Consumers' buying and shopping habits have changed. Think aboutwhat you do when you're thinking of buying a new product orservice. For most people, the research process starts by going tothe Internet and searching for that product or service. Using theInternet to search about insurance is no different.

According to comScore Inc.'s April 2009 Online Auto InsuranceReport, 32.1 million auto quotes were submitted online in 2008. Ofthese, 52 percent of respondents said they had shopped for autoinsurance within the past 12 months, and 63 percent went online toget a quote. The total number of policies actually purchasedonline, however, was just 2.3 million.

These numbers should be both an encouragement and a wake-up callto insurance agents. The trend of consumers and businesses goingonline to research their purchases is not going to slow down. Yetthese numbers also show that even though people are going online toresearch, most still want to talk to a person before they actuallypurchase a policy.