For successful agency businesses, efficiency, resource management, and relationship building are of uttermost importance. Yet, achieving these goals can be challenging. This is where an agency management system (AMS) streamlines business operations.
AMS carries all the features of the best customer relationship management (CRM) systems but provides a deeper automation level. It automates your online quote process, expediting responses and locking down more business deals. It is smart enough to assign leads to the best-suited agents, enhancing conversions. But its capabilities don’t end here. AMS saves time, frees up human resources, and ensures consistency.
That's the power of an agency management system. This article introduces AMS and its remarkable features and suggests the top AMS options you can choose from, taking your agency to new heights of productivity and success.
Table of Contents
What Is an Agency Management System?
An Agency Management System (AMS) is advanced software designed to automate numerous tasks across an agency. AMS doesn't just track existing customers and strengthen customer relations; it's also a robust lead generation tool. It helps small teams handle multiple roles effectively and automates workflows for larger entities with significant daily data.
AMS is Software as a Service (SaaS), which means it's delivered over the internet rather than installed directly onto your systems. As a SaaS, AMS is easy to update, scalable, accessible from any internet-enabled device, and generally has lower upfront costs.
Although often associated with insurance agencies, the AMS’s utility extends beyond this industry and can be tailored to cater to any organization's unique needs.
An agency management system is more than just a piece of software; it's a transformative tool designed to streamline your agency's operations, boost efficiency, and drive growth.
Agency Management System Features
- Industry-Specific CRM
- Workflow Automation
- Sales Management
- Project and Task Management
- Cross-Selling
- Dashboard Analytics
- Custom Reporting
- Cloud-Based Access
AMS offers numerous features Key features in an agency management system are the following:
Industry-Specific CRM
A CRM is a tool for managing an organization's interactions with current and potential customers. However, an industry-specific CRM within an AMS is tailored to address a particular industry's unique needs and challenges. For instance, an AMS for a marketing agency can have a CRM focused on campaign management, lead generation, and marketing analytics.
This industry-specific CRM enables agencies to manage customer relationships better, track sales pipelines, execute effective marketing strategies, and improve business outcomes. With such a CRM, agencies can organize, automate, and synchronize their customer-related operations, providing efficient, highly personalized service and adjusting to their clients' needs.
Workflow Automation
Workflow automation is a feature that automates routine and repetitive tasks, ensuring efficient, accurate, and consistent completion. This feature saves time and improves the agency’s operations, making them precise and less prone to errors and omissions. Automating repetitive tasks leads to higher-quality outputs and greater satisfaction among your clients.
Workflow automation can standardize agency’s processes. Whether it's a sales process, onboarding a new client, or processing a contract, the steps involved are defined and followed the same way every time. Standardization makes the agency more efficient and provides consistency in your clients' experience.
By taking over redundant tasks, workflow automation lets your team focus on what they do best - serving clients and growing your business. It increases productivity and enhances customer service and your agency's overall performance.
Sales Management
A feature that streamlines selling, making the sales process more efficient and effective. It tracks leads and prospects, manages sales pipelines, sets and monitors sales targets, and evaluates individual and team performance. It also makes the sales process transparent, allowing you to identify bottlenecks, track key metrics, and optimize sales strategies.
Sales management automates parts of the sales process, saving time and ensuring a seamless and efficient sales process. For instance, tasks such as assigning leads to the most appropriate sales agents, scheduling follow-ups, or even sending out quotes can all be automated.
AMS provides comprehensive reporting and analytics tied to sales management. It can generate detailed insights on sales performance, conversion rates, sales cycle length, and more, helping you make data-driven decisions to boost sales productivity and performance.
Project and Task Management
Like the best project management tools, AMS incorporates the feature that ensures the smooth running of agency operations. With this feature, your AMS becomes a centralized hub where you can create projects, assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, and monitor progress. It provides a clear view of what needs to be done, who is responsible, and when it's due, helping to keep everyone on the same page and ensuring nothing goes unnoticed.
Project and task management feature increases efficiency, saves your team precious time by eliminating the need for back-and-forth emails, and reduces the chances of miscommunication or missed deadlines.
Cross-Selling
With an AMS, agencies can analyze customer data to identify patterns, behaviors, or needs that indicate an opportunity for cross-selling and suggest additional services or products to an existing client. For instance, if a customer has purchased a particular product or service, the AMS could identify other products or services that similar customers have found helpful, or that naturally complement the initial purchase.
The cross-selling feature allows agencies to deepen their relationships with existing clients and increase their satisfaction and loyalty by providing additional value through relevant offerings. Moreover, since acquiring a new client is five times more expensive than retaining an existing one, cross-selling can increase an agency's profitability.
Dashboard Analytics
This feature gives you a quick, easy-to-understand overview of your agency's operations, performance, and trends. It visually represents an agency's key performance metrics in real time, allowing you to address issues before they impact your operations.
For example, if the dashboard shows a sudden drop in sales, you can investigate and address the issue immediately. On the other hand, if your social media marketing campaign is performing exceptionally well, you can allocate more resources to it and increase your revenue, which means AMS possesses features of the best social media management tools.
Through the dashboard, an AMS presents data in a structured, digestible manner. It can show information related to sales performance, customer behavior, marketing campaign effectiveness, and much more. The dashboard may include charts, graphs, or other data visualizations to make the information as clear and actionable as possible.
Custom Reporting
The custom reporting feature generates specific reports based on your agency's unique needs, providing detailed insights that standard reports may not capture. With an AMS, you can select the parameters, metrics, or KPIs you wish to track and focus on the data that matters most to your agency. Your tracking data can include anything from sales performance and lead conversion rates to customer engagement metrics and campaign effectiveness.
One of the key advantages of custom reporting is its flexibility. Not all agencies are the same, and what might be an important metric for one might not be as relevant to another. With custom reports, you can adjust the focus based on your current goals, challenges, or projects.
Cloud-Based Access
Thanks to cloud-based access, you can access the AMS from anywhere, anytime, as long as you have an internet connection. Your team can stay connected and productive whether they're in the office, working remotely, or even on the go.
Cloud-based access offers several benefits:
- It provides flexibility, accommodating different work styles, which is precious in today's increasingly remote work environments. Considering 6.84 billion mobile devices are used globally, cloud-based systems ensure no one will be left out.
- It ensures that all data and information in AMS are always up to date. Whenever a team makes changes, these changes are immediately visible to everyone.
- It automatically updates the AMS, which means you always have access to the latest features without installing updates manually.
Cloud-based systems often have robust security measures, including data encryption and regular backups, to keep your sensitive agency and client data safe and secure.
Five Best Agency Management Systems
We have established that your agency can benefit from the AMS. Now, let’s look at the best agency management systems, their features, and prices:
1. AgencyBloc
AgencyBloc is a comprehensive AMS explicitly designed for insurance agencies but suitable for all industries. It streamlines operations with features like policy and commission management, client and lead tracking, and robust automation capabilities. With its built-in analytics, agencies can gain critical insights into their business to make data-driven decisions. It's a cloud-based platform allowing users to access information anytime, anywhere.
Pricing: Plans are customized to the agency’s needs but start at $75/month.
2. HawkSoft
HawkSoft provides tools for client management, policy servicing, and reporting. HawkSoft aims to improve productivity and profitability while enhancing the client experience. Its user-friendly interface and top-tier customer support make it a popular choice among agencies of all niches.
Pricing: Available on request.
3. Scoro
Scoro is a versatile AMS that combines project management, CRM, billing, and reporting into one platform, allowing you to control all business operations from one place. It's an excellent choice for creative and professional service agencies looking for a comprehensive solution. Scoro's strength lies in its ability to give a real-time overview of your work, sales, and finances, helping streamline your entire work process.
Pricing:
- Essential plan: $26 per user/month
- Standard plan: $37 per user/month
- Pro plan $63 per user/month
- Ultimate plan pricing is available at request.
4. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 offers a suite of social collaboration, communication, and management tools. It is a robust AMS with features like CRM, task and project management, document management, and time tracking. Its extensive capabilities, coupled with its scalability, make Bitrix24 an excellent choice for agencies of all sizes and industries.
Pricing:
- Free plan is available
- Basic plan for five users costs $49/month
- Standard plan for up to 50 users costs $99/month
- Professional plan for 100 users costs $199/month.
5. Hubstaff
While Hubstaff is often known for its time-tracking and productivity-monitoring tools, it also offers powerful project management features, making it a useful AMS for remote teams. Its features include online timesheets, GPS tracking, invoicing, and detailed reporting. Hubstaff allows for greater transparency and improved efficiency, helping agencies manage their team and projects more effectively.
Pricing:
- Free 14 days trial
- Starter plan (two users minimum) is $4.99 per user/per month
- Grow plan (two users minimum) is $7.50 per user/per month
- Team plan (two users minimum) is $10.00 per user/per month
- Enterprise plan is customizable; the price is available at the request.
Agency Management System: Final Thoughts
An agency management system is invaluable for any agency looking to streamline operations, automate routine tasks, and gain insightful data to drive decision-making. An AMS acts as a centralized hub for all agency-related activities, offering features ranging from industry-specific CRM solutions and workflow automation to sales management and custom reporting.
Selecting the right AMS for your agency can significantly boost your efficiency, enhance client relationships, and, ultimately, increase profitability. The options we've discussed - AgencyBloc, HawkSoft, Scoro, Bitrix24, and Hubstaff - all offer robust features, but the best choice will depend on your agency's unique needs and goals.
An AMS is more than just a tool for managing your agency's day-to-day operations. It's a strategic investment that, when chosen and used correctly, can empower your agency to reach new levels of success.
Agency Management System FAQs
1. Why do I need an agency management system?
An Agency Management System (AMS) contributes significantly to your agency's growth and profitability. It streamlines operations by automating routine tasks, improving efficiency, and reducing errors. It enhances client relationships through organized, centralized data and communication tools and provides valuable insights via robust reporting and analytics.
2. How to choose the right agency management system?
The right agency management system depends on your requirements and goals. When considering different options, take into account several key factors:
- Identify your agency's challenges AMS could address.
- Check whether AMS offers features that meet your specific needs.
- Prioritize usability; the AMS should be easy for all team members to use. Consider using free trials or demos to test the system's usability.
- Ensure the system is scalable and can handle an increased workload and more complex tasks as your needs evolve.
- Choose an AMS provider known for excellent customer service.
While finding a system that fits within your budget is important, remember that a good AMS is an investment that should ultimately increase your efficiency and profitability.
By carefully considering these factors, you can select an AMS that fits your current needs and supports your agency's growth and development.
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