Insurance Websites. Best Practices Brief NEW YORK TORONTO PHOENIX LOS ANGELES LONDON DUBAI NEW DELHI

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1 North America: EDYNAMIC ( ) India: Best Practices Brief NEW YORK TORONTO PHOENIX LOS ANGELES LONDON DUBAI NEW DELHI

2 Executive Summary As the Insurance Industry becomes more competitive, and product offerings more complex, there is a growing need for customers to do more research before they decide which product to buy. Customers today are comfortable purchasing certain types of insurance online travel or automotive insurance, for example the internet s primary use in the Insurance industry is as a channel for research. Online research often doesn t translate into a policy application: a complex product, combined with low-commitment research channel, result in low conversion rates. However, the web can prove a useful channel to promote the prospect to the next level and lead to applications through other channels. In a Forrester Research survey from 2007, it was seen that of the 3 million Americans who have researched life insurance during the past year, more than one in three used the Internet to do so, making it the second most popular research channel after researching in person. Insurance companies need to clearly identify and understand the objectives and purpose their websites serve. Assuming that the website will become a huge Point of Sale is not only a false expectation, but it can result in ignoring the need to provide information that will enable prospects to conduct research, and possibly submit an enquiry form. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of Best Practices to make Insurance Websites effective. At first you must identify the objectives of the website. For almost all insurance companies their website needs to enable: 1. Customer Acquisition 2. Customer Retention 3. Agent Acquisition 4. Employee Acquisition 5. Brand Promotion To achieve these objectives the website needs to: Be a source of Information & Knowledge for Prospects, Customers, Agents, Employees, Media personnel, etc. Connect the offline branding & promotion activities with the online channel Provide visitors on the website with adequate tools that enable them to conduct research. Provide customers with self servicing capabilities. Encourage Lead Generation. 1

3 Some of the Key Features that enable these objectives are outlined below: Simplify Online Product Offerings Making buyers act To enable higher conversions, Insurance sites must facilitate customer action. Every user has a goal; the site design has to speak to these goals. Having clear Calls to Action and need-based navigation are two ways to reduce the number of clicks needed to prompt a user to action, and significantly increase conversion rates. The Metlife, US website is an excellent example of this. Helping your buyers The call center is always a resort. However, if your site offers useful information up front, a prospect need not spend time getting in touch with customer support agents. Many sites, including Norwich Union, use live online chat with sales agents to provide users with the information they need right away, avoiding the risk that they ll lose interest by the time they connect with an agent over the phone. Making it easy for buyers During the process of buying a policy, user should have the option to save his details throughout the process. This way, even if one needs to stop before completing the purchase, he should be able to return & complete the process from the point he left. In either instance, user should get an from the Insurer with all details. This practice drives high usability & again enhances conversion online as Tesco, UK has experienced. Using offline modes to strengthen online For users who may do research online but may not be ready yet to buy on the Web, offline modes can greatly complement your site. For instance, if I am applying online but want to complete the process offline, the site should make it easy for me by giving me an application tracker which I can use to finish the process offline. This practice has been used to good effect by several insurers, notably Lloyd s TSB Insurance. Closing the loop Some products generate leads online but are sold offline. To maximize ROI, ensure that processes and technologies are connected so that the Sales Team can act on leads generated and the CRM application can track them. It is critical to achieve end-to-end tracking of leads - from acquisition to conversion. 2

4 Cross-selling & Rewarding Customer loyalty Acting on customer behavior Some smart back-end work can enable Insurers to cash in on customer behavior online. Displaying related products & calculators, based on user behavior on the site, can open up new avenues for engagement and cross-sell. Further, Insurers can enable call center agents with customer intelligence for relevant targeting. Good examples include Ineas, which offers its customers a calculator that lets them understand the risks they face, and Direct Line, which let customers opt in for additional products like legal insurance cover on the final page of quotations. Policy Renewals & Discounts Every policy renewal communication should have very simple and quick call to action. This is a key aspect of online insurance that is widely used and also facilitates cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. Moreover, offering discounts to customers who have multiple policies goes a long way in improving relationships on the Web. Customer Service is critical Online Policy Management Allowing users to make changes to their own policies should be a must have for Insurance websites. Insurers must allow for changes in contact information, as well as additions to policy coverage, to drive higher usability & Web loyalty. This also shrinks offline customer servicing costs. Direct Assurance has been implementing this to good effect. Tracking of Claims While it may still be up for debate, online claims tracking is a practice that can separate a good Insurance site from an exceptional one. Insurers who provide online claim applications & tracking have recorded significant rise in site usage (Direct Line), as well as the additional benefits of decreased dependence on expensive call center services to handle this service. Dynamic Content drives traffic & engagement Like any site that sells products to a wide ranging target audience, Insurance websites built on Web Content Management (WCM) systems have some distinct advantages. Enabling cross/up sell It is all about the right content & message being put to the right buyer. A good WCM makes it easier for companies to present the right marketing message, tool or product dynamically to site visitors, directly increasing the probability of engagement, cross/up sell. 3

5 More traffic means more customers With advanced Search Engine optimization controls embedded within good WCMs today, a website will almost always benefit from increased traffic, which is the first step towards acquiring more customers. Localize, localize, localize Among other things, a good WCM offers automated site localization features that are key to leveraging the Web for increased business. Most leading insurers today cater to markets all over the world; using a WCM that supports internationalization and translation allows the site to speak to visitors in their own language. Sharp Search enhances usability A good Insurer will invariably need a powerful search mechanism for potential buyers researching online. Enterprise Search tools built into WCMs reduce the time taken to get to desired information by providing a variety of pre-cognitive results. Provide Plenty of Information and Cross-Channel Support Because the Internet is likely to remain a low-percentage conversion channel, ebusiness and channel strategy professionals at life insurers should: Provide online life insurance researchers with the information they are looking for Although many online researchers may not be ready to purchase a policy, they are seeking basic information, product comparisons, and other resources will help them understand life insurance and the different options available to them. 70% of adults who researched a financial product online last year said they were looking for basic product information. Prudential Financial s website, offers visitors a page where FAQs, tools, and calculators are clearly identified and organized. Encourage online researchers to switch channels when they are ready to buy ebusiness professionals should encourage prospects who have started to research online to continue the dialogue in another channel by helping them find their nearest agent or by offering an online chat or click-to-call with a company representative. For example, the MetLife homepage offers three different and easy-to-use options for next steps: an online quote request, a branch office locator, and a simple Request for Contact form. 4

6 About edynamic Established in 1999, edynamic is a Global Web Solutions Firm with deep experience in the Insurance and Financial Services space. We deliver end-to-end Web solutions & offer a wide range of services including Web and Enterprise Content Management, Portals, Web Design/User Experience, Online Marketing, Business Intelligence, CRM and Managed Services. We have strong thought leadership in the Insurance space working with several large Insurers, like New York Life, Aviva, Allianz and several others, in creating Corporate Websites, Customer Portals, Sales Portals, Broker Portals and Intranets. edynamic s Insurance Expertise includes Web Strategy & Consulting Web Design and User Experience Web & Enterprise Content Management Portals and Collaboration Web and Application Development Business Intelligence & Datawarehousing Online Marketing Customer Relationship Management ecommerce For more information on edynamic s expertise in Insurance, refer to the link below: NEW YORK TORONTO PHOENIX LOS ANGELES DUBAI NEW DELHI E-40/7 Okhla Phase - II, New Delhi Phone: Fax: contact@edynamic.net 5