Q&A: Seamus Fox CEO Global Life & Finance
Global Life & Finance were the first group to adopt the Brokerprove system. They took part in the pilot test of the system. They have had the system running as a normal part of their business for a number of months now, so we asked their CEO, Seamus Fox, about how Brokerprove has changed the way they do business.
Why did you decide to use Brokerprove?
“We have a couple of issues in our business that we thought it would help with. Brokers have a big storage issue. We file everything, down to brochures. That means buying filing cabinets and paying for storage. It also means trying to find files when you want them can take a long time. You might have to go down to storage and that takes time. Brokerprove lets us use that time to do more important things and it helps with compliance too.”
How does it help with compliance?
“The big issue for brokers is compliance. For compliance reasons we have to file everything, it’s all about evidence. A typical file could have all sorts of documents from brochures, fact-finding, research, correspondence, policy documents, quotations; everything is evidence. That means big files that have to be stored securely. With Brokerprove we can store those documents in the cloud and they’re secure and encrypted, which means we can pare the physical storage right down to the bare minimum and stay in compliance.”
How has your filing process changed?
“When I signed off on a case file, it would go to my PA for filing. She would then file it away in the appropriate filing cabinet. This meant she could find it very quickly, but if she wasn’t here, or she was sick or on holiday, or God forbid she left, I’d be lost. Now I don’t need her for that, so she can focus on other things.”
How long does it take to find files using Brokerprove?
“Now it takes longer for me to actually boot up the system, than it does to find a document. You’re talking seconds.”
How has it changed the way you manage filing?
“We used to have to set aside time just for filing. It was normally Friday afternoon; we’d make sure everything was filed away properly. Now we don’t have to do that, now we scan everything as it comes in and file it away within the Brokerprove system. Then anything we don’t have to keep, we shred. Now the staff can focus on other more important things like dealing with customers. That’s the real beauty of it.”
Do you find it easy to use?
“Yeah, there was no real training or skills required. Everyone in the office was able to pick it fairly easily. It’s just like any other computer program so it was all fairly self explanatory.”
Was it complicated to set up?
“No it was all very simple, very smooth. We were the first ones using the system so there were a couple of little tweaks at the beginning, but after that it was really straightforward.”
How does online access benefit a broker?
“For me, because I travel a lot to meet clients, it makes things a lot easier. I don’t have to ring the office to get them to check a file anymore. Now all of the pertinent files are available on demand, on a train, in the airport, wherever.”
What else has changed since you started using Brokerprove?
“It’s taken away the worst nightmare scenario, what if the building went on fire? Because we now have everything backed up to the cloud, I know we wouldn’t lose all of our files if that happened. Paper has no backup, so that was always a worry. It used to keep me up at night.”
Has it changed the way you do business?
“It’s helped with productivity, efficiency and workflow. We can do things quicker now and spend more time on the business. We’re not going out buying filing cabinets or paying for physical storage. Even little things like the state of case files. Old files become unwieldy and tattered. That won’t happen to our new files.
So far we’ve only been storing new files on Brokerprove. We decided we would just start from scratch and scan documents as they came in first. So we still have our old files in storage. But we’re looking at getting those old files scanned and shredded and moving everything into the Brokerprove system. That will clear up even more space.”