8/6/2019 A More Effective Strategy

1/3

E-CommercTechnology

Maintaining an outdatedWeb Site is no way to attracttoday's customers.by Kevin Roper

Over the past IS years, insur-ance companies have madeconsiderabie investments intlicir Web sites and e-business infra-slructure. Many of those carriers thathave cont inued to invest in and fine-tune their Internet strategy are recog-nized as industry' leaders,Unibrtunately, a iarge n umb er of car-riers have viewed tlicir initial investmentin the Internet as a necessary evil anddon't luiderstand that an effective e-busi-ness strateg\' can mean the differencebetween Ix'coming a leader and stnig-glii^ to keep up witli the competiti(,)n.

Tlie Internet has had a significan!ijiipact on how companies do businessin all vertical markets, including theinsiinince market. How^ever, when ci)m-pared to other industries, companiesin the insurance and broader nancialser\ ices markets have not maximized e-business op portiuiitics as extensively.

Despite the perceived complexity ofinsunince prcKlucts. some of the morehighK' \isible insurers have successfullyinvested in their Internet strategy inorder to close more business and gn,)wllicir premiums. Examples include Ciei-cc) :uid Prx;^^ssive. which both use theContributor Kevin Roper is Presi-dent of DSLRoper Associates. He can

ffectivestrategyInternet as an additional sales chaiinrlfor thei r products .These companiesfocus primarily on auto insurance, a lesscomplex product to sell :uid one that seasier for consumers to undersuuid.

Still, the Internet s most significantimpact has been improving commu-nicat ions and facil i tating educationwith sales agents and pol icyholders,Ba.sic tools such as e-mail, as well asmore soph i s t i ca t ed IT app l i ca t ionssuch as Internet portal connection toback-office administrative functions,give b(ith agents and |X)iic>holders tlieability to researdi. purciiase, administerand tnick insurance transactions. Thesesteps improve ttie customer experiencethrougli ease-of-use and help differentiateon e carrier from the rest of tlie crow d.

While sel f -service has b e c o m ethe rage, car r ie rs have not alwaysappn)ached this goal in the most effec-t ive manner . Many car r iers s implyopened up their existing internal sys-tems to agents and policy hold ers. W liilepR)viding more functionalit)- to users,these applications weren't designed fora broader external audience.Also, carriers s ome times think self-service means elimination of adminis-trative positions. Self-sen'ice generallyyields operating efficiencies, but it isshortsighted for companies to view it

TheSituation: The Internet hasgrown into a game-changing marketingioot with vast potential. TheNews: Many insurers neglecttheir Web sites, losing valuable sales andbranding opportunities.^ TheUpshot: Even a basic updatingof an existing Web page can yieldimmediate results.

Agents and policyholders stiU need totalk to someone if Web-based servicesdon t resolve their specific problems.Speaking from the distribution-chan-nel side of the industry-, Ralph Pence,managing partner tor Executive Cx>m-pens ation Co nce pts LLC, said tlie be stiasurance portals include both exten-

sive self-service options and the abilityto 'bail-t)ut' to a live support representa-tive when required. (Xir agents and cus-tomers need to be able to talk tt) a liveperson w hen tliey need an answer."Ante Up

When instirance companies beganinvesting in their Web sites and por-tals in the 1990s, som e chief ex ecu-t ives perce ived it as a n e c e s s a r yevilthe ante required to stay in theinsunmce gameaiid this attitude hasnot changed . As a r esu l t , numerous

8/6/2019 A More Effective Strategy

2/3

E-CommerceTechnology

changed dramatically since they werefirst launched back in tlie '90s.

lliese companies have pasted newlinks und fiinctionality to their Web sitesbut have not addressed or revised theiroverall designs or e-business strategiesto l^etter address customer needs,Theyneed to review their e-business pres-ence and consider: llieir corjx)nite business strategy Tlieir business processes Available new technology The Internet sophistication and

needs of their agents and polic-\holdersTliis last item is the mt>st critical. Bob

Bordeman. CEO of Safeway Insunmce,said that "by listening to our custom-ers, we decided ti> adopt a more holisticapproach to enhancing our Web sites,developing more user-friendly Web sites:uid pnxlucer interfaces radier th;ui con-tinuing to patdi together new inctional-ity onto the existing sites."

Typically, insurers call upon thirdparties that keep current on recentInternet industry trends and capabili-ties. Shannon MargoUs. an insuranceindustry e-commerce specialist forDeHayes Consulting of Roseville, Calif.,said "dramatic ad\ancenieiits [are] t:ik-ing place in Internet tools and technol-og)^ and how compimies employ thesetools and technolog)' to impnive theircompetitive position. The challenge isfinding a techn

8/6/2019 A More Effective Strategy

3/3