Six Keys to B2C E-Commerce Success
So, what does it really take to capture the e-consumer and generate online insurance sales? Based on Insurance & Technology's interviews with both early adopters and industry analysts, there appear to be six key success factors:
1. Strategic Goals Assessment/Customer Needs Assessment.
What are your goals as a company? Who are your customers? What are their needs? These may sound like basic questions, but both insurers and analysts emphasize that a company's Web presence must reflect this information. Insurers should ""do their homework and do a lot of consumer research prior to launching an Internet initiative and align Web and business strategies to makesure that there is a connection,"" advises Allstate's Heneberry.
2. Create a Usable, Targeted and Sticky Web Site.
Usability and site performance are some of the key factors insurers need to keep in mind when developing their B2C e-commerce strategies. ""We take great pride in our site's performance,"" says State Farm's Reiner. ""The site downloads quickly and content is never more than two clicks away.""
Nothing, it appears, is too basic to be overlooked. A survey included in New York-based consultancy Kasina LLC's ""Top 20 Web Sites: Property and Casualty, 2001,"" finds that 30 percent of the current P&C company Web sites do not include basic information, such as company statistics; only five of the top 20 P&C sites include a company mission statement (see listing, page 54).
Insurers also need to be aware of all of their various constituencies when developing B2C initiatives. The Web can reach multiple audiences and none should be overlooked. ""A good Web site will communicate with consumers as well as business partners, agents, suppliers and vendors,"" comments Lee Kowarski, a consultant with Kasina.
Stickiness, or the success of a Web site in attracting and keeping new and returning visitors, is another success factor. State Farm's Reiner believes that ""turning our site into more of an information portal with real-time news feeds will help keep customers coming back."" Keeping content updated and synchronized is also important.
Progressive.com recently received Gomez's Spring/Summer 2001 Internet Insurance Carrier Scorecard WebStar Award, which is given to companies receiving the number-one ranking overall for their industry in the Gomez study (see listing on this page). This was the fourth consecutive quarter in which Progressive received the WebStar award. In the most recent Gomez research, Progressive also ranked number one in the ""Ease of Use"" category and was named ""Best Site for Auto Buyers.""
3. Integration.
The Internet is not a stand-alone platform or medium. To be an effective service and distribution channel, it must be integrated with back-end legacy systems, agent systems, call centers, marketing initiatives and pricing and underwriting systems. ""The Internet is simply another customer relationship channel,"" emphasizes Davies of Gomez, ""and integration with other customer service functions is definitely a number-one priority.""
Allstate recently built an enterprise-wide e-mail infrastructure connecting Web users with call centers and agents. ""Some new integration features we are adding include a Web Call-Back Button, which allows a Web user to be called by a customer service representative within 15 minutes of the request; text-chat connectivity for help online;and two-way forms collaboration,"" reports Heneberry.
Progressive has also fully integrated its Web and call center delivery channels, allowing up-to-the-minute Web information to be accessed by call center staff, according to Alfred.
4. Innovate with Web Applications and Real-Time Transactions.
B2C online applications range from the relatively basic, such as updating policy information, to the complex, such as comparative rate quoting and electronic claims submission. Regardless of the specific functions a company plans to add to its Web site, they must serve the needs of the e-consumer. This means ""immediate gratification,"" according to Kenneth Clemmer, insurance analyst, Forrester Research, who adds, ""Web users have Amazon as a model. They expect immediate service, and next-day e-mail notification just will not cut it."" This sentiment is echoed by State Farm's Reiner, who stresses, ""Online users want immediate answers.""
Progressive Insurance's Alfred has found that insurance Web sites""have to have interactivity. We strongly believe that you have to return instant rates. No one wants to come to a Web site and find that there is nothing you can do there."" Some of the Web tools cited by insurers as those most frequently accessed include agent locators, quoting, online payments, updating policy information and online claims submission.
Looking to the future, Progressive is offering WAP and PDA access on its site to enable customers to make payments, locate an agent and access claims contact information.Although use of mobile features is ""limited at this point,"" Alfred acknowledges, ""it offers a level of convenience that we think is important and that will become more important.""
Conversely, a Web site does not need to do everything in order to be successful. Robust tools targeted to serve the specific needs of a customer are most important. ""There are a lot of things you can do online,"" says Kasina's Kowarski, adding, ""this doesn't necessarily mean that you should do all of them. Providing the right information is key—if you're in the auto business, rate quotes should be high on your list.""
5. Partnerships.
Although insurers need to be selective in initiating online partnerships, such agreements have the potential to extend market reach and add features in a relatively low-cost manner. According to a recent Gartner Group study, 46 percent of insurance firms active on the Web have partnerships with banks, 30 percent have partnerships with other insurance companies and 22 percent have partnerships with investment firms.
Partnerships with insurance portals provide comparative quoting capabilities and may generate business. The Forrester study estimates ""60 percent of insurance researchers start at a search site and price comparison tools are considered some of the most valuable online.""
6. Put Tools in Place To Keep Learning.
Insurance B2C pioneers recognize that the e-consumer is a moving target. For example, although Progressive was one of the first insurers to invest significantly in the Internet, according to Alfred, ""we are still playing and always capturing information from all of our channels.""
At State Farm, ""we've done focus groups, used third-party assessments and have hired user interface specialists,"" says Reiner. ""The process is iterative: You just keep learning.""
Gomez's Davies emphasizes the extent of data that can be analyzed through server logs, feedback loops and customer surveys. ""Insurance is an industry experienced in evaluating risks and mining data; they need to integrate their expertise with the tools the Internet offers,"" he says.
Because the B2C learning curve is still relatively steep, Forrester's Clemmer views the limited number of customers currently purchasing insurance online as a distinct advantage to insurers. ""Learn to swim while the tide is out,"" he advises. ""Learn from the kinds of customers that are out there now. It is a small market- play with it, learn to price business in this market, learn how to assess risk. If you can do it well, the stakes will get higher and you will succeed where others may not.""
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