Update News for February 2006

Here is a quick run-down on what you will find in this bulletin:

• • Windows Mobile Software – Now Available

     

     

  • One SD Card, One SD Update – Works on Both PDA’s

     

     

  • Get an SD Card and Adapter for ONLY $25

     

     

  • 30 Day Credit and 30 Day Money Back Guarantee

     

     

  • Get an SD Card for ONLY $10

     

     

  • How Do I Get Across How Important This Is?

     

     

  • Why Give away PDA software?

     

     

  • New Multi-Year Pricing for Agents

     

     

  • Shorter Bulletins

     

     

  • What’s Next for Compulife

     

     

  • QuickerQuoter Will Then Follow

     

     

  • Next Monthly Update

     

     

These topics will be dealt with in more detail throughout this bulletin. We would encourage you to read on.

Windows Mobile Software – Now AvailableThe Windows Mobile edition requires at least Windows Mobile 2003. Compulife’s Windows Mobile software will NOT work on devices running Mobile 2002 or older. If you have a device that is Windows Mobile 2002 you may be able to upgrade that device to Windows Mobile 2003.

For example, I purchased a pair of Siemens SX56 PDA phones that came with Windows Mobile 2002. After a search on ebay I located someone who had kept copies of the Windows Mobile 2003 software and we were able to upgrade the phones; they now run Windows Mobile 2003 and they also run our new Windows Mobile comparison software. I now take it with me whenever I leave the office.

If you have a PDA using Windows Mobile 2002, and want to upgrade it and can’t find the upgrade that you need, give me (Bob Barney) a call at (888) 798-3488. I will check the web and see what I can find for you.

One SD Card, One SD Update – Works on Both PDA’sInstallation of the Windows Mobile software to a PDA is EXACTLY the same procedure as for the Palm.

During January Compulife published a new web page with instructions for putting Compulife on an SD card. Here are those instructions:

www.compulife.com/pdainstall.htmTo summarize, when you update the SD card with Compulife, you will be able to take that card and stick it into either a Palm or Windows Mobile device and the same card will run on both systems. The program file used by either system is different but both programs will be on that card.

Get an SD Card and Adapter for ONLY $25Compulife normally offers a 32meg SD card and SD Card adapter for $35 (shipping included). But last month we offered an incentive for Compulife subscribers to join a new message board:

www.americaninsurancebroker.comEach Compulife subscriber who joins the message board will be permitted to take $10 off the price of an SD card and adapter. The normal price for a 32 meg SD card and adapter is $35. If you join the new message board (it’s FREE membership) you can purchase the card and adapter for $25 (includes shipping).

To repeat, join:

www.americaninsurancebroker.com(FREE membership) and provide Compulife with your userID for that message board (NOT your password) and you can purchase an SD card and adapter for only $25.

And here’s a little something more. If you buy a Palm at the same time we’ll let you add that to your order for no additional shipping charge. In other words, you could get the card, adapter and a Grade B Palm for a total of $124.

30 Day Credit and 30 Day Money Back GuaranteeThe following offer is only available to Compulife subscribers who are “paid” subscribers. This means that those who have obtained a FREE subscription through the “Dare to Compare” challenge, may not take advantage of this special deal.

During February and March you can buy a Palm from Compulife and you do not have to pay for 30 days.

MORE IMPORTANT: If you wish to return the equipment at the end of 30 days, you will receive a full credit including the shipping charge.

CONDITIONS:

1. You are responsible for the cost of returning the PDA and/or accessories.

2. The Palm LCD screen must not be “broken”. In other words, don’t drop the Palm and make sure you pack it carefully when you return it.

3. This offer is subject to availability of Palms. Currently we have about 40 units in stock and we continue to add as we are able but if there is a run on units, it will be first come, first served.

Get SD Card for ONLY $10Want to go shopping for a PDA or see what Compulife looks like on a PDA before buying? During the month of February Compulife will permit any subscriber to purchase a 32 meg SD card for only $10 (shipping included).

We will ship you that card with the February version of Compulife on the card, for both the Palm and Windows Mobile PDA. Take that card and go shopping. Stick it in any Palm or Windows Mobile PDA and you can quote Compulife.

How Do I Get Across How Important This Is?I have now been in the insurance and software industry for over 20 years and I cannot stress just how important the PDA is for the vast majority of insurance agents. I know I am in danger of sounding like a broken record but insurance comparisons in your pocket represent an enormously important prospecting opportunity.

I know of agents who will pay $25 for a qualified lead. For the cost of 5 leads you can have Compulife in your pocket. And if you qualify a lead face-to-face that will be a better quality lead than one you can buy.

And the $124 cost of a PDA is a ONE TIME COST. The software for your PDA is FREE with your subscription to Compulife. That PDA software in on your computer right now. If you are not using it, you are missing out.

Why Give away PDA software?Simple. As we hare learned through the years, getting customers to try new things always starts slow. Most new ideas go through the follow stages of development:

1. The idea is ridiculed as silly.

2. The idea is accepted as an option.

3. The idea is accepted as important

4. The idea is accepted as self-evident

We know that in a year or two many, many agents will be using PDA’s for quotes. It is such an obvious marriage of technology and need. On top of that, the cost is just to attractive for this not to happen. But right now agents look at it and think, I have functioned without a PDA to this point, why do I need one now.

Do you remember when you didn’t have a cell phone? I bet you weren’t the first person you knew who owned a cell phone. I bet you thought you didn’t need one. And I bet after you bought it, you wondered why you didn’t buy one sooner. Could you do without your cell phone today?

The other reason we are giving away PDA software is because once it becomes “self-evident” how important this idea is, we will not be the only company offering comparison software for a PDA. But we intend to be the leader in this market and giving it away at no extra charge, should give us an edge.

We also want to make sure you remember that Compulife was willing to give you this important technology as part of your subscription to our software. We appreciate subscribers who support Compulife and we want you to know that we support you and we deeply appreciate your business.

The other reason we are giving away this software is because there are a large number of potential new subscribers. Currently there are many agents who are happy to have their MGA e-mail them a quote. But once those agents grasp how important it is to have immediate comparisons on something they can carry in their pockets, they will want their own.

In that regard we would like to remind GAs that bulk purchasing Compulife can cut dramatically cut the price for agents. We think now is an important time for you to take a close look at this PDA software. If you don’t tell your agents about it, someone else will.

New Multi-Year Pricing for AgentsThe two year subscription for Compulife is being reduced from $349 to $299. The three year subscription is dropping from $449 to $399.

Our volume in the last few months has moved forward and as Compulife has promised, the more subscribers that we have, the more our prices can and will drop. We have a target annual price of of $149 (including free PDA software). With this latest drop in the two year price, you can get to that number now. In fact if you take advantage of a 3 year subscription, you can get your annual cost of Compulife down to $133.

Shorter BulletinsI have a split in subscriber reaction to bulletins. The reaction can be broken down to:

1. subscribers who don’t read bulletins (the majority)

2. subscribers who think bulletins are TOO long.

3. subscribers who would like to hear more (the minority)

In the hope of accommodating categories 2 and 3 (can’t do anything for those who don’t read), I will cut back on some of my commentary in Compulife bulletins and ratchet up my participation on this new message board. Those who want less, will get it. Those who want more can get it at:

www.americaninsurancebroker.comI suggest going to that web page and adding it to your favorites. More important, I would encourage you to join and participate. Membership on the board is FREE.

What’s Next for CompulifeOur next objective is to further advance the functions and features of the PDA software. We want to add a single company look up function to the bottom of the screen. Instead of just the “compare now” button, there will be a second button called “quote product”.

When you click on that button a list of companies will appear. When you locate the company you want, and click on it, a list of the products for that company will appear. When you click on the product, the single product display will appear. This will be the same screen that appears when you click on a product in the comparison results.

Once that feature is working we will enhance the single product display to give you more buttons which will let you display more options. One of the buttons will be to see renewal premiums. Another button will display a list of health categories and related premiums. Another button will display the various premium modes.

QuickerQuoter Will Then FollowOnce the above mentioned functions are complete, Compulife will turn its attention to introducing a variation of our PDA software called QuickerQuoter. QuickerQuoter is a single company quote system that we are providing to life companies for FREE.

When we first rolled out the Windows version of QuickerQuoter there wasn’t a lot of interest because most companies already have Windows quote software and most have already made substantial investments in that software.

We expect there will be a lot more interest in QuickerQuoter once it includes a PDA version because most companies do not have PDA quote software. Their option will be to make a significant investment to develop that software or they can use the FREE PDA software that Compulife will provide.

Is there a catch for life companies to get that software? There is.

Compulife will only provide the new PDA QuickerQuoter programs to life companies who are helpful in providing assistance to Compulife. While this includes things like providing rate tables and information about products, we are requesting one more area that a company must be willing to assist Compulife with in order to obtain the PDA software. If a life company wants the new free PDA software, Compulife requires that the company be willing to provide current copies of their PDF forms to our authorized web providers.

One of the things Internet users of Compulife has been asking us for is a forms library. One of Compulife’s authorized web providers has already taken the time and trouble to set up a database in which to store those forms. The problem has been that many companies have been unwilling to provide the forms. We believe the opportunity to obtain free PDA software for their agents will be the incentive needed to break the impasse.

The new form library will be available to any Compulife subscriber who is obtaining the Compulife internet quote engine through the authorized web provider. Adding the Compulife quote engine to your web site is only $99 per year.

We have already e-mailed a number of the life companies with information about the new QuickerQuoter program and have advised those companies that the first companies in with forms will be first companies to receive the new PDA software. Currently we have 4 companies who have expressed interest in the PDA software.

If you want more information about the forms library or the Quickerquoter PDA software, give me (Bob Barney) a call at (888) 798-3488.

Dueling Web SitesFor those who update by Internet, Compulife has gone to great lengths to provide you with redundancy in our web sites. Our main web site is:

www.compulife.comHowever, we keep three other completely separate web sites, on three completely different servers, at:

www.compulife.us     or     www.compulife.cc     or     www.compulife.caWhatever we update to compulife.com, we are also updating to compulife.ca, compulife.us and compulife.cc. If one web site goes down, for whatever reason, either of the other three are ready to serve you.

For those doing monthly updates by Internet, we rely on three other web sites to supply monthly updates. These are automatically checked and used by our automatic Internet update software.

Next Monthly UpdateWe plan to post the March 2006 Internet monthly update to our six monthly update web sites on Tuesday, February 28, 2006.

The disk update will be processed Tuesday, February 28th and the disks will be shipped on that day. You should have the disk update by Thursday, March 2nd.

Returning Monthly Disk UpdatesIf you are receiving monthly updates by disk, make sure you return your previous months updates.

Also note, for those receiving updates by disks, that you must switch over to Internet updates by the end of December 2006. Disk service will not be offered for January 2007 and following.

But we would encourage you to not wait until December 2006 to make the change because not only will you eliminate the expense and hassle of returning disks, it costs much less to get updates by Internet.

To switch to Internet monthly updates, go to our web page www.compulife.com and select the second menu choice “Application/License Agreements” Under the section “Application / License Agreements” you will need to select and complete a new License Agreement for the type of license that you have. Indicate on the application form, under “payment option”, that this is a “CHANGE“. After you have printed the new application agreement, please read it, especially the part where you agree that you have successfully downloaded and processed our “mid-month updates”. If you haven’t done that before, call us and we’ll be happy to step you through the procedure. It’s easy.