Insurers intrigued by the idea of selling small-business coverage direct to consumers, but hesitant to take the plunge due to concerns over potential channel conflict with their existing agency force, might yet be able to leverage the best of both worlds.
That's one of the takeaways from a recent report — "Voice of the Small-Business Insurance Consumer: Are Buyers Ready to Take the Direct Sales Route?" — published by the Deloitte Center for Financial Services, and based on a survey of 751 consumers from a variety of industries and different-size companies. The study found strong interest in buying commercial insurance direct among 15-to-20 percent of respondents, and at least some interest among about 30 percent more.
That isn't to say there aren't good reasons for a carrier to take agent reaction into account when determining whether to directly reach out to small-business prospects via the Web. But channel conflicts are not necessarily inevitable. And even if they do arise, they are not necessarily unresolvable.
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