When asked about the importance of online access to account information in their purchase decision, 59 percent of personal lines consumers and 47 percent of small-business consumers said it was “very important” or “extremely important.”

However, when agents were asked the same question, only 6 percent thought it would be important to their clients. Clearly there is a wide gap in perceptions.

Why is client self-service for insurance coming into vogue now? It certainly isnt a brand-new concept.

When I started driving, we werent pumping our own gas. A guy came out and checked our oil and cleaned our windshield and pumped our gas. Now we not only pump our own gas, but we handle the cashiers job at the credit card machine right there at the pump.

Banks and stock brokerages are on board, too, with online banking and electronic trading from home. With ATMs, you not only service your account yourself, but you actually pay to get your own money!

Considering the trends, insurance companies and agents should consider offering self-service options. Here is what one agency offers online:

Review or make changes to personal or company information.

Review current insurance coverages.

Replace, edit, remove or add a driver, vehicle or piece of equipment on the policy.

Request a motor vehicle report.

Request an insurance certificate.

Change or add a certificate holder, additional named insured or loss payee.

Request an insurance form.

Report an accident or claim.

Ask a question.

Get an insurance quote.

Ask about employee benefits options.

Ask about financial services.

Participate on a bulletin board.

Consumer online access can help agents get rid of the incredible amount of processing activity they have.

For example, a large percentage–perhaps as much as 60 percent–of phone calls to an agency are billing related. If customers can access their billing histories, many of those calls could be eliminated, freeing up staff hours for more productive work.

Now the agency is spending more time in consultative selling, paying attention to their customers future needs and portfolios, improving claims service, and really working at client relationships. The agency can spend time targeting clients with appropriate products rather than just being an order taker and processor.

So it really becomes a win-win situation. Customers have the convenience of access to their insurance records and the ability to make changes to their insurance policies and to request ID cards, certificates and so forth–on their time instead of the agents.

Agents never should have evolved into order-takers–thats artificially staying in touch with clients. The agency that engages primarily in transaction processing will lose its value, and probably will be replaced by a Web site someday.

Agents need to do more in the future. The agency that really builds on customer relationships doesnt have to fear the Web. The Internet is its tool, not its competitor.

An easy place for any agency to start providing self-service options for its clients is in certificates of insurance. Certificates are a non-revenue-generating activity for agents and a constant source of irritation for clients who cant get them when they need them.

This type of self-service gives agents and brokers a competitive advantage by providing 24/7 service without additional staff. It is popular with contractors who are out in the field and truckers who are out on the road during daytime business hours. These groups and others can access certificates of insurance themselves when they are doing their paperwork–after hours.

Issuing certificates online is not just convenient for both parties, it also eliminates the need for the customer to follow up with the agent to check on delivery. The certificate is in a client's hands immediately on their own printer, if they choose that method of delivery.

Some agents are concerned about security issues if they expose customer data online. But those issues are addressed with an application service provider, which means there is no software to load on your (or your clients) computer–the data is stored elsewhere. All that is required is an Internet connection.

The ASP model is compelling because agents dont want to manage the technical infrastructure required to provide customers with 24/7 access. Theyd have to deal with security, disaster recovery, firewalls and Web servers with all kinds of infrastructure if the agency itself is going to provide account information online.

In the ASP model, somebody else is hosting the information, so that when customers dial in they are not going into the agencys full customer database–rather, they are going to another place to get the information. This offers a higher level of protection for critical, secure client data.

In an ASP, the agency should always maintain control of the policy and coverage information. Agency staff determines what information the client can complete. For example, clients never should be able to change policy dates or coverage on a certificate.

Insurance companies and agencies should take seriously their customers desire to have access to their policy data. Carriers, too, should be taking this to heart, making sure their customers can get billing history and claims status data online.

Remember, though, that carriers can provide information only for their own policies. Who is going to be able to provide the insured with a consolidated view of their insurance portfolio? It should be the agency. So we as an industry need to put into place services and processes that make that a reality.

What are some things you dont want to give up as an independent agent? Consultative selling, true relationship building, risk management, choice of companies and the best coverage at a decent price. But for the other stuff, many of your clients want to use the Internet to do business with you. Are you ready?

Rick Morgan is executive vice president of San Diego-based ConfirmNet Corp., an insurance industry business-to-business application service provider linking insurance providers with their customers.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, October 29, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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