Consumers, whether commercial or personal lines, want to find relevant agency Web sites, but they can't. That's a shame. But the industry has done little to correct the problem.
Association agency finders are incomplete, obsolete, and invisible to the public. Company sites sometimes provide agency finders and site links, but the companies themselves are invisible to the consumer. Online yellow pages generally don't contain site links or information about agency focuses. Word searches yield thousands of hits.
If you're a consumer and want to use the Internet to find an independent agency, good luck.
The industry could do itself and its customers a great deal of good by providing and publicizing an Internet service that made it easy for consumers to find agency sites that matched their needs.
One could object that agents already have a variety of agency finders - online yellow page, or other listing venues they can sign up for - and don't need another one.
Unfortunately, the proliferation of nearly invisible, sparsely populated agency finders doesn't help the consumer. It just creates more frustration. Only agency finders that are relatively all-inclusive and well-known are likely to be used. From the consumer's point of view, the current situation is singularly unhelpful, and more of the same isn't going to fix it.
Consumers aren't going to give up on using the Internet to find agents. So they'll take the path of least resistance and go to the Allstate, State Farm, or Progressive sites and independent agents will lose out.
So what to do?
I have no confidence that any individual business, no matter how entrepreneurial, could independently successfully create and maintain a national, inclusive, popular Web agency finder. It's too big a job with too little potential revenue.
On the other hand, as a cooperative, industry project, it is eminently affordable and do-able. Were every company and agency to invest a small amount of attention and money, a national search function could be fielded in months.
Unfortunately, everyone in the industry might agree that cooperating to create a national agency finder makes sense, but do nothing about it. Someone must carry the ball. Fortunately, a candidate is near at hand.
AUGIE's agenda
In April (at the AMS User Group conference), and then in May (at the ACORD conference), ACORD and representatives from nine users groups will meet to discuss areas of potential cooperation and mutual self-interest. Initially they intend to focus on coactive planning, XML standards adoption, and the viability of Application Service Providers (ASPs). All are worthy topics, but I'd like to suggest a fourth agenda item: the creation of a national agency Web site finder service.
AUGIE's agenda seems to me to be especially focused on in-facing services; that is, using technology to provide services to insurance professionals. I see no hint of an interest in finding ways to improve out-facing services, or using the Internet to provide insurance services directly to insureds.
Independent agents have a great opportunity to turn the Internet to their advantage. But a pre-condition is making it easy for the consumer to find agency sites. And that goal is best served through cooperative action. AUGIE would seem the perfect forum.
Or, shall we continue, as usual, to ignore the consumer, pay attention only to our internal systems, and watch while outsiders steal our customers and seal the fate of the independent agent?
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