface, which provides consistency for the user and minimizes the learning curve as well as the amount of training required for each user. With one integrated system, there is no need to worry about typos and naming conventions not matching between systems. Whether you are a small retail shop, a national TPA or General Agent, AgencySmart is designed to help insurance agents be more productive, more effective and most importantly more profitable. Work Smart…AgencySmart!