The Online Future of Insurance Sales and Marketing
By Jim Fisher, President and Founder of IdeaStar, Inc.
February 18, 2009 - We have seen how the transforming power of the Web is causing major disruptions in the news media industry. Most major metropolitan newspapers, national magazines and journals as well as local t.v. and radio stations are seeing their market share dwindle as more eyes and ears are turning to the Web as their primary source of news, entertainment and information.
Now, the same transforming power of the Web is working its way through the conservative and slow-to-adapt insurance marketplace. The deployment of Web applications in the areas of insurance prospecting, sales, recruiting and agent automation is gaining momentum. It is anticipated that within a few years nearly all insurance sales will have a Web-based component. Most sales will be fully Web-supported and primarily executed by agents.
Let’s take a look at some of the changes:
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20th Century Insurance Sales |
21st Century Insurance Sales |
| Borders, boundaries and territories |
Borderless, boundless and non-territorial |
| Brick ‘n’ mortar offices |
Virtual offices and online worksites |
| Belly-to-belly sales |
Agent hosted online sales presentations via co-browser |
| Direct mail prospecting |
Fresh, pre-qualified and exclusive online lead generation |
| Telemarketing centers |
Social networking |
| Agency-to-Agent meetings, phone calls, mailings |
Agent portals |
| Corporate Web site |
Fully automated, individual agent Web sites |
| Newsletters |
Blogs |
| Driving from home to appointments |
Driving more sales from home |
| Printed marketing communications |
Searchable, easily distributable, Web-based marketing communications |
| Training centers with teachers, classes and schedules |
On-demand online education |
The new Web-agent utilizes an array of technology-based difference makers. Today’s winning distributions, led by Web-savvy leadership, exploits the new marketing technology and builds unique sales and operational platforms for their agent field. These platforms empower agents with online tools to help them sell more and faster.
They provide sales leads and customer data to the agents at fiber-optic speeds. They help agencies quickly recruit, train and appoint new agents. And, they facilitate the distribution and management of key communications so field agents and managers have the latest information about products, services and procedures without delay.
Why will 20th century agencies fail? The main reason is aging field forces aren’t agile and are not adopting Web-based methods quickly enough. Web-savvy organizations move faster. They are able to quickly turn their field force to new lines of product or business. They can electronically generate and distribute crucial data and measuring metrics to their managers. They are not restrained by physical or economic limits. Their business stays and lives on the Web.
What are today’s difference makers? Insurance sales is rapidly becoming a technology-centric business. Instead of fumbling through rate booklets, today’s agent can search and sort through dozens of rate quotes online in a matter of seconds. A new agent can get appointed to sell new products and qualified to sell across the country in 1/10th of the time it took before.
And why build a “corporate” Web site? Today’s distributions have fully-automated, agency-generated, personalized and branded agent Web sites with built-in rate quoting, customer application and submission forms, links to key customer support functions and more. In the past, agencies used to pride themselves on “getting a good contract” from a carrier, which they obtained through personal connections. Nowadays, anyone can get product or contracts.
The carriers are now looking at how you connect your agent to the field and how the agents are connecting to their buyers. The most important connection today is made through Web-based marketing technology.
What are the new imperatives for today’s insurance distributions?
- Remove borders and boundaries.
- Forget offices and territories.
- Recruit nationally and sell nationally.
- No more brick ‘n’ mortar stuff and no belly-to-belly sales.
- Automate everything.
- Get on the Web and stay there.
We have only seen the beginning of the transformation the insurance industry is undergoing because of the Web. And while the transformation is making things different, it almost certainly is making things better. To be and stay competitive in the 21st century, the insurance marketplace agencies and carriers need to move faster in adopting the new marketing technology and in adapting to the new platforms and systems these technologies help to form.
This article also appears on the IdeaStar blog Spinfield.
Copyright © 2009 James D. Fisher All rights reserved.
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