About fifteen years ago I reviewed and wrote about Client$ource, a DOS software package that made it very easy for agents to create and manage complex marketing campaigns to groups of prospects. At the time I was impressed with how well the package supported the marketing process, offering not just software, but strategy designs and letter content as well. And what was particularly attractive was the way Client$ource ran automatically, day to day, with little need for human intervention; it was self-administering.
I lost track of Client$ource (and SaleSource, its Windows successor version) until recently, when Dave Schuppler told me that his new company, Automated Selling Process, had completely rewritten the software for the Internet. Since I had been an early admirer of Client$ource/SaleSource and the concepts it represented, that was welcome news that deserved sharing.
Schuppler, a Milwaukee agent, is a long-time industry automation advocate. His new company, Automated Selling Process, LLC, markets and supports this latest generation of SaleSource, now an Internet/ASP service.
The SaleSource role
SaleSource is intended to turn leads (suspects) into prospects and prospects into customers. The service doesn't supply leads (except the 200 provided by the vendor for new users to prime the pump) and it doesn't offer proposal or sales support software. However, SaleSource can import leads from an agency or contact management system, including the agency's customer database or lead supplier. The vendor provides the initial letters, events, and strategies needed to have an agency running its first campaign and printing letters, within a couple hours of installation. Sales support, i.e., risk assessment, proposal, and submission software, is available in bits and pieces and/or as complete systems from agency management and other software vendors.
SaleSource obviates the need for ACT!, GoldMine, and other generic marketing systems. SaleSource is different from generic marketing packages because it's immediately ready for use in agency marketing campaigns. It includes Commercial Lines, Employee Benefits, Personal Lines, Bonds, Life Insurance and Financial Services campaign templates and related content.
Generic packages can have a long learning curve and set up time. So though generic marketing software may be more flexible ("You can do anything with ABC software."), SaleSource is likely much more useful in a practical way. The Automated Selling Process slogan, "It's simple. It works," is a fair and accurate way to describe the difference.
Original vs. new and improved SaleSource
If SaleSource was a good product, how is the new SaleSource better? Because it's a native-IP Application Service Provider (ASP) service and because Automated Selling Process has made a number of improvements.
The new SaleSource is a true ASP software solution. It was written specifically to run on the Internet and to be accessible by and used through browsers. And that makes SaleSource different from makeshift ASPs that merely take client/server, traditional Windows software and use Citrix or some other remote operation software to make it accessible through a browser. Software designed from the get-go for ASP deployment runs more efficiently on the Internet than hosted, legacy client/server applications. And true ASP applications can make better and full use of the browser — something not possible with Citrix hosted client/server applications.
Because SaleSource is available through the Internet, an agency can share use with a telephone call center contractor. So, for instance, when a campaign calls for outbound telephone contact at some point, that step can be delegated to an outside firm and employees there can be easily plugged directly into the process without the clumsy need to trade files back and forth. The agency and the outside contractor can share the campaign management software and its database through SaleSource. And, of course, agents and producers can access SaleSource and their agency's campaigns even when on the road, provided only that they have access to the Internet.
The new SaleSource has all the features of the traditional SaleSource software — with some improvements as well. The new software uses Microsoft SQLServer database server (a fast, reliable, and popular product), but the agency doesn't need to license SQLServer or provide a computer to run it on. Automatic Selling Process takes care of that. Also, the new program includes more report options than its predecessor.
The original SaleSource was intended to support communication with prospects and customers through mail, phone, and personal visits. But times have changed and now we have e-mail. Automated Selling Process has chosen not to add broadcast e-mail capability to SaleSource as another communication channel. Why not?
The original Client$ource/SaleSource concept was to create relationships through managed, regular personal communication. Unsolicited e-mail, or spam, is increasingly a problem for and increasingly unwelcome to businesses, so SaleSource doesn't support broadcast e-mail today, though that might change. SaleSource does, however, work with the agency's e-mail program to send out e-mails to individual prospects, thus ensuring that all e-mail communications come through the same software package.
Elements of SaleSource
SaleSource runs marketing campaigns automatically. It acts as a marketing manager and administrator, sending out letters and creating producer call sheets every day. And each day, users enter feedback into the system indicating which tasks have been completed and their outcome so that the software can orchestrate the next step in the campaign.
A campaign is composed of a series of events. An event can be a letter, call, or visit. SaleSource comes with an inventory of strategies, events, and templates that can be modified or added to by the agency — though it probably makes most sense to try some of the standard strategies before getting fancy and designing one's own.
Besides an ordered series of events, strategies specify the timing between events. So, for instance, one strategy may prescribe an initial introductory letter, a request for appointment letter, and then a follow-up call, with four days between each of the events. The agency doesn't need to track the process with Excel or Outlook. SaleSource is on the job and takes care of it. The agency need only run the Daily Process routine and everything drops out of the system that's needed for that day.
SaleSource includes a feature called "trickle drop" that allows leads to be fed to producers at varying rates. That's useful and realistic, but not easy to accomplish with generic programs like ACT!.
Agencies typically have two serious problems when trying to do marketing campaigns: 1) they have trouble keeping on top of them (and that's why self-administering SaleSource is attractive), and 2) they don't know how to set up successful campaigns — in form and content. SaleSource provides scores of proven templates, thus making it a no-brainer to get started making some money. The agency doesn't have to have endless meetings trying to figure out how it should approach a BOP campaign, for instance, or what to say along the way. SaleSource provides the leg up.
Let's go!
When I first saw Client$ource 15 years ago, it seemed to me that nearly every agency could benefit from it or something like it. And today it still seems obvious that agents can profit from the right kind of managed marketing campaigns. But campaigns are a lot of work to set up and then administer. SaleSource let's agents have their cake and eat it too. With SaleSource, agents can have a systematic marketing effort and still have time to play golf every day. What's not to like?
© Copyright 2003 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights reserved
The new SaleSource is a true ASP software solution. It was written specifically to run on the Internet and to be accessible by and used through browsers.
SaleSource runs marketing campaigns automatically. It acts as a marketing manager and administrator, sending out letters and creating producer call sheets every day.