Start with the work your team does every day
The right system makes the common tasks easier: finding a family, adding a dependant, recording a premium, printing a receipt, spotting an unpaid policy and opening a claim. Ask a provider to show you those tasks from beginning to end.
A long feature list matters less than whether an experienced staff member can see the next step without constant help.
Ask the provider“Show me a payment being recorded and a receipt printed, start to finish.”
Understand what happens to your existing data
Changing software shouldn’t mean recapturing every member. Check whether the provider can import your actual spreadsheet, keep your existing policy numbers, link dependants to the right main member and keep payment history.
Before anything is imported, you should be able to review plan matches, duplicates, missing details and branch assignments.
Ask the provider“Can I see a preview of my own file before anything is saved?”
Check whether plans can follow your rules
Funeral plans can change price by joining age, current age, relationship, the number of people covered or optional extras. A good system handles simple plans without extra setup, and detailed rules when your business needs them.
When you change a plan’s price, existing policyholders should keep the premium and terms they signed up for.
Ask the provider“Set up our most complicated plan while I watch.”
Follow a payment all the way through
Ask how the system records a payment, issues a receipt, shows arrears and closes the day at a branch. Imported historical payments should stay visible without appearing as new money in today’s cash-up.
Owners should see the whole company’s position while each branch works with its own collections.
Ask the provider“What happens when a payment is recorded by mistake?”
Give each person the right access
An owner, general manager, branch manager and counter staff member don’t need the same view. Look for branch assignment, role-based permissions, a record of who did what, and a sign-in process that suits a shared branch computer.
Ask the provider“What can a counter staff member see and change?”
Use the trial to test real situations
Don’t just click around a dashboard. Register a family with several dependants, record a payment, correct a member’s details, open a claim, add a staff member and check a branch report. If you’re moving records across, test a sample of your real file.
Write down everything that caused uncertainty. Good onboarding should resolve those points before you move everyone across.
Ask the provider“Can you help us test a sample of our real records during the trial?”