On average, a consumer has approximately 5.2 insurance policies,covering life, home, auto, health, and other areas, according toScott Mampre, a vice president of Capgemini. Since the averageinsurance carrier has between 1.1 and 1.5 of those policies, itdoesn't take an actuary to figure out dramatic growth is possibleif you are able to get access to some or all of those policies. Andone way to accomplish that feat is through multi-network andmulti-distribution strategies, contends Mampre.

For its World Insurance Report 2009, Capgemini went to 17countries and talked to 59 executives from leading insurers andalmost 2,300 distributors to get a closer look at the distributionhabits of carriers.

Distribution of insurance products follows a consistent approacharound the globe, reports Mampre. “We find the difference betweeninternational and domestic is that some of the specificcharacteristics are a little bit different,” he says.

Mampre notes in examining trends in the United States, thesurvey revealed that for 70 percent of respondents acquisition ofnew customers is high on their list of needs. On a global basis,though, that number is a bit higher at nearly 95 percent.

When questioned about increasing sales from existing customers,Mampre continues, 64 percent of U.S. insurers listed this as apriority compared with 48 percent of global insurers viewing it asa priority. “The focus tends to be generally the same as it comesto multi-distribution,” he says.

To Capgemini, multi-distribution means going into themarketplace with a strategy that allows for customer acquisitionand support through various distribution channels, explains Mampre.“It might be the Internet; certain types of agents that work incertain types of markets; it could be through alliances with othercarriers,” he says.

“The strategy is to put in place a number of different types ofnetworks so you can maximize your exposure to potential consumerswho fit within your strategic objective,” advises Mampre.

“If you want to focus only on high-touch, value-added services,the number of networks you would utilize would be smaller,” saysMampre. That would mean insurers would have access to a smallerpercentage of the market because many consumers don't want that tobe their core way of buying a product, he adds. “If you want accessto 100 percent of the market, you have to look at the specializednetworks and attract and retain agents through those differentnetworks,” says Mampre.

Individual agents tend to focus on certain areas because thoseare what they know and what they like, according to Mampre. “If youtake a look at the agency level, you may have multiple agentswithin an office, and one might specialize in life, one in health,and one in P&C,” he says.

For these types of agencies, it is important for the individualagents to share leads for the good of the agency as a whole. Notevery agency is that strategic, though. “Some agencies are set upas all P&C or all life or all health,” says Mampre. “They aremissing the opportunity to get that leverage across the entiremarketplace.”

Why isn't there more sharing of information and moremulti-distribution? Often carriers have a perception of agents inspecific business lines that is either incorrect or can be modifiedand overcome, points out Mampre. Despite this perception, carriershave found ways to enhance the sales experience for both theconsumer and the agent, he asserts, by leveraging the Internet asopposed to it being a threat to either party.

Mampre finds a number of things that can be done to enhance themulti-network distribution model. “SOA is one of the things thatpull all this together,” he says. “If you are working in multiplenetworks, you have services you are providing for each network thathave to come together and assess the information so one customer isviewed the same whether going through the life network or theP&C network. The infrastructure has to be such you can shareinformation across the entire organization.”