2000: Allstate tried to go big with the 1-800 and internet result: Failed
2006: Geico can anyone come up with what their retention is? 40-50% retention rate is reality for the lizard. They sell low limits because they do not have to pay attorneys $$$ in long drawn out court litigation costs. What is the employee retention in the call centers? 70% of their \”Agent/Employees\” hang them up within the first year. Hence they are opening up Local Offices to try to help retention. result: Going in the direction of opening local offices.
State Farm still sees the value of the Agent and still a solid carrier other than Katrina claims ordeal.
The reality \”On Line Loser\” I mean user, buy your policy on line because most agents probably wouldn\’t want to service your policy because you obviously shop for price and coverage doesn\’t matter until your sorry pathetic sob story claim comes in and your would be the E&O problem that tries to pin it on the Professional Agent. Do you get your Medical Advice from WebMD? Do you fix your car on Carcare.com? Besides your Attorney representing you in the claim you file would be one of those advertising on TV. Thank You for buying online you saved some agents an E&O claim.
95% of our clients became clients because an existing client told them to give us a call. The other 5% come from yellow pages and shop by price alone. I wish those people shopped online instead. Third party intermediaries are not necessary; just let your own clients do the advertising for you!
This is not about anything else other than auto insurance. You would never be able to buy a package online without some agent involvement. Strictly talking auto insurance, companies have done this to themselves. Endlessly raising insurance rates regardless of how long you have been with the company. People get attacked for purchasing online but they sometimes are switching out of not feeling their insurance company is loyal to them. Since they were previously coached by an insurance agent they already know what coverages to get. They often will leave their home policies stand alone but take their auto and their toys elsewhere. To rip apart consumers for no choosing independent agents is unfair. Insurance companies that want to compete with online carriers need to create a balance between rate, service, and broader coverage. Until this is done they will lose big and so will the independent agents.
The new game will see the 800\”s & on-line writing the accounts that do not take insuring themselves seriously, and agents writing those people that do. Therefore the most valued accounts will gravitate to the agency side.
This isn\’t a question of consumers chooseing direct versus agent distribution. There is no denying that the direct writers are picking up Personal Auto Market Share but that has been happening for a long time and for many of the reasons expressed in some of the other posts. The Internet and Online insurance shopping has only increased the rate of change and provided another channel for the directs to get their message out.
Consumers are online and they are shopping for insurance online in larger and larger numbers. The only option for agents is to learn how to compete for those customers online. Currently, the best chance for agents to compete online is the lead aggregators, i.e. NetQuote, Hometownquotes, Insweb, MostChoice, Insureme, and the agent directories like InsurancePages.com. These third party intermediaries are the best marketing partners personal lines agents have to compete with the directs online.
That 5% that shops through your yellow pages are also clients with potential referrals. This attitude towards people who shop for price is unfortunate. There are more of them especially with gas prices toppint $3 in some cases. So what you saying is those people don\’t deserve to be a part of your agency. Just because 95% came because of referrals does not mean they were not shopping because of price. It boils down to how you treat them when they come to your office. It is possible to provide good service, coverage suggestions, and competitive pricing all together.
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I hope you buy an online auto policy with 10/20 limits and then run over Al Gore. Then you will see how bad an agent\’s service is.
2000: Allstate tried to go big with the 1-800 and internet result: Failed
2006: Geico can anyone come up with what their retention is? 40-50% retention rate is reality for the lizard. They sell low limits because they do not have to pay attorneys $$$ in long drawn out court litigation costs. What is the employee retention in the call centers? 70% of their \”Agent/Employees\” hang them up within the first year. Hence they are opening up Local Offices to try to help retention. result: Going in the direction of opening local offices.
State Farm still sees the value of the Agent and still a solid carrier other than Katrina claims ordeal.
The reality \”On Line Loser\” I mean user, buy your policy on line because most agents probably wouldn\’t want to service your policy because you obviously shop for price and coverage doesn\’t matter until your sorry pathetic sob story claim comes in and your would be the E&O problem that tries to pin it on the Professional Agent. Do you get your Medical Advice from WebMD? Do you fix your car on Carcare.com? Besides your Attorney representing you in the claim you file would be one of those advertising on TV. Thank You for buying online you saved some agents an E&O claim.
95% of our clients became clients because an existing client told them to give us a call. The other 5% come from yellow pages and shop by price alone. I wish those people shopped online instead. Third party intermediaries are not necessary; just let your own clients do the advertising for you!
My agency has a large personal lines book. We target market personal lines to surburban areas and let the urban areas for the GEICO\’s.
This is not about anything else other than auto insurance. You would never be able to buy a package online without some agent involvement. Strictly talking auto insurance, companies have done this to themselves. Endlessly raising insurance rates regardless of how long you have been with the company. People get attacked for purchasing online but they sometimes are switching out of not feeling their insurance company is loyal to them. Since they were previously coached by an insurance agent they already know what coverages to get. They often will leave their home policies stand alone but take their auto and their toys elsewhere. To rip apart consumers for no choosing independent agents is unfair. Insurance companies that want to compete with online carriers need to create a balance between rate, service, and broader coverage. Until this is done they will lose big and so will the independent agents.
The new game will see the 800\”s & on-line writing the accounts that do not take insuring themselves seriously, and agents writing those people that do. Therefore the most valued accounts will gravitate to the agency side.
All that i can say it\’s about time
these states inforced the law.
With all the teenage drivers out there.
Now i wish thay would start on these
radios that are just to loud i dont know
how thay hear anything inc,police etc.
Thank You…
USAA has proven they can run a top notch insurance company without local agents. Much can now be done online as well. They get an A+ from me.
This isn\’t a question of consumers chooseing direct versus agent distribution. There is no denying that the direct writers are picking up Personal Auto Market Share but that has been happening for a long time and for many of the reasons expressed in some of the other posts. The Internet and Online insurance shopping has only increased the rate of change and provided another channel for the directs to get their message out.
Consumers are online and they are shopping for insurance online in larger and larger numbers. The only option for agents is to learn how to compete for those customers online. Currently, the best chance for agents to compete online is the lead aggregators, i.e. NetQuote, Hometownquotes, Insweb, MostChoice, Insureme, and the agent directories like InsurancePages.com. These third party intermediaries are the best marketing partners personal lines agents have to compete with the directs online.
That 5% that shops through your yellow pages are also clients with potential referrals. This attitude towards people who shop for price is unfortunate. There are more of them especially with gas prices toppint $3 in some cases. So what you saying is those people don\’t deserve to be a part of your agency. Just because 95% came because of referrals does not mean they were not shopping because of price. It boils down to how you treat them when they come to your office. It is possible to provide good service, coverage suggestions, and competitive pricing all together.