July 1, 2008

Creating a Paperless Office

Posted by Rey Villar

Just a decade ago, only the most ardent sci-fi fans believed that businesses could go paperless. That world is getting nearer every day. For insurance agents, it’s already here.

The main obstacles for a paperless office are quickly crumbling. Many agents have already moved from consuming a few boxes of copy paper a week to only one or two a month. Technology and the Internet have made this change possible. The economy and rising costs have made it necessary.

But with today’s readily available resources, it’s a lot easier to get your office to use less paper — and save more money.

No More Excuses
The question is no longer whether a business should go
paperless — but “why isn’t it there already!” The traditional
paper-dependent process no longer makes sense in today’s
business world when you look at the benefits and advantages
of moving toward a paperless office.
• Save money on supplies and postage
With today’s rising prices, a paperless office
means hundreds of dollars in savings. In
addition to the $40-plus you pay for
a case of 10 reams, don’t forget the cost of ink and electricity to print on that paper. And
the more documents you send via email or Internetbased
fax, the less money you’ll need to spend on
stamps and envelopes.

• Less trash
One byproduct of using less paper is less trash. And if
your office is responsible for its own commercial
garbage pick-up, that directly translates into additional
savings.
• Added security
Sifting through the trash of paper-heavy businesses is
a common way for many identity thieves to steal
personal information. Using a paper shredder lessens
that particular risk. Going paperless can eliminate it.
A paperless office also minimizes the chance of
accidentally losing paperwork containing personal
information.
• Greater efficiency
File and lead management systems minimize the
chances of lost files-because all your processing data is
stored online. If you need to look up a prospect’s
phone number or review a client’s application, you
can access it from almost anywhere in the world with
an Internet connection.
• Oh yeah, there’s also the environment
Lest we forget, the most important reason for
going paperless is our environment. We
consume fewer resources by using less
paper; and we relieve the burden on our
limited landfills.

Even if the environment is not a big concern for you, there
are strong economic reasons for moving toward a more
paperless office. But going green isn’t just limited to saving
money inside your office.
As more of consumers become part of the green movement,
they’re also demanding similar environmentally-friendly
attitudes from the companies and agencies who want their
business.
Tips for Going Paperless
Several tools are now available to help you
increase your productivity, closing ratios
and ROIs — while going paperless.
But going green is actually a nice byproduct.
These tools are primarily designed to help
top producers handle and close more leads
and prospects. And they do it with less time
and personnel. Whether you’re serious about
moving toward a paperless office or just want to be more
productive and efficient, you should consider investing in
these tools:
1) Internet leads and lead management system. Leads
generated through the web use almost no paper and can
be delivered to your inbox in real time — especially if
they’re inputted into an online lead management system.
A lead management system is a CRM tool that helps
you stay on top of thousands of leads at a time.
You’ll be able to access your lead information from
almost anywhere on earth with an Internet connection.
Some systems even let you store your marketing
brochures and carrier forms online for easy emailing to
prospects. Just remember to resist the temptation to
automatically print out every lead you receive.
2) Quoting engine. There’s no longer any need for rate
sheets and pricing CDs. Agents or their prospects and
clients can get instantaneous rate quotes from various
carriers.
Top quote engines also integrate with lead management
systems and online applications, as well as provide
quick access to informational brochures and webpages.
They’ll also let you generate and email detailed proposals
in under a minute.

3) Internet faxing. Sign up for an online fax account and
start receiving all your faxes as an emailed PDF file.
Instead of having your fax machine automatically print
out every fax, you can just print out the ones you need
— and automatically delete all the junk faxes. For as
little as $5 per month, you get a local fax number from
a provider such as Packetel.com and receive an unlimited
amount of inbound faxes.
4) Accounting. The government and most
businesses now prefer the faster, safer and
more efficient direct deposit way of paying
their employees. Agents and brokers can
also take advantage of online payment
processing systems to pay bills, invoice
customers and receive payments.
5) Marketing brochures. Many print shops
are feeling the crunch and have gone out of
business as desktop publishing has expanded
its reach. From e-cards to full-color e-books, marketers
are increasingly using digital marketing materials to
reach out to prospects and clients.
For example, instead of investing in a traditional
brochure, you can create several PDF brochures —
supported by your informational website — that your
clients can read or print at their leisure. Upcoming
versions of Adobe Acrobat will even allow you to embed
motion picture, animation and audio into PDF files.
6) Paperless File Storage. Looking for more space in
your office? Then consider eliminating all your filing
cabinets. Take all the copies of the old files you’re
keeping for archival and record-keeping purposes and
digitize them.
By using a digital scanner, you can turn every piece of paper
in your office into a PDF file that can be stored in your
network. It can then be backed up on to an external hard
drive — AND to an offsite storage service. In fact, you can
set your servers to automatically upload your data to a
secure 3rd party site every night. If your computers ever
crash or your office is destroyed, you’ll always have the
most recent copies of your files backed up and ready.

Unfortunately, moving to an all
digital filing system can be daunting
and expensive if you have a lot of files. You should start
by looking at your current and future files. Make it an
office policy to scan all future documents and store it in
your server. Then start working backwards with your
most recently completed files. You could pay a company
to digitize all your documents, but you can expect to pay
10 to 15 cents per page. If you’re using the do-it-yourself
route, make sure to invest in a sturdy auto-feed scanner.
And if you’re looking for an even cheaper route, consider
using your Internet fax. Just fax your documents to
yourself, and your fax service will automatically convert
them into PDF files and email them back to you. But
make sure to get an Internet fax service that allows for
unlimited fax reception.