Do You Use an Agency Customer Portal?

Consumers’ expectation of how they want to do business with products and service providers is changing rapidly. The days of just providing “good service” seem to be quickly fading into history. Today, creating a great customer experience is what sets apart one business from another — and one agency from another.

Consumers have many options on how they can go about purchasing the insurance coverages they need. Agents can sit back and talk about the “good old days” — or they can take steps to create a great customer experience for the new digital consumer.

One way to effectively compete is to add the ability for agency customers to access information and services through a client portal by going to the agency website.

Consumers are increasingly using their smartphone and tablets to do what they want to do. An article in Insurance Networking News published last week stated that 35% of visitors used a smartphone or tablet and 15% enrolled using a mobile device. Sixty percent of visitors to the Spanish website CuidadoDeSalud.gov used a tablet or smartphone.

Mobile is clearly the communication option of choice for a growing number of consumers.

I recently asked you to complete a short survey on your agency’s use of online client portals. I’d like to share those results with you today. I received over 250 responses.

1. Does your agency currently have an online client portal?

• Yes: 40.9%
• No: 59.1%

2. If yes, what technology platform do you use?

• Applied CSR24: 54.5%
• Agency Custom Website: 10.5%
• We have a mobile application: 9.8%
• Agency management system customer portal: 9.1%
• Certificate of Insurance self-service only: 3%
• Another Answer: 10.6%

3. If no, why not?

• Our clients are not asking for this ability: 41.5%
• Our management system does not have a client portal: 13.7%
• We are planning to add this function in the future: 25.1%
• We are planning to add this function in 2015: 7.7%
• Another answer: 12%

There appears to be a disconnect between “our clients are not asking for this ability” and the vast amount of information and data that seems to suggest consumers are choosing their smartphones and tablets to interact with the businesses they want to patronize.

Are agencies actually asking clients what they want? Or, is it agency management/owners/producers who don’t want it?

It’s all parties within the industry — agents, management system vendors, and insurance companies — who need to cooperate to provide an easy way for consumers to access their information and interact with the agencies they choose to do business with.

Insurance companies are working to create policyholder portals that allow access to policy documents and the ability to make online payments. Unfortunately, this cuts out the agent in the process. If I as a policyholder can go directly to the insurance company to obtain information and make policy payments, what value does an agency have?

Existing online insurance providers are being joined by a whole host of new players. Insurance agents do not have time to sit back and just complain.

For those of you who don’t have an agency customer portal, what can I do to help you create one? Let me know.