Once upon a time, the Internet was a scary thing for insurance agents, especially those selling what might be considered commodity policiesterm life and personal auto. Consumers, said the prognosticators, were going to shun humans in favor of less personal, more private Web sites. The Internet was going to change the way carriers did business, with those Web sites becoming the front end of the industry, and agents relegated to E&S and other complex policies.
But the Internet revolutionor, rather, the Web revolutionnever happened. Consumers may have checked out sites like InsWeb, but they still turned to agents and direct writers when it came time to buy. Carriers who spent time and money creating and crafting their Web sites found better uses for their personnel. And the Internet, once the nemesis of the insurance agent, became just a bit of a paper tiger.
But the Internet didnt go away from the insurance business, obviouslyit went behind the scenes. Back-end processes that took advantage of this relatively free network became the important thing. Connections between branches, offices, employees, and partners took precedence over consumer-oriented, point-of-purchase Web sites.
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