Everyone knows you can lead consumers to an insurance agent, butyou cant make them buy policies. What isnt so well known, though,is what transpires in the interim was the lead a good one, or didthe agent even follow up?

The Hartford began using an agent locator system on its Web site(www.thehartford.com) in 1998. It found the solution it wanted fromInfoNow, a channel management solutions provider. Dave Guadliana,manager of new program development for The Hartford, says thesystem performed what The Hartford asked of it. The consumers wouldinput their address, and back would come a listing of agents intheir area, he says. It would also show a map of the location. Thatworked fine, but over a period of time, we felt it would be nice tofacilitate the consumers getting in touch with the agents.

The original solution from InfoNow gave information to theconsumer on how to contact the agent but did not assist thatcontact. Nor did it have a report function to let The Hartford knowif the agent had made contact with the consumer. The company feltit was important to upgrade this service, Guadliana says, as anexample of how The Hartford was helping agents grow theirbusinesses by making it easier to sell The Hartford products.

In late 2000, the contract between The Hartford and InfoNow wasup for renewal. The Hartford explained its needs, Guadliana says,and InfoNow agreed to work with the carrier on a solution to closethe loop between consumers and agents. A module was developed toadd to the existing locator. We had a good relationship withInfoNow, says Guadliana. Its proposal met our needs, both in termsof our budget and our business needs.

As the module was being developed, customized changes were addedbased on The Hartfords recommendations. We talked about all theitems that could be added, and we set up a project plan, Guadlianasays. A project manager from The Hartford submitted the businessrules to govern how the lead-generation system would operate.

One aspect of the new system was to improve the quality of theleads the Web site was generating for the agents. A set ofquestions would pop up once the consumer clicked on the locator.The questions included what product the consumer was interested in,the current carrier being used, and the expiration date for thecurrent policy.

There were other tweaks to the system as well. Once the consumerrequested an agent, that agent would have 24 business hours torespond to the lead. If the agent failed to do so, the lead wouldthen be passed on to the next agent in line. There was also ane-mail contact sent to both the consumer and the agent.

Details on the lead could be retrieved through The Hartfordsextranet for its agents. That data included what type of policy theconsumer was looking for. We wanted this to be an easy process toretrieve the lead, Guadliana says. It also met our goal of givingour agents a one-stop business site.

The system allows the carrier to keep track of what the agentsare doing with the leads. There is a lead status area that allowsthe agents to explain if a product was sold based on that lead.

Response from the agents has been overwhelmingly positive,Guadliana reports. They like the fact that it is easy to retrievethe information. Plus, it improves on the quality of the lead, hesays. Knowing the expiration date of the current policy is helpfulto the agents. For policies with an expiration date more than onemonth away, agents have the option to activate an e-mailnotification system to advise them when a policy is 30 days priorto its final month. Robert Regis Hyle

The Problem: The need to follow up on leadsgenerated by Personal Insurance Agent Locator on Web site.
The Company: The Hartford Financial ServicesGroup
Lines: P&C and life products
2001 revenues: $15.1 billion
Web site: www.thehartford.com
The Software: Personal Insurance Agency Locator byInfoNow
Web site: www.infonow.com