Almost a year ago, the Dotcom world started to fall apart. First, the stock market lost confidence. Companies, like Priceline, who once saw share prices over 100, fell and fell, some finding themselves in penny stock territory and in danger of being de-listed by Nasdaq.
Then the venture capitalists began to refuse second round opportunities, leaving companies to close or find a healthy buyer. Without a dependable market, many planned initial public offerings were withdrawn. Entrepreneurs with business plans that once would have created excitement and competition to fund couldn't get the VCs to return phone calls.
Amazon, Dotcom paradigm, is being pressed to be profitable, is deeply in debt and is in the midst of sizable layoffs. Intuit, with one of the first insurance consumer portals, gave up and sold out to InsWeb - itself struggling to conserve capital and extend its opportunity window. And though a number of companies now sell insurance direct, anecdotal evidence suggests that their sales are under-whelming.
So can agents breathe a sigh of relief? Is the Internet a fad? Is it time to relax? No, it isn't. But it is a good time to learn from the debacles and bad business judgment that's been part of some Internet efforts.
It's not likely Web insurance sales will displace independent agents - at least for now. The insurance process is too complex. Consumers want someone local they can hold accountable.
But make no mistake. The world has permanently changed. The Internet isn't going away. And clever (and perhaps more practical) people will find ways to exploit it. The time is ripe for you to move your agency beyond a brochure site to one that provides active marketing, service, and some elements of the sales process. Consumers expect the businesses they detail with to extend themselves into the Internet. As your competitors lag and excuse themselves by pointing to the Dotcom meltdown, you can steal a march and their customers. The time is ripe.
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