U.S. agents not prepared for consumer drift toward Internet shopping

U.S. insurance agents are poised to go the way of the traditional travel agent — sidestepped and left behind in an age of Internet-driven consumer behaviour, an Insurance Profit Systems (IPS) survey found.
IPS directed 35,000 subscribers to its blog and faxed its survey to 9,000 of its clients, customers and members.
According to the survey results, 84.1% of agencies do not have a satisfactory search engine optimization strategy; 79.9% of agents do not use Google Analytics to track visitors and how they interact with the firm’s Web site; 93.7% do not use Internet accident/benefits testing capability; and 80.9% do not use social networking sites profitability.
“We felt this was a crucial survey to deliver to the industry,” said Michael Jans, IPS president. “Mega-marketers like GEICO, Progressive and Esurance are moving their marketing very quickly into online strategies. Online insurance sales are predicted to double by 2011. We don’t want agents to go down the same paths that travel agents went.”
But, agents still have an opportunity, he added. “With proper training, profitable Internet marketing is attainable and easy to execute. The agents who make the strategic decision to make it a priority can eat the lunch of the slow-responders. We’ve seen a thinning of herd in the industry before. We’ll probably see one again.”