Online Agency Pro streamlines data collection for insurance quotes

At issue: Retail insurance agencies must gather pertinent information from customers in order to generate accurate quotes from wholesale firms, but the information needed varies depending on the type of coverage being sought, and the companies carrying the coverage.

Burch, who manages local retail agency Adco-Burch Insurance Services, needed something that would help him collect the correct information to get quotes in a timely manner.

He noted that many insurance companies have similar agent tools, but they’re specific only to the carrier’s offerings. To get a more comprehensive platform, he teamed up with Clear Blue, and after a couple of years of development, has rolled out Online Agency Pro.

“It was designed for one agency, and grew into something that can now be marketed,” said Burch, who was careful to note that his work as chief sales officer at Clear Blue is separate from his role at Adco-Burch.

The platform

Online Agency Pro is designed to increase efficiency for both retail and wholesale agencies by making it easier for staff members to collect all of the information they need.

This streamlining, Burch said, is particularly important when an agency carries more than one type of insurance. For example, he said, a general agent might offer auto, home and life lines, but only know about auto and home in great detail. If they have customers who want quotes on life insurance, they need to know exactly what information to collect, and that’s where OnlineAgencyPro can help.

“Everybody can play a role in selling life insurance, but it’s not required that they (specialize) in life insurance,” Burch said. “The knowledge is built into the tool.”

Clear Blue CEO Chris Langston said his company was put in touch with Burch by another local Web developer, Michael Wehrenberg, who knew that Langston and his cohorts – Chief Technology Officer Todd Way and Chief Information Officer Logan Wade – were looking for a project to develop.

“Everything is done from the user’s perspective,” Langston said. “Most of the technology that we saw when we met Josh was top down – provided by the carrier to help the agent, and then the agent is responsible for helping the consumer. We flip-flopped it and built it on, ‘What is the need for the retail agent?’”

But, Burch reiterates, the platform is useful for wholesale firms as well, because they benefit from getting the appropriate information from retail agents.

“Our proposition is that in a world as dynamic as insurance, conventional training is never going to work,” Burch said. “It changes too fast … but by implementing this system, conventional training isn’t necessary.”

Because Online Agency Pro, in effect, makes everyone who has access to the platform an expert at collecting information, it cuts the time between getting the information and returning a quote to the customer. And that, Langston said, should equal more sales.

“If people are shopping for insurance, chances are, if the price is in the ballpark, whoever responds first has the best chance of making the sale,” he said.

Reaching out to users

OnlineAgencyPro was rolled out in August with wholesale agency Bohrer, Croxdale & McAdoo, an agency that writes what owner Sydney Croxdale calls “extraordinary” coverage – types that often carry higher risk – for its retail agency clients.

Croxdale said clients communicate with her agency in various ways, and Online Agency Pro is an addition and an enhancement to that communication.

“The templates in Online Agency Pro application are, I would say, everyday language,” she said. “They ask very direct questions.”

Croxdale said retail agents frequently submit applications without all of the information needed, and she noted that OnlineAgencyPro does help with that to a degree, particularly when agents have new employees compiling the information.

Other wholesale agencies using the platform include Marketing Financial LLC.

Burch said the basic platform for auto, home, life and health insurance is available free, but premium services, such as for commercial lines, are available only on a subscription basis. Fees vary based on volume, he said, but are “not designed to be cost-prohibitive.”

The platform can be viewed at www.onlineagencypro.com.