Vendors offer relatively painless ways for agents to provide customer self-service through their Web sites.
by John Ashenhurst
Web-based self-service is increasingly popular in banking and investment services. Allstate and some independent agency carriers are investing heavily in Web-based self-service. An IIAA survey suggests that more than 70% of the public wants Web-based self-service availability for at least some of their insurance transactions.
Three agency management system vendors and two self-service facilitator vendors make it possible for many agencies to add customer self-service to their Web sites — as a byproduct of the work they do already and everyday through their agency management systems. For some of these solutions, start-up expenses may be non-trivial for smaller agencies, but the initial and on-going agency work to maintain these Web-based services is minimal or non-existent.
With a combination of consumer interest (the demand), Allstate and other carriers offering Web-based self-service (the competition), and vendors offering ready answers (the solution), it's a wonder that so few agencies have made the move to self-service. My informed guess is that fewer than one percent (perhaps as little as one-half percent) of independent agencies have deployed and are actively using Web-based self-service for their customers — even though probably more than half could do so easily if they chose to.
What's the problem? Or is it a problem? Like all other insurance technology, Web-based self-service will be adopted more slowly than some of us think rational. It may take five years or more to see a 50% adoption rate. From my point of view, that's a shame, since ignoring Web-based self-service could turn into a real problem for independent agents as competing distribution systems use this technology to jump ahead.
The key issue is agency disintermediation. For a variety of reasons, over the last generation or so, agents have become less central to the insurance process. Carrier Web sites and the next generation of insurance dotcoms will push agents even farther out of the picture, unless agents turn the technology being used to disintermediate them to their advantage. Web-based self-service is one obvious example. With it, agents can use technology and the Internet to re-intermediate themselves by providing more value and convenience to their customers.
Why provide Web-based self-service?
Web-based self-service is part of a larger picture of out-facing services; that is, the use of technology to provide insurance information and functionality to the insured. In the past, virtually all insurance technology efforts were directed at providing in-facing services; that is, to insurance professionals. Out-facing services are an opportunity to generate new revenue, reduce expenses, and improve retention.
How, specifically, can agents benefit from the implementation of Web-based self-service? Here are some ideas - some suggested by agents, others by vendors:
Approaches to Web-based self-service
Agents can provide their customers with Web-based self-service in several different ways. They can put a link on their Web sites to carriers' sites that provide insured self-service. That's easy and some carriers have done a good job with the functionality they provide. But it may not be convenient for the insured to have to deal with (sometimes multiple) carrier sites and it certainly weakens the agent's relationship with the insured.
Or, an agent can put forms on her Web site, say one for each different LOB and let the customer post requests for changes through those forms. Getting the forms put together requires some effort and the insured must have a paper copy of her policy to look at when using the forms. Of course, the agent could create PDF file copies of all in-force policies and let the site visitor look at the appropriate one while filling in the e-form. But that's a lot of effort for the agency.
Alternatively, an agency can contract with a service to provide some specific Web-based functionality, say oriented to certificates or claims. Though that may be acceptable in some cases, providing either a very narrow offering or a set of non-integrated offerings (from the customer's point of view) may not do the job.
So perhaps the most attractive and simplest way to offer reasonably rich Web-based self-service is to extend some of the data and functionality already present in the agency's management system out to its customers.
Broadly, there are two ways this can happen. With the first approach, the customer is allowed direct access to some of the data stored in the agency's management system. With the second, the customer is allowed access to a duplicate of the management system's data. The copies are done automatically, usually overnight. In either case, data is made available to the customer without the agency needing to do additional work.
Are there compelling advantages to direct access versus duplicate access or vice versa? Probably not. The vendors that provide duplicate access claim that it's safer than direct access because the management system is not exposed to the Internet at all — only the copy of the data is exposed. I'm not so sure it makes much difference. If data stealing is a concern, it doesn't matter whether that's done from a copy or an original, so the duplicate access strategy offers no advantage. If hacker destruction of data is the worry, then keeping the original off the Internet may make sense, though firewalls and other security arrangements should provide adequate protection.
Vendors that provide direct access might claim that having one source of information that the agency and its customers share is preferable over two sources, because the copy available to the customer will sometimes be out of date, at least for a day. And whenever copies are made it's possible errors could be introduced, with the copy missing information or containing corrupted versions. (But self-auditing copy processes prevent corruption and loss.) The thinking process might continue by pointing out that if a customer views stale or incorrect information and then makes decisions based on that information and then suffers a loss the agency could be liable.
But data in the management system could be stale, incomplete, or incorrect as well, so whether the customer views a copy or the original may not make much difference relative to E&O exposure. The key point is that whether using direct or duplicate access schemes, the agent's Web site should contain plenty of caveats that explain to the customer that the information displayed may not be correct and that policy changes will go into effect only after agency or carrier processing, not when submitted by the customer.
If direct versus duplicate access isn't a big issue either way, self-hosting versus delegated hosting is. Agents that host their own self-service sites may experience non-trivial set-up and on-going expenses over and above software license and maintenance fees. Hosting your own self-service site means installing server hardware, server operating system software, Internet server software, firewalls, routers, and whatever else is necessary to put together a commercial grade Internet site. And that doesn't even allow for redundancy. Managing the site, dealing with viruses, Internet connections, and so on can be time-consuming and expensive for an agency. Therefore, for many agencies, Web-based self-service makes most sense when hosted by a third party who takes care of all the problems and charges a monthly fee.
Some differences to think about
Many carriers now provide billing/payment information to agents (and maybe even to insureds) through the carrier Web site. So, it should be possible to connect agency and carrier Web sites so that the agency site could provide direct bill information to agency customers. Unfortunately, according to vendors I've talked to, the carriers aren't cooperating. Some carriers excuse themselves by saying they've already spent too much money on their agency portals and the agents aren't using them. The carriers don't want to spend even more money — on something the agents could actually make use of?
The Future
Web-based self-service is new to vendors and agents - and to customers. For the most part, vendors have created what they think agents (and their customers) will find useful. But vendors acknowledge that to go further, to really perfect their offerings, they need help from agents, who, in turn, need to survey and understand what works for their insureds. Today, Web-based self-service is based largely on theory. Tomorrow, it will be more firmly based on experience. As with the evolution of any technology, version 1.0 is likely to be useful, but only trial by fire can lead to (near?) perfection, a process that required a decade or more in the evolution of agency management systems.
Should agents delay the move to Web-based self-service until the services are perfect and agency customers are beating down the door to have them? That depends on the agency. Any agency that sees itself as a leader and innovator ought to get in on the ground floor, understand the opportunity and grow with it. Eventually, Web-based self-service will become standard operating procedure for customers and agents alike. What's the value of perfecting its use in the agency at leisure, rather than in a future fire drill?
AMS Services
AMS provides Web-based self-service for two of its products, AfW and Sagitta, calling it Client Access. In the case of the former, the requisite software is a purchase extra; in the latter case it's part of the basic software package. AfW and Sagitta are available in two ways, installed in the agency or hosted by AMS via an ASP service. If the agency takes care of its own management system, it must then take care of its own Client Access Web-based self-service hosting. But if the agency has delegated hosting of its management system to AMS, then AMS will also host Client Access.
I had a chance to talk with Mike Krassner, AMS Services vice president of sales, about Client Access. He pointed to self-service certificates, coverage verification, and first report of claim as AfW Client Access functionality customers would find attractive and which could also reduce agency clerical workload. He also pointed to the positive effect that Web-based self-service can have on retention. Once customers begin to depend on Web-based self-service, they're not likely to go to another agency without it. Krassner pointed out that for a limited time, AMS will provide Client Access free to agents subscribing to AfW Online.
Customer setup for AfW and Sagitta is straightforward and allows for customer-by-customer customization. AfW came at Client Access from the commercial lines side and then developed personal lines coverage. Sagitta Client Access supports all policy types the management system itself does.
I also had a chance to talk with Dan Martin, Sagitta expert and AMS services manager of professional services. Because (the browser version) of Sagitta is browser-based, extending it out to agency customers is straight-forward, even when the agency does it for themselves — because they're already hosting their own agency. Sagitta is a unique environment (of the vendors covered here) because AMS has an ongoing program and staff to do agency-by-agency Sagitta customization. That means agencies that want to provide self-service for special or unusual policies or transactions can contract with the AMS Sagitta people to do the work — and those features will be integrated with the rest of their agency management system activity. According to Martin, the Sagitta system does an especially nice job of integrating with Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server, and so can facilitate the move to Internet-based service and marketing.
Applied Systems
Applied provides Web-based self-service software, called InScope, for use with both WinTAM and Vision Systems. At the moment, Applied is the only vendor of the five covered here that doesn't host agents' Web-based self-service, at least as an alternative to the agents doing it themselves. Applied plans to offer a hosted version early in 2002.
Shannon Martin, product manager, InScope, and Phil Smith, manager of Internet application development, program manager, InScope, brought me up to date on InScope recently. Martin said she thought InScope offered a way for agents to provide more value to their customers and along the way improve agency retention. Twenty-four hour service is becoming commonplace for other financial services and Web-based self-service is a good way for agencies to provide it in the insurance realm.
Agents can use InScope to customize views by customer. InScope contains some functionality not present in other offerings, i.e., account activity and a coverage summary. The first screen displays an historic log of activity on behalf of the customer. That means the customer can see at a glance whether some particular action was actually completed. The coverage summary brings together the customer's policies into one integrated display somewhat in the way a traditional schedule of insurance would. InScope can also support customers with multiple management system accounts, simplifying interaction for large or complex customers that are handled through multiple branch offices or other multi-account arrangements.
Ebix
Ebix supports Web-based self-service for its ebix.one product today and expects to add support for Elite and INfinity in the future. Ebix doesn't offer a host-it-yourself option (well, actually it will, but doesn't push it), but provides its CSS service as an ASP right from the get-go. The service appears to the customer as part of the agent's Web site and is identified as the "My Insurance" sub-site.
Because the service is hosted and separate from the agent's system, data from the agency system must be uploaded to the Ebix host. Agents schedule the activity and it happens unattended on a regular basis (perhaps every night). Ebix makes it very easy for agents to set up customers for CSS, but therefore doesn't allow customer-by-customer customization.
Andy Whalen, Ebix vp of sales and marketing, reports that agents are slow to come to what, as far as any of us can see, is a very good thing (Web-based self-service). The vendor is working closely with a number of committed and enthusiastic agents to collect experience that can be used to both improve the product and evangelize it.
Ebix is the only vendor in the group of five discussed here that has a public Internet presence (Ebix.com) through which it attempts to facilitate the sale of personal and commercial lines insurance. Leads generated by that service can flow to Ebix agents. The whole collection of public Web site, agency Web-based self-service, and agency management systems could become a self-reinforcing system that does Ebix agents a great deal of good. Because of its consumer persona, Ebix can provide some content to agency Web sites, e.g., its Research Center capability.
idNET
Of the five vendors covered in this article, IdNET may be the most experienced in supporting agency Web-based self-service. It is the only vendor to provide call-center services in addition to Web-based self-service as part of a Web plus phone 24x7 service offering. IdNET is unique as well in supporting Web-based self-service for three vendors — AMS Services, Applied, and Ebix systems. And finally, IdNET is the only vendor of the five that accepts E&O responsibility for its performance, a necessity when offering third party call center services.
Tim Woods, Artizan president (Artizan is the IdNET business partner that has put together the self-service software and hosts the servers) recently gave me the low-down on CSR24, the Web-based and call center service. From his point of view, 24x7 service is becoming both a consumer expectation and practical need, so agents would do well to pay attention to it. Banks and direct writers are doing it with some success. Independent agents can strengthen their brands by providing complete (office, Web, and call center) services.
Though IdNET does the hosting on the agent's behalf, it will license agencies with its software so they can do it themselves. In the hosted environment, agency systems are examined daily (or according to the agent's predefined schedule), relevant data extracted and then transmitted to the IdNET servers for access by agency customers. The process is very fast, that is, it takes minutes, except for very large agencies. The set up process allows the agency to customize customer access and functionality.
According to Woods, IdNET pays a great deal of attention to providing services agency management systems do poorly or not at all. So, for instance, they handle New York state auto bar-coded ID cards. They're a problem for some management systems because the cards are tied to whomever is registered for the auto, information the management systems weren't designed to carry. Artizan has been busy for years providing Web design, implementation, and hosting services to the industry, so IdNET can do that as well, a service management system vendors generally don't offer.
NSG
NSG is staffed with people who have had a great deal of experience providing special services to agents that use, especially, AMS' AfW. They're the only vendor of those covered here that hosts the agent's Web-based self-service functionality separately from the management system but doesn't require any kind of nightly update. Instead, the I-REP/agent's self-service function queries the agency AfW system on an as needed basis. That is, I-REP does real-time access to the agency system, a clever approach that combines the convenience of a vendor-hosted, separate self-service site with absolutely up-to-date data from the management system.
NSG handles policy change requests differently from its competitors as well. Rather than having the customer send an e-mail back to the agency and have it handled outside the normal agency queue and workflow, I-REP takes the customer request entered on the I-REP Web site and inserts it into the work queue in the AfW system, while automatically sending out a confirming e-mail to the customer. Because all Web transactions are integrated into the activity log in the AfW system, the agent can run usage analysis reports that look at all agency activity, a key perspective if the agency is to manage its self-service within the larger agency picture.
Set up provides customer-by-customer presentation tweaking. NSG uses VeriSign encryption/secure server technology to make message interception and decoding virtually impossible.
According to Dave Tarbet, NSG president, the NSG I-REP service is intended to help agents create a customer-centric Web strategy, bridge the gap between the agent's management system and its Web site, and get beyond simple and not very effective brochure sites. NSG is looking at the possibility of expanding its coverage to Applied's WinTAM, and AMS' Sagitta systems.
NSG provides Web-based presence services (design, implementation, and hosting) as well as what Tarbet calls "middleware," or software that integrates systems in agencies supplied from disparate sources. Though most agents now have Web-sites and express interest in Web-based self-service, most don't feel a compelling need to go there. Tarbet sees a need to educate agents on the current benefits and value of enhancing customer/agency relationships through technology.
Comparison Chart - this chart compares online services offered by each of the vendors mentioned in this article. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the chart. If you don't have Reader installed on your computer, get Reader here:
© Copyright 2001 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights reserved