Before you create or update your Web site, you need to be clear about what you're trying to accomplish. Here we'll cover the planning elements and the process you'll want to go through before you get specific about the detail content of your site, what it will look like, and how you'll implement and maintain it. This time, Web strategy; future articles, how to get it done.
Part I: Preparation
For the last several years, associations, user groups, consultants, speakers, panels, magazines, books, vendors, and every one with a voice has been encouraging independent agents to field Internet Web sites. The arguments in favor run the gamut from "It's obvious" to "You can improve your marketing (service or whatever)" to "You can offer comparative quoting." No one, as far as I know, suggests that agencies shouldn't bother.
The problem with these exhortations, from my point of view, is that they tend to treat all agencies the same, and they just aren't. It may not make sense for every agency to have a Web site. And it certainly doesn't make sense for every agency Web site to have the same content. One of the strengths and fascinating features of the independent agency world is its variety. Every agency has its own personality, business focus, and marketing plan. Whether it has a Web site, what the site contains, and what it looks like should follow from and be consistent with the specific life of that agency. When it comes to agency Web sites, one size doesn't fit all.
That's why it's enormously important that an agency create a Web strategy that is consistent with its business before it gets too far down the line with a Web site. Too often the effort is focused merely on having some presence on the Internet (as if that's the goal). Or, sometimes, thought is put into the graphics and cosmetics of the site (technical preoccupations) as if the site had a life separate from the mainstream business activity of the agency. Probably having no Web site is better than having one that's done for the wrong reasons.
So how does one go about creating a Web strategy that is an extension of the agency identity and business strategy? Through thought, observation, and decision.
Who are you?
How would you describe your agency in a few sentences? How is it different from other agencies in your community or marketing niche? How do your brochures or proposals characterize your agency? Where do you want to make some adjustments? Do you have a mission statement? Do you have a customer commitment statement? What are you proud of?
The first step in forming a Web strategy is to become clear about and write down a statement that expresses your identity. The process is a bit tricky because it's important to be neither too vague nor too detailed. The identity statement should be something your entire agency is comfortable with and that you could recite to a friend or prospect and have them both understand and believe you. Or instead of a statement, create a list of important identity elements.
An example: "The Deer Harbor Insurance Agency provides auto, home, life, and business insurance, and specializes in marine related coverage. Its experienced and expert staff finds the right coverage, at competitive prices, and then provides responsive service whenever it's needed. We're privileged to be part of the San Juan's community - and have been since 1975."
What is your general business plan?
Perhaps your focus is on growth, generally or in certain areas. Maybe you've decided to build your book through cross-selling and by providing life, benefits, specialty or boutique coverage. Maybe you're intent on making some acquisitions or finding a merger partner. You may want to leverage your expertise and markets in a niche and go national. Your agency may use automation to create an outstanding service environment and you want to use that infrastructure to gain and hold more business. Clearly the business focus has a great deal to do with what your site should contain and how it should tie back to the rest of agency efforts.
Who is your competition?
If your focus is general you're likely to have local competition. If you niche market, your competition may be national. In either case, you need to understand your competition, how they present themselves, and what you have to offer that will attract the right prospects. You should acquaint yourself with your competitors' Web sites. At this stage, don't get distracted with the technical aspects of their sites. Instead, write down the identity conveyed by the sites. Note what information and services they provide. That's what prospects will do, though perhaps subconsciously.
You should make yourself familiar with company direct sale and consumer sites as well. Though most people don't buy insurance through those channels, the sites do create a level of expectation that visitors to your site will bring with them. So inventory what these high-profile sites provide and why. One place to go for analysis of these sites is www.gomez.com. (see Gomez.com, below).
What do you want to accomplish with your site?
One helpful approach is to take a piece of paper and write three column headings at the top: "Market-ing," "Sales," and "Service." Under the Marketing column write down what you want to communicate about your agency through your site. Marketing is what's relevant especially to suspects - people who are in the market for insurance but aren't quite sure what they're going to do about it. Visitors want to know whether you have what they want. They also want to form an opinion about whether your agency would be satisfying to deal with - on a number of different levels.
Under the Sales column note what you'd like to provide to encourage shoppers to become customers. It's likely that you're not going to try to achieve completely automated sales, but there are a number of steps in the sales process that might make sense to include. Do you want to provide comparative premium estimates (quoting)? What about applications?
Under the Service column list the kinds of information you want to supply to your customers and the kinds of service transactions you want to facilitate. Think of the incoming questions your staff fields. Do customers have questions about your companies or various insurance topics? Do they want to make a change to a policy or find out the status of a payment or claim?
As you make your goals lists, don't be concerned for now how'll you'll accomplish them. Remember that publishing a Web site is a process, not an event. It is something you'll come back to again and again. You don't have to have everything ready the first day.
How will you promote your site?
Too frequently agencies spend time and money creating a site and then fail to tell the world about it. How will you let your customers know? Do you want them to change their behavior and come to your site (for certain questions and tasks), rather than pick up the phone and call you? How will prospects find your site? Will you establish reciprocal links with relevant local businesses? Will you contract for enhanced Yellow Page ads with the major portals (Yahoo!, AOL, MSN?). If you build your site, they won't come unless they have a way to find you.
How will you know whether you've succeeded?
It's tempting to begin to implement your site as soon as your have a reasonable idea what you want to do. But it's better to resist and first think about how you'll determine whether your site succeeds at the goals you've set. How will you measure your effectiveness? How will you go about adjusting your site as you learn about its effects?
You'll want to have several feedback channels. It's certainly worth knowing what your customers and prospects think. How are you going to find out? You may want to know how many people visit your site, how long they stay, what the most popular pages are, how they got to your site, at what point they abandon a process, how traffic relates to specific promotions and so on. How will you monitor your site's statistics?
Part II: The process
Above we listed a number of areas you should consider when creating a Web strategy. In this section, we take a look at the process for making decisions, and creating an explicit strategy.
Owner/manager commitment
Agency staff pays attention to what the principals say is important, and, more importantly what they actually show is important. If agency leadership considers a Web site irrelevant or a distraction from the main business of the agency, then it's best not to have one. A Web site, created by fiat, but not really valued, will contribute little to the agency and may even do a great deal of harm. If you don't mean it, don't do it. This isn't to suggest that principals need to get involved in every detail of site planning, implementation, and management, but they do need to be involved to provide guidance, especially relative to the identity and business plans of the agency.
Staff involvement
Even when agency principals are committed to the Web site, the site can still fail. If management is too controlling and doesn't involve the staff sufficiently, employees are not very likely to "buy in" and the site won't become part of the daily life of the agency. If management outsources the entire Web site development process to a third party, the staff is not likely to feel much ownership and the site will languish.
It doesn't make sense to involve the staff randomly or on inappropriate tasks. It's best to have a pre-defined process with published, shared expectations. There's no one right way to do this in an agency, but often it's best to establish a small committee to do the research and thinking. That committee should have a clear charter, schedule, and access to required resources. It should report several times to management with findings and recommendations. Once a Web strategy is reasonably clear - but before it's codified - the tentative strategy should be presented to other relevant staff members (maybe everyone) for review and comment. That can happen through a general meeting or smaller groups. A Web site is public. Staff members will want to brag about it to their family and friends, and be convinced of its utility for themselves and their customers. They need to have input.
Professional help
It can be valuable to have some Web-knowledgeable input in your strategy setting process. Though you can do without it and it isn't free, once you've got a tentative strategy put together and your staff feels good about it, you might have your Web committee bring in a local Web consultant for a few hours. The committee can present the background information and resulting strategy to the consultant and then enjoy her comments and suggestions. Though it can be difficult to find someone with agency background, a consultant that has professional services experience can be helpful. You might ask around or do a Web search. Besides providing some good advice relative to your strategy, the consultant may have practical suggestions for implementation help.
Customers, friends, and business partners
Talk to a few customers you know well and who you suspect would be interested in your project. Take a look at some of the Web sites your commercial clients have. They may be a good source of constructive advice. Over the phone, or better over a cup of coffee, explain what you're up to and why and see how your customers react. Particularly astute or interested customers are candidates for future involvement in the Web process. Your company or vendor business partners may also be able to provide some input.
Recap
Before you get busy creating your Web site or undertaking a major overhaul, take some time to think through what you want to accomplish and why, especially how your Web efforts play with the rest of your agency activities. In short, create a Web strategy before you create a Web site.
Coming soon: Strategy to Planning
Gomez.com
An Approach to Web Site Evaluation
Once commercial Web sites started to appear by the thousands, a number of referees appeared to try to make sense of the maelstrom. One of the most well known is Gomez (www.gomez.com). Gomez evaluates sites by industry and publishes their results for all to see on the Gomez Web site.
The Gomez site could be valuable to you as you develop or refine your Web strategy. The site provides an in-depth evaluation of what it considers to be the top 17 insurance company sites and the top ten consumer insurance sites. You might want to read the Gomez reviews and take a look at their methodology. Even if you don't agree with Gomez, the site could provide you or your Web committee with some food for thought prepared by experts.
Gomez top 17 carriers:
Gomez top 10 Internet Insurance Marketplaces
©Copyright 2001 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights reserved