At one point in time, multiple rating tools for multiple products might have been perfectly acceptable for a property/casualty insurer, but any carrier looking to maintain a strong market position has learned such a strategy doesnt create the level playing field most companies strive for. For the California State Automobile Association (CSAA), a level playing field meant a common rating tool for its automobile and homeowners customers and potential customers.
With the influx of insurers marketing over the Internet, Andrew Goldsmith, vice president IT business development for CSAA, says the carrier needed to position itself to compete for business. We have to provide rates on the Web, and they need to seamlessly reflect those [rates] that our agents are using, he says. CSAA is the largest provider of automobile coverage in northern California, and the company was feeling the pressure to maintain that position, according to Goldsmith.
CSAA had been down this road a couple of times, he says. Two earlier efforts failed but did not deter the company from its goal. One of the reasons for the earlier failures was CSAA could not reach a consensus among its internal staff on what needed to be included in the solution. It needed to be browser based, says Goldsmith, whose previous dealings with Steel Card while he was with another insurer led CSAA to open negotiations with Steel Card for its Apogee solution. We liked that it was browser based and also that it could handle multiple products and was flexible, he adds.
The two sides reached an agreement in February, and the new two minute quote system went live for CSAA on July 1. Steel Card was confident in its ability to deliver on our aggressive schedule, Goldsmith says. The CSAA implementation team and Steel Card worked together to make the target dates work. It helped that neither side ran into any difficulties along the way. There was nothing we couldnt solve as a team, he says of the problem-solving area. Calling them problems would be a stretch. They mostly were integration issues.
Training was handled just as quickly, according to Goldsmith. Since the product is browser based and we had an aggressive implementation schedule, we needed to train folks on the software fast, he says. To respond, we were able to capitalize on some newer capabilities for training our reps in the field using the Apogee product and Webex Web conferencing service. We were able to train around 500 reps for the first phase in a fraction of the time it would take to get them into the main office for classroom training, and since they had to give only an hour of their time, they were more productive, too.
One of the positive parts of the project has been an easy integration. Apogees open architecture allows the system to fit with virtually any database. CSAA uses an automated lead management system, according to Goldsmith, and needed new leads to flow electronically through the system. The system supported whatever we wanted to do with the customer and our current environment, says Goldsmith.
Apogee can work on server operating systems such as Linux, Solaris, Windows NT, and Microsofts .NET. Users can access the system through Internet Explorer or Netscape.
Customers get access to the quote system through the CSAA Web site (www.csaa.com), and the quote information is fed directly to the lead system. Sales reps and agents are provided with all of the quote information so they can begin a follow-up with customers. The system offers the customers the option of being contacted within 15 minutes. The previous sales cycle for Internet leads was more than 48 hours, and the leads were not of very high quality, since the prospects were not given any premium estimates.
Although he declines to discuss expenses, Goldsmith says the deal negotiated with Steel Card is one of three factors that will help CSAA get a quick return on its investment. The others? They were quick to install this new system, he says. It also fills some gaps in our service offerings. ROBERT REGIS HYLE
CaseFile
The Problem: Carrier needed Internet quoting to maintain market leadership.
THE COMPANY: California State Automobile Association (AAA of Northern California)
WEB SITE: www.csaa.com
IN-FORCE INSURANCE: $1.8 billion
THE SOLUTION: Apogee by Steel Card
WEB SITE: www.steelcard.com
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