Consumers' desire to incorporate digital channels as part oftheir buying process is causing a shift in the role of agents andbrokers, still the primary channel for insurancedistribution.

Online shoppers expect to learn about carriers, compareproducts, obtain price quotes and purchase a policy quickly andeasily. Some rely on social media to get information and adviceabout brands and coverage. According to Accenture data, 21 percentof consumers use, or are considering using, social media to performresearch on insurance products; 36 percent of consumers under age34 would consider using social media to perform suchresearch.

Some shoppers prefer to chat online, text or email rather thanto call or meet in person. Yet many shoppers who conduct researchonline will ultimately buy insurance from a human—either a localagent or a contact-center associate. Similar to consumer behavioralready widely observed in the retail industry, rather thanreplacing one channel with another, many insurance consumers arediversifying and using more channels than ever to meet theirneeds.

In the face of these powerful trends, many agents lack a clearWeb or social-media strategy: a branded, feature-rich digitalpresence; relevant digital content; and robust tools that betterconnect them with customers and the insurer. Agents generally donot have available or ample funds, skills and time to construct andrun their own high-impact, competitive sites—and they do not haveadequate marketing budgets to drive traffic to those sites.

With scale and efficiency on their side, carriers can drivetransformation of the agency structure into a digitally powered,more competitive engine for growth. Carriers should take four keyactions to make it happen:

1. Attract, hire, train and retain digital-savvyagents. The ultimate differentiator in an agency model isthe broker or agent's ability to establish enduring relationshipswith customers and the local market. Insurers need to improve theirability to attract, hire, develop and retain agents who cansuccessfully build relationships in the digital world. Given thatthe average age of an agency principal is 51, insurers must empowerthe next generation of agents—equipping them with the tools andsupport that help them to be visible, connected, relevant andeffective in an increasingly digital and mobile world.

2. Bring the strength of scale and skill to theagents' digital presence. Carriers can leverage theirscale and technology investments to cost-effectively extendhigh-quality, robust digital capabilities and websites to agents.Fueled by advances in real-time experience optimization andconfigurability, digital technologies have become more flexible andcan enable carriers to personalize a customer's digital experienceand integrate unique agent-value propositions for specific customersegments. Moreover, carriers can extend their digital support toenable agents to connect with customers via social media byproviding starter kits, training, best practices, content, as wellas seamless access to quoting and other transactionalcapabilities.

3. Organize around the customer's preference for“one conversation” across multiple channels. Insurers needto dismantle strong internal barriers, enabling agents, callcenters, Internet, mobile, social-media and other channels to worktogether to meet consumers wherever and whenever they shop forinsurance. For most carriers, this will entail anoperating-model shift from multiple independent channels to aseamless customer dialogue enabled by a leadership team andorganization aligned around the customer. Achieving this alignmenttypically entails tackling difficult changes to organizationdesign, governance, performance management, incentives, behaviorsand culture.

4. Empower agents to deliver a “local”personalized experience online. Insurers also need totake advantage of today's digital technology to highlight agents'key value: local presence and relationships. Rather than offeringthe same experience to all online shoppers, search- andexperience-optimization tools can customize the experience based oninsights derived from customer demographics such as location,gender and age; customer intent as expressed through search terms;and browsing history. Agents' online profiles should expandto provide much more insight into who they are, what they do andwhat their customers think of them, while introducing their marketspecialties and the value they offer their customers.

A digitally powered agent network can take the consumer buyingexperience to a new, competitive level and meet consumer needs witha distinctive value proposition that offers both convenience andlocal relationships. For the agent and insurer, the investment willpay off in ways that grow sales and profitability through bothdirect and agent-based sales.

Visionary agents and insurers know they need to make a realshift now as part of a modern agenda to support high performance.Agents who adapt to consumers' digital lifestyles will not onlyprovide the high-value, personalized service that insurance buyersexpect, they will compete more efficiently and effectively in arapidly changing marketplace.