The 6 Questions You Should Be Asking During Your Agency Management System (AMS) Demo

What Health Insurance Organizations Look for in an Agency Management System

One of the biggest things we hear when prospective clients are looking for a new agency management system (AMS) is they want to find a technology partner. They want to ensure they’re entering a partnership that is about more than just the software itself.

To help you find the right technology partner for your agency, we compiled the questions we hear most, plus others we encourage you to ask. Ask these questions during your sales demo and note the answers — they will be helpful when you reach the decision-making part of your journey.

Question 1: What’s the history of the software company?

When forming a partnership, you want to ensure both parties are aligned. To better understand if your goals and ideas are working in tandem, you need to know the history of the technology vendor. We encourage you to ask:

• What is the company’s story?
• When was the company formed?
• What are the goals of the company?
• What is the future they see for themselves?

The answers to these questions will give you insight into who they are and if they’re the right choice for your agency. Do some research ahead of time. Review the following:

• Website: Get a better understanding of who the company is, their history, and their target audience.
• LinkedIn: See how many employees they have and the role distribution in their company.
• Facebook/Other Social Media Sites: Search their social sites to see how often the share information and the other companies they work with.

Question 2: Who is the AMS for?

An AMS is usually made for life and health insurance (including Medicare) or property and casualty insurance. The same is true for financial products.

It’s important to know in which area your vendor specializes. 

Due to the different regulations, data requirements, and business needs, it’s rare for one system to effectively track all lines of business. Your team may be able to track basic data for all insurance lines in one AMS for cross-sell purposes. However, if your agency sells both L&H and P&C, running two AMS solutions in parallel for each niche market is common.

Question 3: How many revisions/updates does the vendor release annually?

Technology changes, and it changes fast. Ensure the vendor is committed to consistently updating and enhancing the product to provide you with the most value. Ask specific questions, like:

• Do they have a dedicated product team (Developers, Product Managers, Quality Assurance Analysts, etc.)?
• Do they have a team focused on upkeep, maintenance, and bug fixes?
• How many updates/releases/enhancements did they launch in the previous calendar year?
• What’s on their product roadmap for this year?

Be sure to ask about integrations, too. Knowing how the AMS could holistically support your agency’s entire process is essential. Expand the focus from just data management, sales, and client retention. How does the AMS support your agency’s quoting and enrollment or compliance management efforts?

Question 4: What does onboarding and ongoing support look like?

Onboarding and ongoing support and training are essential to your success with a new AMS. During the demo, ask about the company’s support elements, like:

• Dedicated training and educational resources (i.e., Knowledge Base, Academy)
• Data experts for complex or custom-built migrations
• Onboarding specialists to help your team navigate the transition and receive initial training
• Easy access to support (i.e., chat, phone, email)
• Ongoing account or client success manager
• Ongoing educational events (i.e., webinars, workshops, certifications)

Question 5: Is the vendor willing to provide comparison content?

User-created content is a great way to get a feel for the software from the eyes of actual clients. Two types of client-created content to ask for are:

• Testimonials
• Case Studies

Reading testimonials and case studies helps your team understand how real clients use the AMS to fit their various needs. Do your due diligence and check other review sites, forums, and more to see how the vendor is being rated and what is being said.

Question 6: What does your agency’s exit plan look like?

This is the most important question to ask.

Some vendors believe that if they house your data, they then own your data and will charge you a fee for taking it back out of their software. Before you buy, make sure to ask:

• If your data will still be 100% yours
• How easy (or not easy) it will be to get your data out of the system

This blog was originally posted on December 18, 2018, and has been most recently updated and republished on November 26, 2024.

Posted by Allison Babberl on Tuesday, November 26, 2024 in Customer & Policy Management

1. vendor vetting