The Internet Sale of Health Insurance

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The Internet Sale of Health Insurance
Understanding, Embracing and Monetizing
Change Prepared for Intercompany Marketing
Group January, 2008
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• More and more, consumers are turning to the
  Internet to research and even buy health
  insurance. Lead companies, as well as insurers
  and agents, are there to greet them. Yet as
  consumers become increasingly familiar with
  shopping online, and while the Internet holds
  great promise for the future marketing and sale
  of insurance, we see that today
• most consumers still do not understand health
  insurance or its terminology and
• the current marketplace is a confusing,
  fragmented mess.
• This online seminar will
• Provide an overview of the current health
  insurance marketplace,
• Examine the challenges faced by the online
  consumer, and
• Offer lucid and actionable recommendations to
  insurance companies and agencies seeking to drive
  sales while also meeting the needs of the
  consumer.

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Quotit Corporation is a leading Internet
application service provider for the health
insurance and employee benefits industry. Quotit
Corporations Internet software enables insurance
organizations to increase productivity and reduce
costs by directly connecting insurance companies,
brokers and retail consumers with insurance rates
and benefits on-line, in real time.   Quotit has
established relationships with over 120 insurance
carriers representing over 11,300 plans in the
health, life, dental and vision insurance
markets, including such names as Aetna, United
Healthcare, Health Net, WellPoint, Assurant,
Humana, Celtic and independent licenses of the
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Quotit's
database of carriers and plans extends to 50
states including the District of Columbia.
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Outline

• Yesterday
• Changes
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
• Can We Keep the Good and Lose the Bad?
• Critical Success Factors - Remote Insurance Sales
• Recommendations
• Carriers
• Agencies

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The Old Way

• Paper, paper, paper
• Rate sheets, Disconnected Software
• Wet signature
• Face to Face Personal
• Time Consuming and Inefficient
• Wait for app, Wait for commission
• Local
• Trust. Reputation. Word of Mouth.
• Ongoing Multi-line Relationship

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The Old Way
INEFFICIENT
but
ACCOUNTABLE
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Changes Technology

• Internet and Search Engines
• Online Shopping
• Leads
• Application Service Providers (ASP)
• Online Quoting
• Electronic Application
• CRM Technology
• Openness, Interoperability

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Changes Industry

• Rising Health Care Costs
• Less Employer Coverage
• More Individual Coverage
• More Self-employed
• Consumerism
• Remote Sales / Contact Center Sales
• Carrier Direct Sales
• Niche/Target Marketing

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Source Celent
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Opportunity and Promise Online Shopping,
Quoting, E-app
Natural Consequences Immaturity, Noise, Confusion
Intentional Misuse Hyper Efficiency at what
cost?
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More People Online
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Because We Want to be.

• Consumers spend 48 of leisure time online. That
  equates to 1h40 of time spent online every day,
  15 of which is spent on personal productivity
  12 is spent on shopping.
• source Center for Media Research
• At the 2007 Future of Online Advertising Summit,
  Yahoos Ron Belanger stated that the web was made
  for consumers. Thats because were
•   Overworked
• Overwhelmed
• Information hungry
• Professional multi-taskers
• Addicted to leisure
• We like it our way
•  
• The web addresses our pain points and helps us
  fill wants and needs quickly and easily.
•  

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Look on the Web

• People are using and relying on the web to find
  information, and expect everyone to have web
  sitethey also expect to be able to find and buy
  whatever they want online.
• source Group M Interactive, 2007

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More of us Need Health Insurance.
56.2 2007
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We Research it Online
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Leading to, and Even Including its Purchase.
Web Influenced
Web Initiated
100 Web
Source Celent, Online Insurance Sales and
Marketing, Whats Happening and Whats Next
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But, we Dont Really Understand
Source Ehealthinsurance.coms commissioned
survey Americans Lack Understanding of their
Health coverage and Basic Health Insurance
Terminology
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Even Those of us Who are Covered
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We Want Quotes. We Want Help.
Source Ehealthinsurance.coms commissioned
survey Americans Lack Understanding of their
Health coverage and Basic Health Insurance
Terminology
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Lets Go Shopping
32 web initiated - of which - 93 search
engine - of which - 64 Google
Approx. 200,000 Ind.Med. Sales Per Month Start
Here
Source Kaiser Family Foundation (2006), Hitwise,
Forrester Research
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Ah, I can Shop Online
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If I Enter Info, I can Get My Quotes
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Just a Little More Info
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Oh Wait More Sites?
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Maybe Here is Where I Enter my Info
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Where are my Quotes?
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• Technology Makes a Good Sales Process More
  Efficient
• BUT
• Technology CAN be Misused

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(No Transcript)
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What We Sometimes Get

• Anonymity
• Barrage of Phone Calls or NO Phone Calls
• Continuous Emails or NO Emails
• Lack of Promised Follow-up
• Sold and Resold Information
• Boiler Room Tactics and Fraud
• Consumers Buying Plans they Didnt Want
• Post-Claim Underwriting

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Eavesdropping

• CLIENT What about Blue Cross? Dont they
  offer health in Illinois?
• AGENT Well, we dont sell them anymore because
  they lost their A Rating.
• CLIENT I do have diabetes, yes.
• AGENT Well OK, dont tell the insurance
  company about this.
• CLIENT I have diabetes.
• AGENT ltclickgt ltdial-tonegt
• CLIENT Hello?

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• MOST Agents do it RIGHT.

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Technology is the Face of Todays Agent
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and Provides Info Consumers Need
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Makes the Connection
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Provides Comparative Quotes
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and Detailed Benefit Comparisons
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and Facilitates Online App
xxxxx
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The Web can Supplement and Energizean Efficient,
Effective Remote Sales Process
While Preserving ACCOUNTABILITY
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Embrace the Opportunity
As Consumerism Matures
And Actively Address theUgliness Where we Can.
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So How do we Do That?

• Agents
• Carriers

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Critical Success Factors
Remote Insurance Sales Agencies and
Carrier-Direct Contact Centers

• Marketing
• Sales Process
• Product Choice
• Sales Technology

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1. Marketing
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2. Sales Process
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3. Products
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4. Sales Technology
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Carriers

• Partner with the Right Vendors
• Outsource Internet Capabilities
• Treat Remote Agencies Separately
• Help Agents Leverage Technology
• Train Agents to Sell Online
• Understand the Internet and Its Effects
• Understand the Online Consumer
• Talk to and Survey Your Consumers!

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Thank You.

• Mark Seghers
• SVP Business Development
• The Quotit Corporation
• Phone [phone]
• Cell [phone]
• Mark.Seghers_at_quotit.com