Patent Abstract:
A method comprises analyzing the psychology of a typical consumer and defining first key stages wherein customers drop out and second key stages wherein sales could be maximized.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/171,276, filed Jul. 10, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,949,549, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/936,455, filed Sep. 7, 2004, now abandoned which is a non-provisional application of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/500,440, filed Sep. 4, 2003, the entire disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Insurance agents spend the majority of their time tracking, following-up, and processing their sales and very little time actually selling. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present system and method was developed specifically to increase the volume of insurance an agent could sell. It applies equally to any other intangible product such as mortgages, even though the explanation below focuses on insurance. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , part of the development of this system and method includes analyzing  100  the psychology of the typical consumer and defining  110  key stages where customers drop out and other key stages where sales could be maximized. This system and method addresses the lengthy process required to buy life insurance by establishing what events must occur to move a customer through the process as quickly as possible with as little of effort by the selling agent. 
     The disclosed system and method is all inclusive for tracking and management of leads, including how leads are purchased, entered, distributed, emailed, monitored, and completely managed as they flow through the sales cycle. 
     All sales of intangible property such as life insurance follows the same general sales cycle from start to finish. A lead is imported or entered into the system. The prospective customer is then contacted, given a quote, and often agrees to purchase a policy. The customer must then complete an application that is specific to the state and company for which they are seeking insurance or other intangible product. The customer is also required to complete a medical exam. 
     Upon completing both the medical exam and application, the customer&#39;s information is sent off to the life insurance company where it will be reviewed by an underwriter. The underwriter uses predetermined underwriting guidelines to evaluate the customer&#39;s risk of death and place them into an appropriate rating classification. The rating classification determines the price for insurance the customer will be paying. Upon approval of the policy, the insurance company issues a policy and forwards it to the agent. The agent is then responsible for getting that policy to the customer and collecting any delivery requirements the insurance company has requested. The agent submits the delivery requirements to the insurance company and then follows up with the customer periodically. 
     Sales Cycle Breakdown: 
     New Lead—Gold, Silver, Bronze 
     New Applicant 
     Medical Complete 
     Paperwork Complete 
     Underwriting 
     Approved 
     Policy Sent 
     Client 
     Future Call Back 
     Dead File 
     Sales Cycle Definitions: 
     New Lead 
     Someone that has requested an agent to call them and give them a quote for insurance. 
     New Applicant 
     Someone that has agreed to purchase a policy and you have mailed the application out to them and ordered the medical exam. 
     Medical Complete 
     The customer has completed the medical exam but you are still waiting for their application. 
     Paperwork Complete 
     Opposite of medical complete. They have completed the application but have not completed the medical exam. 
     Underwriting 
     Person has completed both the medical and application and is being reviewed by an underwriter for the coverage they are requesting. 
     Approved 
     Policy has been approved and the agent is awaiting the policy from the insurance company. 
     Policy Sent 
     Policy was received and mailed out to the customer. 
     Client 
     Policy was successfully delivered and all money and signatures to complete the transaction were completed. 
     Future Call Back 
     Someone that is a prospect in the future for insurance. Usually you spoke to them and they asked you to contact them at a later date. 
     Dead File 
     Someone you were either unable to contact or after contacting them you determined that they are not going to be a prospect for the insurance. 
     This system and method additionally includes several reporting features for agents and agencies to spot problem areas in their business. The system allows for users to run reports on their business to see average case sizes, number of people in each sales stage, and graphical analysis of a user&#39;s book of business.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6