MetLife Agency Business Management System User Manual

Agent Edition Version 7.0

May 2014

Agent Edition

2

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 3

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS ........................................................................................................... 3

QUICK START ................................................................................................................................ 3

LOGGING INTO THE SYSTEM ............................................................................................. 3

RECORD ACTIVITY DATA .................................................................................................... 7

QUICK ANSWERS .......................................................................................................................... 8

LOG IN QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................. 8

WHEN DO I NEED TO CHOOSE A COUNTRY? .................................................................. 8

WHEN DO I NEED TO CHOOSE A LANGUAGE? ............................................................... 8

WHAT IF I FORGOT MY PASSWORD? ................................................................................ 8

HOW DO I LOG OUT? ........................................................................................................... 8

AGENT QUESTIONS.................................................................................................................. 8

HOW DO I GAIN ACCESS TO THE APPLICATION? ........................................................... 8

HOW DO I GET A PASSWORD TO THE APPLICATION? .................................................. 8

WHAT DO I DO IF I FORGOT TO ENTER MY DATA FOR A PREVIOUS WEEK? ............. 8

WHY ARE SOME FIELDS GRAYED OUT? .......................................................................... 9

WHY ARE SOME DATES ON THE CALENDAR OUTLINED IN RED? ............................... 9

HOW IS A UNIT OF TIME DEFINED? ................................................................................... 9

WHAT DO RATIOS MEAN? .................................................................................................. 9

WHERE DO “<5”, “<1, 25”, AND “>5” COME FROM? ....................................................... 9

HOW DO I CHANGE THE TIME FRAME ON THE MY PERFORMANCE SCREEN? .......... 9

WHAT INFORMATION DO I NEED TO PROVIDE TO BMS? ............................................. 10

WHERE DO I FIND THE DEFINITIONS OF THE ACTIVITIES? ......................................... 10

HOW DO I MEASURE MY PERFORMANCE BEYOND ONE WEEK?............................... 10

WHY IS THE DATE I ENTERED CHANGING WHEN I SELECT

“WEEKLY/MONTHLY/SEMIANNUALLY/ANNUALLY” AS MY UNIT OF TIME ON THE MY

PERFORMANCE SCREEN?................................................................................................ 11

WHY CAN’T I SEE MY DATA IN THE MY PERFORMANCE SCREEN? ........................... 11

USER VIEW ................................................................................................................................... 12

WEEKLY ACTIVITY DIARY DETAILS ................................................................................ 12

MY PERFORMANCE SCREEN DETAILS ........................................................................... 17

Agent Edition

3

INTRODUCTION

The MetLife Agency Business Management System is an online application intended for use by MetLife Agents, Unit Managers, Agency Managers, and Sales Executives worldwide. It will be used to set goals, track sales, recruitment, and training activities, and generate reports. This multi-lingual application is able to track activities at different levels including agent, unit, agency, country, region, division, and corporate.

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

This section lists terms and definitions commonly used in the Business Management System for your reference:

New Client – A client who does not hold existing insurance products.

Existing Client – A client who holds existing insurance products.

Sales Activities – Each of the following sales activities must be tracked separately for new clients and existing clients:

o New Contact – A face-to-face or telephone contact of a client to schedule a

sales appointment to discuss insurance products. o First Appts – A face-to-face meeting with a client to discuss insurance needs

and wants, and completion of a fact-finding process. o Closing Appts – A meeting where a solution to the client’s insurance needs is

presented in order to complete the sale and the client is asked to sign the application.

o Apps Taken/Apps Submitted– OL and PA applications that have been signed

by a client and forwarded to the administrative office for processing o Premiums – Annualized OL and PA premium submitted o Referrals – Additional contacts gained from a client.

QUICK START

The Quick Start section will help you navigate quickly through the system. Once Logged In, you can set record activity data.

LOGGING INTO THE SYSTEM

To log in to the Business Management System as an Agent, please do the following:

1. Double-click on the Internet Explorer icon located directly on the desktop. This will open a web browser:

Agent Edition

4

2. Enter web address http://bms.metlife.com in the address line and press Enter.

On the login screen, select your language.

Enter your country, login, and password. Click the Login button.

Click Forget Password if you have forgotten your password.

Click Support if you need help.

Agent Edition

5

FORGET PASSWORD

If you have forgotten your password this screen allows you to retrieve it.

On this screen, simply enter your country, login, and email address. Hit the Continue button when you have filled in this information. An email will be sent to the email address you provided. If your email address is not on file with the system, you will be required to have your System Administrator reset your password.

Agent Edition

6

SUPPORT

If you require help with the system, you may click the Support link on the login screen. The Support screen will allow you to retrieve contact information from your region. Select your country from the drop down list. The support information for the selected country will be displayed.

Agent Edition

7

RECORD ACTIVITY DATA

The opening screen is the Weekly Activity Diary screen. Use this screen to record your sales activities for the current week. The Sales Activities are entered for New and Existing Clients separately.

NOTE: For more information about logging in as an Agent, please refer to the LOG IN

AS AGENT section of the USER VIEW in this manual.

Agent Edition

8

QUICK ANSWERS

The Quick Answers section is designed to answer frequently asked questions.

LOG IN QUESTIONS

WHEN DO I NEED TO CHOOSE A COUNTRY?

You are only required to select a country if you are an Agent, Unit Manager, or Agency Manager. Sales Executives are not required to select a country.

WHEN DO I NEED TO CHOOSE A LANGUAGE?

All users need to select a language before logging in.

WHAT IF I FORGOT MY PASSWORD?

If you have forgotten your password, simply click the link below the

buttons on the login screen.

HOW DO I LOG OUT?

If you wish to log out of the system, click the button on the right side of the Menu Bar at the top of any screen.

NOTE: The system will automatically log you out if you are inactive for 30 minutes.

AGENT QUESTIONS

HOW DO I GAIN ACCESS TO THE APPLICATION?

Your manager will be required to have a user ID and password generated for you. Your manager will then pass it on to you in a secure fashion, i.e. email or phone.

HOW DO I GET A PASSWORD TO THE APPLICATION?

Your manager will be required to have a user ID and password generated for you. Your manager will then pass it on to you in a secure fashion, i.e. email or phone.

WHAT DO I DO IF I FORGOT TO ENTER MY DATA FOR A

PREVIOUS WEEK?

If you have forgotten to enter data for a previous week, click the date you missed on the calendar. The date you missed should be outlined in red.

Agent Edition

9

Once the Activity table has changed to the date you selected, you may enter your missed data. You are permitted to enter data for a previous date as long as it is within one month of the current date, unless otherwise specified by your region.

WHY ARE SOME FIELDS GRAYED OUT?

Some fields are grayed out because they are in the future. You are not permitted to enter data for an upcoming date.

WHY ARE SOME DATES ON THE CALENDAR OUTLINED IN

RED?

Dates that are outlined in red do not have any data recorded for them.

HOW IS A UNIT OF TIME DEFINED?

A Unit of Time can be Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annually, or Annually. Daily describes activity on a daily basis. Weekly describes activity on a weekly basis. Monthly describes activity on a monthly basis. Quarterly describes activity a quarterly, or 3 month, basis. Semi-Annually describes activity on a 6 month basis (January-June). Annually describes activity of the selected agent or agents on a yearly basis.

WHAT DO RATIOS MEAN?

A ratio is the relationship between two items. Within the Business Management System a ratio is usually the relationship between two activities. The number of New Contacts and the number of First Appointments is an example from this application.

WHERE DO “<5”, “<1, 25”, AND “>5” COME FROM?

These numbers are to be used with the ratios from your data as guidelines to judge your success rate from activity to activity. For example, if you see “<5” in the Activity Ratios table, the number beside it should be less than 5 to be considered successful. In addition, if “>5” is in the table, the number beside it should be greater than 5 to be considered successful.

HOW DO I CHANGE THE TIME FRAME ON THE MY

PERFORMANCE SCREEN?

To change the time frame on the My Performance screen, use the Search By Date feature near the top of the screen.

Select two dates to search within. Click the calendar icons next to the From and To text boxes, use the popup calendar to select the dates. Then, pick a Unit Of Time from the dropdown menu at the right.

Agent Edition

10

Click the Refresh button when you’re finished.

WHAT INFORMATION DO I NEED TO PROVIDE TO BMS?

BMS has a Weekly Diary in which you record your Sales Activities for the week. This is the Weekly Activity Diary. In the Weekly Diary you will record the number of the various Sales Activities that were completed each day. The Sales Activities are:

New Contacts

First Appointments

Closing Appointments

Life Applications Taken

PA Applications Taken

Life Annualized Premium

PA Annualized Premium

Referrals The Sales Activities are to be entered in two separate categories: New Client and Existing Client. New Client is a client who does not hold existing insurance products. Existing Client is a client who holds existing insurance products.

WHERE DO I FIND THE DEFINITIONS OF THE ACTIVITIES?

To find definitions of activities within the Activity table, click the button on the screen.

This will open a new window with definitions relating to that screen.

HOW DO I MEASURE MY PERFORMANCE BEYOND ONE

WEEK?

To measure your performance beyond one week, use the Search By Date feature near the top of the screen. First select from the drop down box, the client type for which you want to review your performance. There are three options: New Client, Existing Client and All Clients. The All Clients view is a total of the New Client and Existing Client Sales Activity data. All Clients is the default view.

Once the client type has been selected from the drop down box, select two dates to

search within. Then click the calendar icons next to the From and To text boxes, use the popup calendar to select the dates longer than one week, and pick a Unit Of Time from the dropdown menu at the right. Click Refresh when you’re finished.

Agent Edition

11

WHY IS THE DATE I ENTERED CHANGING WHEN I SELECT

“WEEKLY/MONTHLY/SEMIANNUALLY/ANNUALLY” AS MY

UNIT OF TIME ON THE MY PERFORMANCE SCREEN?

The date automatically changes to the beginning of the time period when “Weekly/Monthly/SemiAnnually/Annually” is selected as a Unit Of Time because the application requires whole weeks/months/periods/years to calculate a correct view.

WHY CAN’T I SEE MY DATA IN THE MY PERFORMANCE

SCREEN?

If you have entered your data and clicked the Update button on the Weekly Activity Diary screen and are still not seeing any data on the My Performance screen, contact your Unit Manager for assistance.

Agent Edition

12

USER VIEW

The User View section is a detailed description of each section of the application the user will encounter. It is broken down mostly by screen. Each sub-section of the User View has a screen shot and description. It also includes step-by-step instructions on how to input data into each screen.

WEEKLY ACTIVITY DIARY DETAILS

The Weekly Activity Diary Screen is where an agent will spend most of their time within the application. The agent will use this screen to record their sales activities. The agent can enter information for days in the current week up to and including the current date and for previous weeks up to a month prior to the current date. Accessible fields are white, while inaccessible fields have been grayed out.

At the top of the screen is the Menu Bar. All screens within the Agent view display the Menu Bar. This bar displays three options: Weekly Activity Diary, My Performance and User Manuals. To make a selection, the user should click on the desired tab. The user’s current location is highlighted.

Agent Edition

13

Just below the Menu Bar, the Agent Code, the Base Currency, the Agent’s name and Contract Date are displayed. The Activity Table is located in the center of the screen. This table is divided into parts. The top row and left column are the descriptions for the table.

Across the top the user will see their Quota, the dates pertaining to the information the agent is entering, the Total, and the Quota Percentage.

Column Name

Description

Activity This column describes the activity the user is recording in that particular row.

Quota This column displays the quota set for that activity.

Date This column is the date that the user is recording Sales Activity data.

Total This column is the total number of activities completed for that row.

Quota% This column is the percentage of the quota that has been completed.

Agent Edition

14

The left side of the table describes the activities that will be recorded and tracked within the table. The Sales Activity data is entered separately for New Client and Existing Client categories.

Agent Edition

15

Column Name Description

New Contacts Number of face-to-face or telephone contacts with a client to schedule a sales appointment to discuss insurance products.

1st Appts Number of face-to-face meetings

completed with a client to discuss insurance needs and wants, and completion of a fact-finding process.

Closing Appts (Presentations)

Number of appointments completed where a solution to the client’s insurance needs was presented in order to complete the sale and the client is asked to sign the application

Apps Taken

Life This column describes the number of new OL applications submitted.

PA This column describes the number of new PA applications submitted.

Premium

Life This column describes the annualized OL premium submitted.

PA This column describes the annualized PA premium submitted.

Referrals This column describes the additional contacts gained from a client.

Note: Each of the sales activities listed in the table above must be tracked separately

for New Clients and Existing Clients.

The second section of the Sales Activity table shows ratios and averages using the information from the Sales Activity that has been entered. The table is split in two sections: Activity Ratios and Average Premium per Case. The Activity Ratios and Average Premium per Case are calculated separately for the New Client and Existing Client categories.

Activity Ratios

Agent Edition

16

Column Name Description

New Contacts/ First Appts

This is the ratio of the number New Contacts to the number of 1

st Appointments.

First Appts/ Closing Appts

This is the ratio of the number of 1st Appointments to

the number of Closing Appointments.

Closing Appts/ Sales This is the ratio of the number of Closing Appointments to the total of Life applications and PA applications submitted.

Referrals/ Total Appts

This column is the ratio between the number of Referrals and the number of Total Appointments, where Total Appointments = Number of First Appointments + Number of Closing Appointments.

Average Premium per Case

Row Name Description

Life This row is the sum of Life submitted annualized premium divided by the number of Life submitted applications.

PA This row shows the sum of the PA submitted annualized premium divided by the number of PA submitted applications.

The user should enter their information into the Activity table and then click the Update Button to save the data.

7 This button opens a pop-up window that describes relevant definitions of terms used on the current page.

Agent Edition

17

The Calendar section of the Weekly Activity Diary screen is located on the left side.

This section can be used to locate specific dates and/or weeks within the time frame the agent is allowed to modify. The date selected will be shown in bold and the dates outlined in red do not have information reported on them. If there is a date outlined in red, the user should click on that date and record their information for that day.

MY PERFORMANCE SCREEN DETAILS

The My Performance Screen allows the user to view a summary of their sales activities within a specified time period. By default, when the agent opens the My Performance Screen, the current month is displayed. The Performance data can be reviewed in three separate perspectives: New Client, Existing Client and All Clients. The default display is All Clients.

Agent Edition

18

The Search by Date feature will be of value to those agents who want to track their progress. This screen allows the agent to view their sales figures. Within this screen, the Search by Date feature, which is repeated throughout the application, allows the agent to search for a report within specified dates. To use this feature, the agent needs to select two dates to search within. The user should click the

calendar icons next to the From and To text boxes, use the popup calendar to select the dates, pick a Unit Of Time from the dropdown menu at the right and then click the Refresh button. A Unit of Time can be Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annually, or Annually. Daily shows the activity on a daily basis. Weekly shows the activity on a weekly basis. Monthly shows the activity on a monthly basis. Quarterly shows the activity on a quarterly, or 3 month, basis. Semi-Annually shows the activity on a 6 month basis (January-June). Annually shows the activity on a yearly basis.

NOTE: The date automatically changes to the beginning of the time period when

“Weekly/Monthly/SemiAnnually/Annually” is selected as a Unit Of Time because the application requires whole weeks/months/periods/years to calculate a correct view. A view of the data is selected from the drop down box. The options are: New Client, Existing Client or All Clients. The selection of the client type from the drop down box determines what data will be displayed. The default view is All Clients. When the selection from the drop down box is changed, the Refresh button should be used to ensure the correct data is being displayed.

Agent Edition

19

The My Performance Screen contains the My Performance table which displays user’s activity within the selected time. The column headings are: New Contacts, First Appointment, Closing Appointment, Submitted Life Applications, Submitted PA Applications, Life Premium, PA Premium, and Referral are displayed. The second row displays the total amounts for the selected time frame.

Below the My Performance table is the Activity Ratios table. This table displays the ratios for the specified time frame and the selected client type.

Column Name Description

New Contacts / First Appts

This is the ratio of the number New Contacts to the number of 1

st Appointments.

First Appt / Closing Appts

This is the ratio of the number of 1st Appointments to the

number of Closing Appointments.

Closing Appt / Sales This is the ratio of the number of Closing Appointments to the total of Life applications and PA applications submitted.

Referrals/Total Appts

This column is the ratio between the number of Referrals and the number of Total Appointments, where Total Appointments = Number of First Appointments + Number of Closing Appointments