Internet Connection

Diane Robinson never thought she’d be looking to Web surfers to sell insurance, nor would she call herself a fan of the Internet. She is an old-school insurance executive, so talk of Web surfing, online social marketing and online shopping is outside her comfort zone. “We’re still pretty conservative in the insurance industry,” says Robinson, a vice-president with AGR Insurance Brokers Inc. “It’s a trust factor. I’m still cautious.”

But Robinson also knows she has to jump on board with new technology or else her company would never be able to compete. “As an ambitious and proactive brokerage, we are always looking for ways to increase our sales and our level of customer service. The Internet is not going away, so we knew we had to have tools to get out there and market ourselves.”

Such tools might include the provision of comparative rating and underwriting software for insurance brokers.

Twenty-five years ago, the challenge was to overcome the limitations inherent in the early development of brokerage technology. Today, it’s broadening brokers’ perspectives when it comes to prospecting for clients.

“Brokers were used to picking up the phone or thumbing through a manual to get rates,” says James Nickelo, Compu- Quote senior vice-president of sales and business development. “We came along with a better way to do things. Instant rate comparison was a hot commodity.”

GENERATING LEADS : BEYOND ONLINE QUOTATION

Now online quoting is available and technology has turned towards the task of generating leads for brokers. Products are being made available now to help brokers generate business leads.

“We knew we needed a tool to establish a channel to develop leads as we watched the growth of business on the Internet,” Nickelo says. “Consumers are going online to search insurance and they don’t want to make a phone call. So we wanted to give a tool to brokers that would allow consumers to get quotes from their homes or offices.”

Technology is available to increase business leads for brokers, but even with advances in technology, brokers must still make calls and develop relationships with prospects.

“Fear not, the technology does not replace that personal touch,” Robinson says. “But it does help to streamline our work, since we can now transfer our leads directly into our rating software. We are now able to target a specific market.”

Progressive insurance brokers like Robinson realize the importance of using technology as part of a business plan.

Price is often a key factor in choosing insurance — particularly auto insurance — so comparative quoting is a key element for such plans. Such quoting, delivered any time day or night via the Internet, provides a simple and user-friendly means for consumers to obtain instant online comparative quotes, translating into more business.

As consumers enter the information themselves, online quoting relieves brokerage staff from the time-consuming task of gathering information and processing the quote. Brokers can focus on servicing, which leads to greater returns on the marketing dollar.

Adding an Internet component to the brokerage business gives brokers another avenue to reach consumers, in addition to the traditional methods of print and radio advertising. “There is a growing interest from insurance companies and associations to use such technology to send leads to brokers, but brokers still need to have these tools on their own Web sites,” says Nickelo. “The more channels the better, because it`s all about using this technology to get leads, which in turn means more clients.”

By offering online quoting, brokers gain prospective clients who consider themselves too busy to walk into a broker office or who feel more comfortable doing their own research.

At the 10th Annual Insurance and Investments Convention in Montreal last fall, influential members of the industry had an open discussion about the storm threatening insurance brokers. Speakers noted brokers need new ways to market themselves and develop sales.

Louis Regimbal, associate partner at IBM Global Services, says the situation in Canada is similar to that of the United Kingdom a few years ago. English brokers had to change their business model and strategy in order to maintain their market shares. One of the solutions was the Internet. Brokers had to be more sensitive to client’s needs and the Internet was a part of the solution to address issues of flexibility and accessibility.

The Internet will influence 90% of all new insurance sales, and 30% of these sales will be completed online by 2011, according to research and consulting firm Celent, in 2007.

ONLINE QUOTING

Online quoting can also be a cost-efficient lead generation mechanism for brokers. Some available technology includes a feature that automatically downloads the consumer’s information into the brokerage’s ratings software. This allows the broker to make contact with the person and keep the client on the brokerage’s promotions list.

W. Tim G. Richardson is an e-commerce, marketing and international business professor and author of Marketing in the Information Age and Current Issues in E-business. He says one of the advantages of having an online quotation tool on a broker Web site is the decrease in costs.

Consider, for example, the costs of radio, television, print and Yellow Pages advertising, as well as the expense of employing other methods used to attract new clients — in addition to the staff costs incurred to transform a prospect into a client. With an online quotation tool, a brokerage’s Web site can generate genuine prospects, complete with detailed personal information.

In short order, a brokerage will be able to recover the cost of its online lead generation tool and start to see how it can help to attract more customers.

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Top 10 Reasons to Use Online Lead-Generation Technology

• Online insurance sales are expected to double by 2011. Brokers need to be visible and attractive, as quoting and policy transactions are becoming Web-based.

• Online shoppers want an immediate quote. Provide convenient one-stop shopping by offering comparative quotes from your Web site 24/7.

• Report capability lets you measure results, track hits and determine marketing campaigns.

• Brokers can decide who might obtain an online quote using predefined filters.

• Online, cost-effective quoting tools give brokers a provincial or even nationwide presence to generate leads outside your geographic area.

• Online quoting tools give brokers a similar quoting capability as direct writers — only better, because brokers can show prices for more than one carrier.

• Instantly ramp up the lead-generation potential of your Web site.

• Customization allows you to keep your branding for a consistent look and feel.

• The technology is available on a secure server. There are no updates to process.

• Quote information is passed directly into rating engine to avoid double entries.