Sound Strategy
Ten Internet Tools Carriers Should Provide Their Agents
Carriers and their business partners, agents, will succeed
together to the extent that they provide new value to consumers and operate
more efficiently as a system. Carriers should use the Internet to provide
at least the following:
- Agency Web site locator: Every carrier should have a consumer Web site
and the site should provide access to an agency locator in a prominent place
on the home page. The agency locator should provide name, address, phone,
e-mail link, business focus and a link to the agent's Web site.
- Carrier facts page: Every carrier should create one or more Web pages
that provide consumer-oriented background information. Agents should be
able to link to those pages from their own Web sites and the linking process
should retain the agent's brand, i.e., the pages should look like they come
from the agent's site.
- Educational/informative content: Every carrier should provide Web pages
that provide general information about risk and coverage - for the areas
the carrier addresses through its products. Agents should be able to "imbed"
any and all of these pages into their sites.
- Product-specific information: Carriers often pride themselves on the special
features they include in their products. Every carrier should provide Web
pages that explain these features, their appeal to special groups, and so
on - again so that agents can "imbed" these pages into their sites.
- Agency information access: Every carrier should provide an agency portal
or extranet through which agents can do policy, billing, claims and other
inquiry.
- Agency endorsements: Every carrier should allow agents to do endorsements
and renewals online through the carrier's Web site
- Real-time rating: Every carrier should provide its agents with instantaneous,
guaranteed rates for all personal lines and small commercial lines polices
through the carrier's site.
- Single-step processing: Every carrier should allow agents to completely
process new personal lines and small business transactions - start to finish
in one sitting - through the carrier Web site.
- Agency-tools transparency: Every tool that carriers offer their agents
on the carrier Web site should also be available as an element of an integrated,
multi-carrier, single-workflow environment as vendors begin to offer them.
That means carriers must cooperate with vendors who create these environments.
- Consumer-tools transparency: Every tool that carriers offer consumers
on the carrier Web site should also be available as an element of an agent's
out-facing services on the agent's Web site. That means carriers must cooperate
with vendors who help agents create these Web sites.
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