Web Can Make, Break Agencies
For a while there, some people were insisting that independent agents were going the way of the milkman. One of the "certainties" of the "New Age" of insurance was that a lot more coverage would be placed directly via the Internet, with agents the obvious and inevitable losers in this zero-sum game.
As we sort through the wreckage of the dot.com craze, it's clear that while people might be eager to buy books via the Web, insurance is another story. It isn't easy shopping for insurance online, and it certainly isn't fun. And it's a lot more important to get the proper insurance coverage than the latest bestseller for those lazy days on the beach.
That's where agents re-enter the picture. Most people still want to deal with a live person when it comes time to insure their lives, property and liabilities. The Web just doesn't get the job done, and perhaps never will to any great extent when it comes to selling most types of insurance.
However, that doesn't mean that insurance can't be sold over the Internet, or that the Web has no legitimate place in an independent agency's tool chest. In fact, agents who ignore the potential of the Web are doomed to fall behind their more Internet-savvy competitors.
The Web can help agents prospect for new business, whether a potential client comes to the agency through a search engine, or is contacted directly during an online marketing campaign.
The Web can also be a huge help in servicing and expanding existing business–in keeping track of claims, in cross-selling new products and services, in passing along loss control advice, or in making sure that the agency is a valuable part of a client's life year-round, rather than just at renewal time.
Many agents who feared a loss of business to direct Web sales can breathe a sigh of relief. But the Internet game has only just begun. The only difference is that agents can now be a beneficiary of the Web revolution in marketing and service, rather than merely the victims.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, June 10, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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