MGA’s Stay a Step Ahead with the Internet

In efforts to not only stay a step ahead of the competition but also reduce costs in the long run, many managing general agencies are utilizing the Internet at greater lengths these days.

As the nation as a whole spends more and more time on the Internet, MGA’s know that they need to have not only a personal relationship with those they serve, but also an electronic one.

Ron Abram, president of California-based Abram Interstate, says that today’s company needs to be up on the latest technology to produce a successful working environment.

“We find the Web site is of greater importance as we go forward here,” Abram said. “We try and be informational and interactive. Some of the agents we do business with use it more than others. We do get a lot of feedback on our rating programs. It has certainly enhanced the dissemination of information.”

According to Abram, “As the market place changes, we need to tailor the message. There are lots of people who still want to do business the old- fashioned way, but we are finding more people are finally embracing technology. As a result of that, we have no choice but to evolve to meet their needs. The more interactive the Web site can be the more likely that that will be a successful agency employing that technology. From a shear expense perspective, if you can get online and it is cheaper and you can get a quicker, accurate answer, it is going to be more cost-effective not only for the retailer but the wholesaler as well.”

Among the concerns, however, of many MGA’s are security and virus concerns.

“We are very concerned about that,” Abram commented. “We continually work toward upgrading our scanning capabilities for virus purposes. As technology changes, we take advantage of those changes. The last thing we need is something in our system that shuts us down.”

California-based Swett & Crawford has been in business for more than eight decades, serving as a key intermediary between the independent agent and specialty carriers.

Craig Rubin, Vice President of Operations, notes that “We look at our Web site as an advertising medium. We have the ability for users to the site to inquire as to whether the type of coverage they’re interested in is something that we have written. We also use it to reduce phone calls to deal with issues that can be dealt with through e-mail or can be downloaded off our site. We put approximately 55 applications in adobe acrobat pdf forms that people can download. I think a lot of agents prefer this because it saves them the hassle of getting the right person on the phone. There is also a very detailed contact list with all of our professional staff and how to get hold of them. We save an agent time by having to call us. Most of our agents prefer correspondence by e-mail.

“We have been very happy with our Web site,” Rubin continued. “We believe that we get anywhere from 100 to 150 individual user sessions a day on the Web site. The Web site, while not expensive to maintain, has an incredibly quick return on investment. We’re in the process of doing a graphical redesign of our site. The back end (the database behind it) is very strong and only needs some minor tweaking. We try to analyze what it is an agent will need on a day to day basis from a GA that they do a lot of business with.”

Texas-based Tejas American General Agency created its new-look Web site back in March, which marketing spokesperson Ashley Taylor said is very good for marketing purposes.

“Our Web site is an electronic brochure for agents,” Taylor said. “It is a great place to go for updated applications, departments, markets we use, lines of business that we write. We have staff biographies on here so the agents can get to know the underwriters they’re talking to. We just recently started a newsletter and posted it on there so agents can know what is going on at TAGA.”

According to Taylor, the Web site is updated several times a week, and doesn’t take a lot of time or expense to maintain.

“Our goals are to eventually be able to e-mail applications back and forth,” Taylor remarked. “We’d like to also make it so agents when they call, will be able to find information so they may be a little more prepared when they call, then they know who to call and who to speak with. Our Web site really took a big jump from what the old one looked like. I think you need a user-friendly site, but you want to be a little different so you stand out.”

Ken Horn, president of Texas-based Austin Surplus Lines, noted that the company’s Web site proves invaluable for marketing the company.

“We developed the Web site about three-and-a-half years ago as a form of advertisement and to get our name in front of the agents,” Horn said.

“It has expanded since then, and the greatest challenge is keeping it updated and changed so it doesn’t look the same every day. I think in this day and age, it is very important to have, and it becomes your number one marketing tool in the future. We would love to have our site become more interactive and have our agents be more interactive with it. Everybody wants to get away from the phones because of the amount of time it takes. We do everything in-house, so there is very little expense involved with it (Web site).”

For those that don’t have Web sites or updated ones at that, Horn said they could face some problems.

“I think anybody that is not staying as updated and current on the latest technology, they’re going to fall behind. We’re not that many years away from MGA’s all in retail shops are all going to have to be paperless offices because that’s where the offices are going. A large part of the budget for companies now is technology. This is all the future. This is stuff that pays dividends five to 10 years down the road. You’re looking to cut down on payroll expenses and increase efficiency and technology.”

Abram of Abram Interstate concluded that, “In general, the whole industry has been slow to embrace the changes but I think that is changing, but we still have a long way to go. Clearly, people will have to embrace it to a much greater extent than today. I would love to see there be a paperless environment, but until the courts do away with paper, I’m not sure that will ever occur here. I think there is some concern that you will lose that personal relationship between the agent and the customer, but the reality in my mind is that as long as you’re in touch with your customer, this is just another tool to utilize, rather than be the end-all-end. There will always be a need for personal interaction.”

Topics Agencies Tech Insurance Wholesale