Of interest to independent agents is the companys commitment to provide products and services for businesses of any size aimed to meet “everyones business requirements,” said Nancy Morris, vice president-general manager, office group marketing and product management, in an interview with National Underwriter.

Ms. Morris said Xeroxs services do more than just make document copies. They involve document solutions, production, scanning, and cutting down on the load of paper and documents independent agents are faced with everyday.

The company plans to accomplish this with an array of copy machine products to meet market needs. The machines start at $800 for a basic copy machine and move up to sophisticated work center devices. These are designed to solve all of an agencys fax, document and copy needs, and cost thousands of dollars.

The company said it is also offering solution services, both online and through professional representatives, to evaluate an agencys documentation needs. The purpose would be to cut costs and improve productivity, said Xerox.

“[Xerox is] looking to stimulate revenue growth with products and solutions to the small, medium and large business client,” said Ms. Morris.

One of those clients is Rutherfoord.

Ms. Bailey told NU that two years ago, Rutherfoord was still doing things the old way. Hundreds of documents were overflowing on associates desks and there were stacks of folders containing the insurance history of each account. This would mean a customer calling to inquire about his or her account would need to wait until the representative found the folder, or call back after the paperwork was hunted down.

Under this system, an important presentation that needed to be copied in color was taken to the nearest Kinkos or got run-off through the office ink jet printer, she explained. All of this was very time consuming and inefficient.

During this period, client demands were increasing and the office was finding it more and more difficult to keep up.

It was at this time, Ms. Bailey said, that the Alexandria office purchased a Xerox Document Centre 440.

“We essentially fell in love with the machine,” Ms. Bailey gushed. There were no more trips to outside copy centers. Quality color document productions could now be handled from the office, and the machine allowed producers to make better presentations to clients. Thanks to the Document Centre, after a client presentation in PowerPoint, clients could be handed packages containing color copies of the presentation, meant to impress and done from the agencys office, Ms. Bailey noted.

“Image is very important,” she observed. “A poor quality image doesnt sell. Clients see a million presentations not put together well, nor are they attractive, and they all appear the same. The one that is done well stands out. In insurance, it only takes a little distinction to separate one from everyone else.”

Within the firm, the quality of the copies became so notable that other offices within the Virginia firm began sending their work to be done in Alexandria. And agents on the road, working from their homes, would send jobs by e-mail to the office one day to be picked up the next as they made their way to appointments, she said.

Another feature of the Document Centre was the scanning capacity. When the Rutherfoord got their copier, it also allowed for scanning of documents into the firms computer system. The benefit was ease of retrieval of forms when customers calledno more waiting to find folders.

The firm also began e-mailing documents to customers instead of mailing them. Ms. Bailey said in one year alone, the Alexandria office saved $16,000 in mailing costs.

Another benefit was carrier forms, which are now filed away in the computer. The firm no longer needs to mail these applications to the carriers. Rutherfoord is now able to e-mail them to the companies, because they have been saved into the computer system through the Document Centre.

The Xerox product also proved itself in ease of use, Ms. Bailey claimed. She told the story that one of the other Virginia offices wanted to be able to do what the Alexandria office did and purchased a copier, but from another company. Their machine turned out to be very difficult to learn to use and much slower, even frustrating her when she attempted to use it.

“I promote ease of use,” Ms. Bailey said.

Two months ago, Rutherfoord was chosen to test out Xeroxs new Work Centre 440. She noted that the new machine is exceeding the firms demands, has proven to be a workhorse, and with 75,000 copies made over that period60 percent color imagesthe toner has yet to be changed. She said it is also more economical because consumables like the toner do not need to be changed as often as in the past.

Rutherfoord, which handles more than $65 million in premium annually in property-casualty and risk management services, has gone to central purchasing and is looking to buy new copiers for all seven offices with all the features of the machines in the Alexandria office, Ms. Bailey said. The firm is also interested in Xeroxs other services and equipment that would allow agents to remotely call up documents on their personal digital assistants, she noted.

“We are looking at what else Xerox can offer us,” said Ms. Bailey. “And it looks like they can meet our needs and give us room to grow without going out again and buying new equipment.”

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, June 9, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.