Roper Insurance and Financial Services

Insurance Brokerage Saves Eight Hours Per Day with Comprehensive Technology Solution

Roper Insurance is passionate about exceeding customer expectations—an objective that requires time and attentiveness, plus a comprehensive technology solution. The company uses Microsoft Dynamics® CRM Online, Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003, and Windows® Small Business Server 2003 plus the 2007 Microsoft® Office system and Windows Vista® Business to shave hours off of daily tasks. Since implementing these solutions, business has grown 500 percent.

 

Business Needs

After a decade of experience in the insurance industry, Steve Roper realized that some important needs were not being met by traditional health insurance brokers: educating customers on their health insurance choices, providing them with guidance in making the right selections, and helping them successfully file claims with large insurance carriers.

“Health insurance is very confusing,” says Roper, President, Roper Insurance. “Individuals and small business owners have a difficult time understanding the complexities of their policies. They need someone who will listen to them, understand their needs, and create a customized quote just for them. That’s why I started Roper Insurance. We’re passionate about helping people, and that’s what makes us successful.”

We chose Microsoft products for our small business because we wanted a strategic partner who would take care of us in the same way that we take care of our customers…. Microsoft makes technology easy. Steve Roper President, Roper Insurance

In the beginning, Roper ran the company out of his basement. “When we first started, we all shared one computer,” says Laura Buckingham, Operations Manager, Roper Insurance. “We had to work out a schedule for using it, and even then we didn’t use it very effectively. We actually kept track of customers on pieces of paper, which we sometimes misplaced. We also didn’t have a system for following up on leads, so we couldn’t close every sale.”

Another time-consuming task involved generating quotes for potential customers. Buckingham explains, “It took us three hours to create a single quote, and even then we were only able to include a handful of the available plans. It was just too much information to process manually.”

As word began to spread about the company’s exceptional customer service, business increased at a rate of 20 to 50 percent each year, with customer referrals accounting for 80 percent of new business. To keep pace with this exponential growth, Roper and his team moved into a new office and began looking for a complete, affordable technology solution that would help them better manage customer relationships, centralize data for more efficient information sharing, and automate processes to simplify daily tasks.

Solution

While Roper Insurance employees never hesitate to go the extra mile for customers, the company’s lack of an integrated IT infrastructure often hindered its ability to get the work done easily and efficiently. To remedy this challenge, Roper and his team installed Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 and Windows® Small Business Server 2003 to centralize customer data and help employees share information more efficiently. “We now have nine employees, and every one of us has our own computer,” says Buckingham. “We’re using Exchange Server 2003 to share files so we don’t have to worry about tracking down pieces of paper anymore.”

Roper Insurance also implemented a customer relationship management (CRM) system—Microsoft Dynamics® CRM Online business management software—to help its employees manage the thousands of referrals that come their way every month. “Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online has been a lifesaver for our business,” Roper says. “We receive many leads and referrals, and it used to be a nightmare to manage. But with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, it’s a snap.” The company opted for the online version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, known as a “software-plus-services” offering—Microsoft remotely hosts, manages, and maintains the service, so Roper Insurance can take full advantage of the solution without having to invest in an on-premise server, saving time and money.

In addition to using Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Exchange Server 2003, Roper and his team installed the 2007 Microsoft Office system on all nine desktop computers and the Windows Vista® Business operating system on the laptops used for presentations and remote access.

“We chose Microsoft products for our small business because we wanted a strategic partner who would take care of us in the same way that we take care of our customers,” Roper says. “We’re insurance experts, not technology experts. Microsoft makes technology easy.”

Benefits

Roper and his team use Microsoft products to save time on administrative tasks so they can spend more time fulfilling the company’s main objective—to provide exceptional service to its customers.

Simplifying Daily Operations

Employees make extensive use of the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client and Microsoft Office Excel® 2007 spreadsheet software. “We use the 2007 Office products day in and day out,” Buckingham says. “We use Office Outlook 2007 practically every minute of the day to stay connected with our clients, our carriers, and our team. Communication would be impossible without Outlook 2007.”

Saving Time

With Office Excel 2007, employees generate customized quotes in a fraction of the time it used to take. “With Office Excel, we can produce a quote in two minutes instead of two to three hours,” explains Sandra Poortinga, Marketing Coordinator, Roper Insurance. “Now we can produce upwards of 30 quotes per day, which we never would have been able to do with the old system.”

Roper Insurance also saves time by sending quotes to customers using Office Outlook 2007. “We save at least 15 minutes per quote because we don’t have to print them out, create envelopes, and mail them,” explains Buckingham. “This saves us at least eight hours per day plus the cost of postage.”

Staying Connected

Steve Roper uses Windows Mobile® 6.0 software on his smartphone to stay connected with the office when he is on the road. “We often need to get Steve’s signature on an urgent document,” explains Buckingham. “With Office Outlook and Windows Mobile, he can take care of it anytime, anywhere.”

Building the Business

Since implementing these solutions, Roper Insurance has grown 500 percent and—as the company moves to expand nationally—projects a 1000 percent growth rate over the next 10 years. “It's important for us to be as efficient as possible,” Roper concludes. “Now that we’ve implemented these simple, complete solutions, our 9 employees can work as effectively as a team of 900, because we have the power of Microsoft behind us.”

Microsoft Small Business
Microsoft provides simple, complete and connected solutions to help Small Business start, grow, and thrive.  For more information on how Microsoft Small Business Solutions can help maximize your business potential visit: 
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness

To locate a Microsoft Small Business Specialist in your area visit: 
www.microsoft.com/smallbusinessspecialist