AN EFFICIENCY problem sometimes can nag at you for years. Then, when you discover a solution, it seems so obvious that you can't figure out how you missed it for so long. We had such a problem for which we recently discovered a solution at a users group convention. Perhaps the most important insight we gained from the experience is that by participating in such meetings, we can learn more than how to better use our agency management system. We found out that most users attending these meetings have encountered workflow log jams. But with effort and ingenuity, they often find a solution within the system or a way to work around the problem. And they're willing to share their discoveries with others.
Our original agency management system vendor used to brag that its DOS-based product could produce an address label with fewer keystrokes -just three-than any other system. But like a number of other systems of the era, it underwent changes in ownership and design. The current Windows-based incarnation of the system cannot create labels one at a time. Rather, it creates labels using three-wide label sheets, but that leads to a great deal of waste. However, the system does integrate with Microsoft Word. With the system in the integrated mode, we discovered it could address a standard-sized envelope quickly, using Word's “Label” function. (Click on “Tools,” then “Envelopes and Labels.”) That resolved the issue of creating individual labels for conventional envelopes but left us still looking for a way to label large envelopes we use to mail policies to clients.
After several unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem, we gave up and typed labels for the large envelopes. This was our sole reason for keeping a lone typewriter, which we discreetly hid in the mailroom.
At a recent users group conference, we became engaged in one of those conversations in which users share their frustrations-no system ever completely satisfies everyone-and prioritize their product-development requests. We figured we had endured the label problem long enough and asked to have a solution for it added to the list. Immediately, someone suggested an agency-proven remedy: a Dymo label maker. It was described as a simple device; and since it was only needed for labeling larger envelopes, a single printer installed on an agency's network could meet the needs of everyone in the office.
Armed with this information, we returned home resolved to conquer our labeling problem. The printer comes in several different models. We bought the LabelWriter 330 Turbo, the vendor's fastest model, which prints a label in two seconds. It is available from almost any office supply store and lists for $210 on the vendor's Web site. A network device hub cost another $200, plus installation. Once the label maker was installed, our staff was ecstatic about having a solution for a problem that had bugged us for so long.
We had some difficulty getting the labels to print exactly the way we wanted them, and not every workstation sent the print command for the same configuration. By consulting the vendor's online reference material, however, we quickly cleared up these issues-and discovered a much broader application for this slick little printer.
The device fully integrates with a number of widely used products-Outlook, Word and Quickbooks, to name only a few. Outlook needs to be configured at the workstation level for the integration to work, but that takes only a few seconds at each station. To integrate the printer with Quickbooks, you need to download a patch from Dymo's Web site, which takes about three minutes with a high-speed connection.
As a result of our implementation, we not only found a way to address large envelopes but also to create an address label for any correspondent not in the agency management system. The printer even has an option for printing postal bar codes, which facilitates automated routing of envelopes.
The addressing solution was enough to justify what we paid to buy and install the label maker. However, we discovered multiple additional functions, including the ability to make nametags and shipping labels. (We also could create file-folder labels, but since we went paperless three years ago, we don't need them.)
The next time you receive an announcement for a users group meeting, don't automatically toss it. While you may initially think the program wouldn't offer enough value to justify the cost of travel and registration, consider what you may pick up outside of the program itself.
Conversations with other agents sometimes lead to discoveries you never could have anticipated. Whether you have an opportunity to attend an agents association convention, a users group conference, a continuing education program or a general insurance industry function, it pays to participate.
>Edgar J. Higgins Jr., CPCU, is the owner of Progressive Management Consulting and the Thousand Islands Agency in Clayton, N.Y. Readers can contact him at [email protected].
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