CASE STUDIES OF OUR CLIENTS

 

To show the value of the features in our products, the following case studies analyze how our products meet the needs of our clients.

 

How the CONTACT Sage Pro satisfies all of a Client's Needs

 

The CONTACT Sage Pro is truly a unique product. It extends the functionality of the CONTACT Sage to store insurance policy and investment information and to generate commission reports. In addition, the user also has the ability to search and create lists of contacts based on insurance policy and investment information.

 

One of our insurance industry clients previously used a simplified contact manager that included insurance suitability information, but omitted most of the functionality in the CONTACT Sage Pro. While trying the CONTACT Sage Pro, this client found a competing insurance industry contact manager on the web. The client had to decide which product to choose. Although the competing contact manager had more extensive insurance specific features including more detailed policy information and the ability to acknowledge insurance premium payments, the other program lacked the extensive contact management functionality of the CONTACT Sage Pro. The client decided to go with the CONTACT Sage Pro because the contact management functionality of the CONTACT Sage Pro was more important than the feature that the client thought they would need in the other program, specifically the ability to acknowledge insurance premium payments. The client decided that the time needed to track all of the insurance premium payments would far outweigh their value.

 

How the Automated Backup Feature can Save Time and Money

 

One of our clients found out the hard way that you should always backup your data. This client relied heavily on a competing Contact Manager program. Although the client knew that their data should be periodically backed up, the previous contact management software did not have a backup option. This client would backup all data every two to three months. The reasoning behind the infrequent backups was that backing up the data required considerable time. Since the client didn't know which specific files to backup from the previous contact management software, the entire hard drive was backed up onto tapes. When the hard drive crashed, three months of data was lost.

 

CONTACT Sage Pro has solved this problem with its built-in automatic backup program that can compress a client's data onto a USB flash disk. The same client now automatically backs up their data daily onto a hard drive, and weekly to the USB Flash disk.

 

To show the benefits of customizable software, the following case studies chronicle the development of software solutions for our customers.

 

Data Mining for a Broker at a Large Wirehouse

 

One of our clients is a broker at a large wirehouse. As a part of client prospecting, this client decided to target professors at a large state school. The criteria was professors over age 60. On its web site, the large state school has an online version of its master class schedule. The class schedule includes short biographies of the school professors, including name, faculty position, and all degrees earned.

 

To meet the client's request, we converted the online faculty directory into a plain document. We then wrote a program to search through the document and load all of the faculty information into the CONTACT Sage Pro. To determine the birthdate of the professors, the program automatically found the earliest year that the professor was awarded a degree and subtracted 22 years.

From a web page listing of more than 3,000 faculty members, the client received a copy of the CONTACT Sage loaded with all of the faculty member information, including full name, position/title, birth year, and all degrees earned. The client was now free to search by birth year to create the desired prospect list.

 

Loading E-mail Leads for an Independent Insurance Agent

 

One of our clients is an independent insurance agent. Through a contract, this client receives e-mail leads with prospects who fill out online requests for insurance information. The client then retypes the prospect information into his planner. The client asked us to automate this process.

 

To meet the client's request, we developed a small application that works with the CONTACT Sage Pro to allows the client to simply copy the contents of the e-mail, and then click the appropriate e-mail lead type on the new screen to automatically load the prospect information into the CONTACT Sage Pro. In addition to loading the prospect's information, the system also fills in the next contact date, sets up remarks with prospect insurance suitability information, and if the e-mail contains more than one prospect (husband and wife), not only does the system set up individual records for each person, it also puts both prospects insurance suitability information in each prospect's remarks. It also creates a joint link for the two prospects in the system.

 

Because we can develop applications based on your needs, our clients don't have to waste time retyping prospect information from e-mails into the CONTACT Sage Pro.

 

Unleashing the Power of our Client's Data

 

One of our clients owns a small retail and repair business. This client had been using an antiquated database system that stored sales information. The antiquated database did an adequate job storing specific sale information, but fell short in storing customer information. The database did not have fields for customer address, first name, or work telephone number. Further, the system had no way of tracking repeat customer visits. Each visit by the same customer was entered in as a new customer. On top of this, the old system had no report generators, and no way of getting data out. As a result of the deficiencies in the old system, the sole purpose of the system was to retrieve ticket information. The client asked us to modernize the system.

 

Our RETAIL Sage was perfectly suited for this client's needs. Because the client's old system did not separate customers from sales, and did not have separate fields for addresses, (addresses were stored with sale item information) we developed a software solution to parse through and load all of the old system information into our RETAIL Sage System. Our solution transformed the old system into a modern relational database. Customers were stored separately from sale visits, and future visits by customers already in the system were made much simpler to enter. To load customer address information, our solution searched through the sale item information and extracted the customer's address. After the old system data was loaded into our system, the client began to generate and sort customer lists for future business.

 

Our expertise in dealing with database systems allowed this client to fully realize the power of customer data.

 

Automating Tasks at a Preschool:

 

One of our clients is a preschool at a Synagogue. Their previous system was also written in Microsoft Access. However, due to the lack of expertise by the developer their previous system lacked automation components that could save the preschool time and money.

 

Using the previous system as a starting point, we completely redeveloped the preschool system. We automated the following activities: Students that arrive early or leave late are billed for the extra hours with different rates for mornings and afternoons. Previously, all extra hours were recorded on paper and submitted to a specialist for billing. We developed a calendar based timesheet system that not only tracked extra hours, but also created complete student timesheet bills.

 

Teacher hours were also recorded on paper and submitted to a specialist for payment. We modified the previously developed calendar based timesheet system to work for teacher hours and also added capability to generate teacher salary reports.

 

In addition to the previous automation activities, our system gave the preschool the ability to generate form letters, emails, and select class lists. After we completed this project, we changed some of out client specific components and developed the preschool package into the CHILDCARE Sage.