User Guide For “Your Insurance Office” (YIO) v5.0
The Mechanics of Working in the Program Unlimited toll-free support will be provided for free as long as the agent reads this User Guide before calling. Please read this User Guide before calling to avoid being charged $50 per incident. Unlike other computer programs there really isn’t any learning curve with YIO. This can lead agents to believe that reading this User Guide is not necessary. However, without first doing so and agent will not be aware of the multitude of features and functions that have specifically been added to help an agent work smarter and make money easier. Warranty System Requirements1. Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP, NT or Vista 2. 74 MB of hard drive space. 3. CD-ROM drive. 4. 8 MB of memory, 16 to 32 recommended. Installation Instructions 1. Exit out of all other Windows programs. 2. Insert “Your Insurance Office” CD into the CD-ROM drive. 3. The Auto-Play feature automatically launches the installer. 4. Follow the prompts on the screen. 5. If Auto-Play does not start the program click on “Start” then on “Run” and type in “D:/Setup.exe” and click Enter on your keyboard. Support The Mechanics of Working in the ProgramCAUTION IMPORTANT Getting Started When you open the program you will see the Main Menu. From the Main Menu you can navigate to all functions of the program. We suggest that you click on the button at the top that says Prospects and create two or three records in the Prospects database. Return to the Main Menu and do the same in the Clients database. All of the other functions of the program depend on information in these two databases NOTE: It is extremely important that you enter data in the “Agent” field in the Clients database and the “Agent lead given to” field in the Prospects database in every record you create. The program needs this information for Mail Merge and many of the reports to function properly. You will see that some of the fields that have drop down lists already have information in them. The entries are there to give you some options to choose from when you first get started. Use the ones that are helpful, delete the ones you don’t need and add new ones that best suit the needs of your office. (Click on Drop Down Lists button in the Main Menu for instructions.) New Features for v5.0Listed below are the new features that have been added to “Your Insurance Office” v5.0. They are grouped together so users of earlier versions can easily locate the changes. The biggest change in v5.0 is in its appearance and organization. It will no longer be necessary to create a new record for Clients with multiple policies. The top half of the record will be the Client’s contact information and the bottom half will display all of the policies the Client has. You can scroll among the policies by clicking the “Previous” and “Next Policy” buttons. A screen resolution of 1024x768 is recommended. It will make YIO much easier to read and utilize the majority of your computer screen. Calendar The “Your Insurance Office” (YIO) calendar will not only display all of your insurance appointments on the Main Menu, it also allows you to enter personal appointments and tasks. By showing everything you have to do on a given day it insures that you will never have to call a client or prospect back because you forgot about a dentist appointment you had at the same time. To see only the appointments you have on a given day click on the day of the month in the calendar on the Main Menu. Only appointments scheduled for that day will be displayed. To go back to the “full calendar” click the button that says “Reset Calendar To Today”. Clicking on the gray square at the far right of the appointment allows you to edit or delete the appointment. If there is a red dot displayed at the end of the appointment it indicates that the appointment is for the current date. Each appointment for either a Prospect or Client that is displayed in the Upcoming Appointments section of the Main Menu will have a colored square to the far left of the appointment. A green square means it is an appointment for a client, a blue square indicates the appointment is for a prospect. If there is no square the entry will be a personal appointment or task. User Defined Fields (UDF) – UDF Field Titles can be changed by the user. There are a total of nine UDF fields in v5.0. There are seven in the Clients database and two in the Prospects database. These fields can be used for any information that will be helpful. The agent can change the name/title of these fields by going to the Main Menu and clicking on the Drop Down Lists button. When the Drop Down Lists window appears, click on the button that says “Change UDF Fields”. In the last column on the right titled “Change Field Name”, delete the information that is there and enter the title you want to use for each of the UDF fields listed. When you close the Drop Down Lists window your changes will automatically be saved. This will enable you to customize the program to suit the individual needs of your office. Additional fields have been added. In the Clients database the following new fields have been added: “County” field, “Children” field and “Info” field. Use the “Info” field for any information about that Client that you want to remain prominent such as health information. In the Prospects database there also a new field for “Health Issues and Meds” as well as one for general information about the Prospect titled “Info”. We have also added a “Lead Temperature” field. This will allow you to identify each lead according to the importance of that lead. A County field has also been added. A “Best time to call” field has been added to both the Clients and Prospects database letting you enter the most convenient day of the week or time of day to contact your clients and prospects. 1-Step Backup A button has been added to the Main Menu that when clicked will automatically backup your YIO data to a separate folder on your C drive. Look for the folder that is identified by “YIO-Bkps”. The number associated with each file indicates the date YIO was backed up. NOTE: This is only meant to be a fast convenient way of saving your data to another location on your computer. It is NOT a secure data backup in the event your computer may crash. To create a safe, secure data backup you should always burn a CD of the “YIO-Bkps” folder and put it in a safe place. DO NOT burn a CD of the YIO-5 folder, all of your data will be located in the “YIO-Bkps” folder. NOTE: Using a memory stick/thumb drive DOES NOT create a secure backup of your data. They do go bad. Backing up your data to an external hard drive may also create problems. If your external hard drive over heats the disc may warp rendering your data unusable. BURN A CD of your data a minimum of once a week. More often if you enter a lot of new data on a given day. Instructions for backing up the “YIO-5 Data” file from the YIO-5 folder on your C drive. RIGHT click on the “START” button in the lower left corner of your monitor and Left click on Explore.
When the next window opens scroll down until you see the YIO-4 folder and Left click on it once. Several files will then be displayed on the right. Look for the one that says “YIO-4Data”. All of your data is contained in this file. It is the only file that you should back up. If you see a folder that says “Backup” ignore it.
Put your arrow on the YIO-4 Data file and Right click on it one time. When the list appears mouse over “Send To” and another list will appear. Look for the option that says CD-RW Drive and
A message should appear at the bottom of your monitor that says “You have files waiting to be written to the CD”.
Left click on it and it will bring up another window that will show the YIO-4 Data file. On the left there should be a box that says “Write these files to CD”. (If you do not see this message click on the word “File” and select it from there.)
Left click on it and the CD writing wizard will appear. It is recommended that you burn a CD of your data every week, more often if I do a lot of data entry on a given day. It only takes a couple of minutes to burn a CD and would take me days to try to re-enter my data, assuming that I had hard copies of everything and could remember every entry in the Comment box for all of my clients and prospects. NOTE: Memory sticks are handy for moving data to another computer but DO NOT PROVIDE A SECURE BACKUP OF YOUR DATA. THEY CAN AND DO “SHOOT CRAPS”. REPORTS Several new reports have been added to v5.0 to make retrieval of data easier. Clients Database: Prospects Database: Client Activity Summary For more accurate information use the appropriate report listed under “Client Reports” in the Main Menu. General InformationCopying data from other programs and pasting in YIO. To copy data, highlight the area to be copied then press “Ctrl” and the letter “C” on your keyboard. To paste that data in YIO press the “Ctrl” key on your keyboard and the letter “V” on your keyboard. Exporting Client and Prospect information to Microsoft Outlook. The main reason for exporting your data to Outlook is so it will sync to any PDA. If you don’t plan to sync your data to a PDA then there really isn’t any reason to use this function of the program. Specific data has been selected to be exported to Outlook by clicking on the button in the Main Menu titled “Export Data to Outlook”. Simply clicking on that button will export all specified Client and Prospect data to Outlook. After exporting, open Outlook and click on Contacts. “YIO C” preceding the persons name will identify all records from the Clients database and “YIO P” will precede all names from the Prospects database. This keeps the contacts from YIO separate from all other contacts you may have in Outlook and separates Clients from Prospects. Your business appointments, personal appointments and tasks will also be exported to the Calendar in Outlook. When you open an appointment in the Outlook calendar you will also see the information that is in the Comment box from that client or prospect records. Any changes you make to the information in Outlook will not be exported back to YIO. However, they can be copied in Outlook and pasted in the Comment box of that record. N0TE: Working with your data in Outlook is not a support function of “Your Insurance Office”. If you have questions about using Outlook please contact Microsoft. Syncing to your PDA The biggest advantage to exporting data to Outlook is that it you can sync all of the data you have exported to Outlook to your Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). You will no longer have to take your laptop with you when you leave the office to have a complete list of all Clients and Prospects as well as all of your appointments and tasks that are shown in the YIO calendar. See Screen Shot on our website at www.YourInsuranceOffice.com for a sample of the data that exports to Outlook and can be synced to a PDA. “Agent” Field in the Clients Database & “Agent Lead Given To” in the Prospects database. When a new agent is added the program will prompt you to enter the additional information. Mail Merge uses this information when printing letters. You must enter this information for Mail Merge to work properly. (See screen shot below.) ******** VERY IMPORTANT! It is essential that you enter a name or number in the “Agent” field in the Clients database and the “Agent lead given to” field in the Prospects database in every record in order for Mail Merge and many of the reports to work properly. Date / Time Stamp The program has been set to automatically display both the date and time when entering new information in the Comment Box of the Client, Prospect and Archive databases. It is recommended that you enter log every conversation with both clients and prospects. This will be very valuable during your next conversation with them. Mail Merge See Mail Merge section in this User Guide for more information. Filter/Sort This is one of the handiest functions of the program for quickly reviewing specific data in all three of the databases. (See Filtering/Sorting below for more information.) Important: When you have finished filtering/sorting, DO NOT FORGET to click the button next to “Remove Filter/Sort. You must click that button to stop the Filter/Sort selection operation and return your database to normal. Commission Field ($ Comm:) The “$ Comm:” field will accept a specific dollar amount without having to enter a number in the “% Comm:” field. To enter a dollar amount without having to enter a percent of commission, click on the “$ Comm:” field and enter the dollar amount. The “% Comm:” field will remain blank. Exporting Client and Prospect Data to Microsoft Excel. Version 5.0 will export all Client and Prospect data to Excel or any other program that accepts CSV format with the exception of information in the Comment box. Open Mail Merge from the Main Menu and click on the button that says “Export Data”. That will open up the “My Documents” window. We suggest you save it to your Desktop instead of “My Documents”, it will make it easier to find. Give the file a name you can easily remember like “YIO Excel Import” and the date. Click “Save”. Close or minimize YIO and go to your Desktop and double click on the icon you have just added. “Your Insurance Office” will export data to any program that will accept Comma Separated Value (CSV) format. N0TE: Working with your data in Excel is not a support function of “Your Insurance Office”. If you have questions about using Excel please contact Microsoft. Reports Client Birthday Report Sold Policies Graph Annualized Premium Report Tab Order Support We prefer to provide telephone support. For phone support call toll free at, 877.633.0808. If we are busy helping others, please leave your name, phone number and the best time to return your call. Support is always toll-free and unlimited for agents who have read this User Guide before calling. If you send e-mail, send it to frank@yio.info and include your name, phone number and the best time to call. Color Coding *Independent Agents / Managers* Your Insurance Office has been designed to keep track of more than just one agent. Most of the reports are designed so the report can be printed for an individual agent or for all agents in the database. If you are an Independent Agent representing several different companies, it is recommended that you enter your agent number for each company you represent in the "Agent" field. You will then be able to print reports for insurance sold for each company or for all of the companies you represent by using your different agent numbers. Both agents and managers can monitor trends in sales, persistency, types of policies sold and cancellations / lapses. Managers will also be able to keep track of every lead given to an individual agent and have a permanent and easy to locate record of the status of that lead. The program is not case sensitive. Both upper and lower case letters can be used in any part of the program. E-mail Labels Comment Box Group Co Field Age - Prospects, Clients and Archive Databases Using Tab or Enter key to move to the next field. You can use either the Tab or Enter key on your keyboard to move from one field to the next in the records. Note: The only exception is when typing in the Comment Box. You must use the tab key to exit the Comment Box. Saving Information In the Databases Drop Down Lists in the Prospects and Clients Databases. To add information to the various Drop Down Lists just type the information in the field and when you exit that field a window will appear asking if you want to add that information to the list. The only exception is the Drop Down List for the "Agents" field. If the agent you entered isn't in the list, a small window will appear allowing you to add the new agent to the list. To remove items from the Drop Down Lists click on "Drop Down Lists" shown on the "Main Menu" and read the information at the top of the window. If You Sell Insurance Outside of the United States Dates – Entering in fields. If you are typing dates that are used to get Reports, DO NOT type a zero before a single digit number. Enter the date in the search window as 5/25/09. The program will automatically show the date in the field as 5/25/2009. Time Phone Numbers Dollar Amounts Deleting Records A better option is to send that record to the Archive Database. All the information is retained and that record can be transferred back to either the Clients or Prospects database if that person becomes a qualified buyer or client again. Conducting Searches The search window will remain on the screen during your search and permits you to make changes in each record without having to cancel the search window. Using an asterisk (*) will be very helpful in conducting searches. This is how you would locate someone if you can only remember that the name of the street they live on is Elm. 1.Click on the street address field in the database 2. Click on the binoculars. 3. Type *Elm* in the search window. (Don't forget the asterisks) 4. Click on “Find First”. If that doesn't bring up the record you want click on “Find Next”. Using the asterisk eliminates everything before the word Elm and everything in the field after the word Elm. When searching in a date field you can search a specific date or just the month or the year. To search a specific date, enter the date in the search window as 2/27/2003, DO NOT enter the date as 02/27/03. If you want to search only on the year then enter *2003 in the search window. To search only on the month, enter the month and an asterisk. (2* for February.) The only exception is when searching on January. You must enter the following in the search window, 1/*. If you enter just 1* for January you will also get, October, November and December because they all have the number 1 in them. Searching phone numbers works the same way. Example: If you were only able to understand four of the phone numbers from your answering machine, enter an asterisk (*), the four phone numbers and another asterisk (*). *3689*. The program will locate all records that have those four numbers in sequence. Filtering / Sorting You can Filter the information in any field in those areas by the data that appears in the field. You can also Sort the information in those fields by selecting to put the information in that field in either Ascending Order or Descending Order. To Filter or Sort information, use the buttons in each of the databases as shown in the example below. After each Sort/Filter do not forget to click on the "Remove Filter/Sort" button before conducting another search or leaving the database. Failure to do so may not restore your records to their original position in the database Assume you want to look at all clients or prospects that live in a certain county. 1. Find a record that has the county you are looking for. 2. Left click on the “County” field so a flashing cursor appears. 3. Left click on "Filter By Selection" button. All other records except for the people living in that county will be filtered out. 4. You can now scroll through the database and see every record that contains the name of that county. Use the “Previous Record” or “Next Record” buttons at the top of the screen to look at each record. You can also use the arrows located at the bottom left of your screen (See screen shot below.) to scroll through the records. The number to the right of the arrows shows the total number of records with the name of that county in the County field. Before sorting and searching again, Left click on the "Remove Filter/Sort" button. This puts all the records back to their original position in the database. YIO also lets you sort your records. If you left click on the birthday field to get a flashing cursor then left click on the button marked AZ with the down arrow, all of your records will be in chronological order by the person’s date of birth. This will allow you to look at everyone borne in a certain year by scrolling to records with that date. Moving Records to a Different Database When you move a Prospect to the Clients Database and open the Clients database, that former Prospect will be the last (or newest) record in the database. It will be the one that appears when you open the Clients Database. If you move a Client back to the Prospects Database, the former client will be placed in the Prospects database in chronological order based on the date that was originally put in the "Date Received" field of the Prospects Database. Once that former Client is back in the Prospects Database you can position that record as the newest record in the database by changing the date in the "Date Received" field to the current date. If you move a record from the Archive Database to either the Prospects or Clients database that record will automatically be placed as the last (or newest) record in the database. === Main Menu === When you open the program the first screen you will see is the Main Menu. The buttons in the Main Menu allow you to view and go to all of the different functions of the program. The “Quick Find Field” in the Main Menu allows you to enter the last name of a person and the program will find that person if they are in either the Prospects or Clients database. This is especially helpful if you receive a phone call and aren't sure if the person calling is a client or prospect or the correct spelling of their last name. Click in the field and begin typing the person’s last name. When you find the person you are looking for, click on the person's name or click “Enter” on your keyboard to go to that record. If that person isn't in the program, press the "Escape" on your keyboard to cancel the search. Note: The "Find" field at the top of each of the three databases work the same way except it will only find people located in that particular database. If that person is not in the database press "Escape" on your key board to cancel the search. Reports. Appointments. Calendar. If you want to see only the appointments for a single day of the month just left click on the day of the month in the calendar and only those appointments for that day will be shown in the Upcoming Appointments box. A red dot to the right of the appointment indicates that those appointments are for the current date. To go back to having all of your appointments displayed, left click on "Reset Calendar To Current Date" button. To print a list of your appointments, click on "Print Appointments" and enter the range of dates for the appointments you want to print in the search window. The printed appointments will have the person’s complete address, home phone, work phone and cell phone numbers. (Note: the beginning date field will always show the current date. You can delete this date and enter a different date.) Drop Down List Instructions on how to add and delete information from the various drop down lists are at the top of that window. An unlimited number of categories can be added to each list. The flexibility of “Your Insurance Office” is only limited by your imagination. Mail Merge - Main Menu The selection box that allows you to choose the fields you want Mail Merge to search on is divided by the Prospect and Client databases. If you click on the option that says "End Letter with Agents Name", any record that DOES NOT have an agent's number in the “Agents” field in the Clients Database or in the “Agent Lead Given To” field in the Prospects Database WILL NOT BE PRINTED. You must have an agent’s name or number in the those fields in each record in both the Client and Prospect databases for Mail Merge and many of the reports to work properly. Also, any record in the Clients database that has a date in the Cancel / Lapse field will be filtered out. This prevents letters from being printed for those who have cancelled their policy. If, however, you want to a send letter to those who have cancelled you can find them by clicking on the "Selective Mail Merge" button. Once in the Clients portion of Selective Mail Merge you can sort the records and then scroll through the list and click the button next to the name of those who are to receive a letter. (The status of each policy is shown in parentheses next to the Policy Type.) Note: Data can also be exported so you can create a mail merge letter in an external word processing program like Microsoft Word. === PROSPECTS DATABASE === Find Field - The "Find" field at the top of the record lets you quickly find a person in the database. Enter the person’s last name and click Enter on your keyboard. If that person isn't in the database a message will appear. Click OK and search again just in case you misspelled their last name. If you want to cancel the search, press "Escape" on you key board and return to the Main Menu to search another database. Agent Lead Given To Field. - The default setting is "(None)". You must enter data in this field in every record you create for Mail Merge and many of the reports to function properly. Date Received Field - It is set to display the current date when you click on "Add New Prospect". If you want to enter a lead using a different date simply change the date when you tab to that field. Date Given Field - It is also set to display the current date when you enter a new lead. If you do not assign that lead to an agent when you enter the lead, leave the current date in that field until the lead is assigned. It is necessary to have a date in that field to print an Agents Lead Report. When you assign that lead to an agent delete the date that is there and put in a new date. Phone Numbers - The fields for the Home and Work numbers are larger than the Cell and Fax fields to allow you to enter an Extension number or a note if needed. Print Lead 4 x 6 - It contains all the information you will need to set an appointment and make a sale. Prints on an 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Fold in fourths and staple for convenience. To print, click on the image of a printer in the task bar at the top of your screen. Print Lead 8 1/2 x 11 - In addition to giving you all of the information contained in Print Lead 4 x 6, it also shows the E-mail address, Group Company name, Fax number and all additional information in the Comment Box that will not fit on a 4 x 6 index card. (To print see above.) Zone Field - The Zone field allows you to group several zip codes together and designate them as a Zone. This is especially helpful when working in rural areas where you may only have a few leads for a given Zip Code. Example: You can select all the zip codes in a thirty-mile radius from a central point and designate that area as Zone "South East". By printing a Zone Report for "South East" you will see all of your leads in that area without having to print a separate Zip Code Report for all of the towns you have grouped in that Zone. Lead Temperature Field – There is a drop down list associated with this field. It allows you to establish different categories for the various records you have in the Prospects database. You can use the entries that are there or delete them and create your own. === CLIENTS DATABASE === Find Field - The "Find" field at the top of the record lets you quickly find a person in the database. Enter the person’s last name and click Enter on your keyboard. If that person isn't in the database a message will appear. Click OK and search again just in case you misspelled their last name. If you want to cancel the search, press "Escape" on you key board and return to the Main Menu to search another database. Del / Mailed Field - The default setting in this field is “7/7/77”. This alerts you that the policy has not been delivered. Once the client has the policy, change the default date to the actual date they received it. % Commission Field - When entering the percent of commission you earn, DO NOT enter a decimal point before the number. Enter the percent of commission as 25 for 25%, NOT .25. When you tab to the next field, the dollars earned on that policy will appear in the "$ Commission" field. $ Commission Field - Your commission is computed using the number entered in the "Premium" field. (See “New Features” for v4.0 to enter a dollar amount without entering a percent of commission.) Renewal Date Field - When you enter a date in the "Effective Date" field, the program will automatically calculate the “Renewal Date” as a date eleven months from the “Effective Date” of the policy and enter that date in the “Renewal Date” field. If you want a different date in the “Renewal Date” field just change the date when you tab to that field. Other Default Settings - The "Bill" field has the default setting "M" for monthly, the "Method" field has "Bank Draft" and the "Policy Status" field has "Pending Approval". If you want to enter different information in those fields make your selections from the Drop Down List. Print Client Data Button - When you click on this button you will see and be able to print all of the information in the Clients record. === ARCHIVE DATABASE === The Archive database is the third database in the program. It enables the user to retain former Prospects who at the time may not be qualified buyers and Clients who have cancelled. All of the information in the original record is saved even though it isn't visible when the record is moved to the Archive database. Find Field - The "Find" field at the top of the record lets you quickly find a person in the database. Enter the person’s last name and click Enter on your keyboard. If that person isn't in the database a message will appear. Click OK and search again just in case you misspelled their last name. If you want to cancel the search, press "Escape" on you key board and return to the Main Menu to search another database. Each record in the Archive database identifies that record as either a former Prospect or Client. It also displays the date that client or prospect was sent to the Archive database. When a record is moved from Archive to either the Prospects or Clients database, that record will always appear as the last or newest entry in that database. (When you open either the Prospects or Clients database the program takes you to the last record entered.) Once that record is moved back to Prospects or Clients database all the original information that was there before you moved it to Archive will be restored. The data in the fields may be searched on but not changed until that record is moved back to either the Prospects or Clients database. The only exception is data in the Comment Box. You can add or delete text from the Comment Box while the record is still in the Archive database. Reports
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