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New Products Help Agents Sell Insurance Online
Contributed by Clint Jones - CEO and Co-Founder, Norvax Inc.
Chicago, IL
Featured in Health Insurance Underwriter Magazine
October 2002
Insurance has traditionally been sold through agents, but while people will continue to buy it that way, a growing number are searching for insurance online. Research conducted by my company indicates more than 27 million online searches for insurance will be conducted this year. Hence the Internet offers a potentially lucrative way of selling insurance.
Norvax recently introduced a set of website tools, services, and software called Agent SiteBuilder and Agent SiteLever to enable insurance agents and providers to take advantage of the evolving insurance marketplace - and the power of the Internet - to generate sales online.
Agent SiteBuilder
First, agents must have a good insurance website. An effective business tool, a website not only can be used to generate leads, but it can also be used to save time on renewals and applications and can serve as a customer self-service center. In the near future, most carriers will have quoting software and electronic enrollment tools for agents to use.
While it's possible for agents to build an agency website themselves, Norvax firmly believes they shouldn't spend their time learning how to develop a professional, compelling, serviceable website, which can be extremely challenging for even the most computer-savvy agent. A better solution is using pre-built software for the insurance industry that contains insurance-specific content and all the required functionality, such as Norvax' Agent SiteBuilder.
A pre-built Web-based ASP (a software program accessed through the Internet), Agent SiteBuilder lets insurance agents build a site and establish a Web presence at a low cost. With it, agents can easily create a professional, personalized insurance agency website in minutes and then preview and approve the site before it goes live.
Building a website with Agent SiteBuilder is a four-step process. First, the agent logs onto the Agent SiteBuilder website and chooses a look for the site. Sixteen different site and page layout styles are available in different color schemes with associated image choices for each.
Next, the agent identifies his or her lines of business. Agent SiteBuilder supports 12 different areas of specialty/lines of business. Agents can select up to eight products or services that they offer to be included in the website, and Agent SiteBuilder will create a Web page, default content and a link to that page. Agents also can include any products or services that Norvax doesn't have listed and may easily change the services and information at any time.
After that the agent checks off the states in which he or she writes. The last step is providing agency-specific information. Then the Norvax software builds the agency site the agent specified, including the style, content and graphics and returns a URL where the site can be viewed.
If the prototype site is acceptable and the agent wants to finish it, he or she must then contact Norvax and subscribe to the service.
All the sites have the same main menu, including Home, About Us, News, Companies, Quotes and Contact. There's also a specific menu for the agent's services, which is comprised of the service choices (up to eight) the agent made during the second step above.
To add personalized content to the About Us, News and Companies pages, agents must use Norvax' content manager software, Agent SiteLever, which is described later. Norvax also will customize the site the agent created or develop a site from scratch.
Agent SiteLever
Maintaining and keeping websites updated is very important. An extension of an agent's business, the site probably is seen more by customers than any other part of the business and should be attended to regularly.
Agent SiteLever, included with the Agent SiteBuilder tool, allows agents to maintain and update their websites on demand and effectively communicate with new and existing clients without being dependent on a third party to make changes or paying heavy maintenance fees to Web developers.
A browser-based content management application software, Agent SiteLever lets insurance agents add new and modify existing page content fast and nearly effortlessly. Requiring only the most basic computer knowledge and skills, SiteLever functions much like a Microsoft Word document and handles any type of digital media. With it, agents also can monitor their agency's website traffic, perform keyword analysis and perform many other useful administrative functions related to the Web.
To use Agent SiteLever, agents log in through a secure area using a unique username and password, then can add and modify content throughout their site. Agent SiteLever gives them the ability to upload pictures, create links, create pages and more. It works with any new or existing website and includes built-in administrative and workflow controls so that, if desired, a designated person must approve all website changes before they are posted live to the Internet.
The workflow control in Agent SiteLever can be an especially attractive feature for insurance companies that have compliance concerns. The compliance department of an insurance provider can receive an e-mail every time one of its agents changes certain information on a page, but the changes will not show up to the public until they have been approved
Pricing
Agents can set up a fully functional insurance website equipped with
easy-to-use software with Agent SiteBuilder,
and maintain it with Agent SiteLever for a fraction of the prices charged
by traditional web developers.
More information about Norvax is available at www.norvax.com or 866-4-NORVAX.
Clint Jones is CEO and Cofounder of Norvax Inc. Based in Chicago, Norvax
develops Web content management tools and hosted Web services for insurance
agents and providers to generate more sales through the Internet.
