End of the Year - File Clean Up

[Advisor06]

Guy,

Hope everyone had a great year. I am coming to the time where I take some time before the holidays to do a little "office clean up" and I keep going back and fourth with the idea of a "paperless" office vs keeping a paper file for each client. I like the fact of easy access with the computer through "dropbox" but I have a hard time letting go of the files I can touch which never seem to make it back to the cabinent which is creating an ongoing mess. The advantage I see with paperless is once I scan it in and drop it in the digital file if I need to pull it again its just a click of a button to put it back in the "virtual cabinent" with clicking the X.

Anyone have experience with this "ditching the file cabinent for a paperless experience?

One other note is that my other concern would be when I go out to see a client and all their files are in "dropbox" what do I bring with me. Right now I have everything in their paper file but hardly every do I reference copies of old policies with a client.

Also I sell Life, LTC, DI and Annuities.

Thanks and and help would be greatly appreciated since I need to do one or the other and stick with it.

 

[RadiantEffort]

We began employing a scan and save concept. Scan the document into the system (with different hierarchy permissions to see, edit within the office). We saved everything in paper form, but didn't go crazy on the filing or organization filing. As long as you're 100% confident your CRM or electronic consumer database is ready to be used, going electronic is awesome.

 

[WinoBlues]

Guy,

Hope everyone had a great year. I am coming to the time where I take some time before the holidays to do a little "office clean up" and I keep going back and fourth with the idea of a "paperless" office vs keeping a paper file for each client. I like the fact of easy access with the computer through "dropbox" but I have a hard time letting go of the files I can touch which never seem to make it back to the cabinent which is creating an ongoing mess. The advantage I see with paperless is once I scan it in and drop it in the digital file if I need to pull it again its just a click of a button to put it back in the "virtual cabinent" with clicking the X.

Anyone have experience with this "ditching the file cabinent for a paperless experience?

One other note is that my other concern would be when I go out to see a client and all their files are in "dropbox" what do I bring with me. Right now I have everything in their paper file but hardly every do I reference copies of old policies with a client.

Also I sell Life, LTC, DI and Annuities.

Thanks and and help would be greatly appreciated since I need to do one or the other and stick with it.

I have several 4 drawer file cabinets stuffed with client files. I have played with paperless also. The thought of scanning all these file is scary.

I need to find a paperless filing system. What does everyone else use?
I believe Mark had a video on scanning files with a great scanner.

 

[Ann H]

I can't ever seem to get the paperless idea off the ground. It's such massive work to scan all those files. So, I'm just focusing on the future. I plan to start using the crm and scanning paper that come in from now on. Then at every renewal I'll update the crm database and scan the most important papers from yesteryear. I find that I don't look at 80% of the old files anyway. And if I need a piece of data not currently at my fingertips, I can usually find it through the insurance company's web portal quicker than going through my files. So, why should I scan all that paper? I think going fresh from today on is a better idea for me.

 

[russelltw]

I am considering this option also. What CRM and file management system are you all using/considering?

I have a friend who just makes a file for each client and saves the scanned docs to each client's folder.

I am doing some hardware updates in 2013 (scanner and laptop), so I guess I can through paperless in there too. I would like to be truly mobile for 2013.

 

[Larry Tew]

You don't have to scan every file today. Start with your active cases and when you meet with older clients for review, clean out their file and scan what's needed, shred the rest. Eventually you will have everything that's important scanned.

 

[Jerard]

I thought I'd mention something about scanning programs here.

There are only about 2 good ones (that I have found) that will scan directly to PDF format. The one I use is PaperScan Pro. The reason I like this one is that if you scan the pages out of order you can move them back into the order that the ins co likes. There is another one that I think is called Scan to PDF that the screenshots look good but I never could get that one to work on my system. Another on I've tried that I liked was Softi Scan to PDF but I don't think you can rearrange files once they've been scanned into the program. All these are normally around 30 bucks if you don't know how to find "discounts".

 

[Larry Tew]

There is also "VueScan", and the scanning software that came with the scanner may be good enough too.

 

[fusion]

You mentioned Dropbox... With that you can access it from an iPhone or android phone and access all your folders. Negative is you'll be dependent on cellular service and it can be slow go pull up a document on the fly.

Currently if your office burns down what would you do? It's a good idea to think of moving electronically but have a back up plan or now referred to as a continuity of business plan.

 

[russelltw]

I use online backup through SOS online backup. It was rated best by PC Magazine. My concerns are a stolen laptop or loss from fire.