Using the Web to Increase Med Supp Sales
The future of Medicare Supplement insurance sales is online.
Mike Wise, vice president of IdeaStar Insurance Technologies, gave a talk recently at the American Insurance Education Institute conference in New Orleans. The national forum, entitled Issues and Trends in Medicare Supplement Insurance, was for professionals who market, sell, price, administer and support Med Supp insurance.
The purpose of the talk was to discuss the use of the Web to increase sales and marketing results within the Medicare Supplement insurance market. A significant number of senior citizens and their caregivers are using the Web to get information and make purchases, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. By extension, Mike said, they are ready to research and purchase Med Supp insurance online.
Don’t believe him? Look at Community Care Rx, a site for Medicare Part D that uses online enrollment. The company ranked 4th in terms of Part D enrollment - with 10 percent online, and an unknown volume of enrollments taken through the call center due to the 800 number on the Web site. No doubt there is an advantage to having online sales available in the senior market.
Mike also presented a prototype Med Supp quoting and enrollment site which uses e-signature to finalize the enrollment. Mike talked about the pro's and con's of online quoting and enrollments. The pros include:
• quoting accuracy
• application completeness
• legibility
• competitive advantage
• more nimble product maintenance
• and lower policy administration costs.
The cons? Mike explained the prototype site needs a “Plan Selector” tool to help customers decide which plan best suits their lifestyle. Also, he said, Med Supp brokers might lack the necessary Web savvy to effectively use an online quoting and enrollment system. But as agent-recruiters focus more and more on the younger-agent population, Web-enabled processes will become more important.
Mike also discussed the advantages of online agent enrollment and online agent portals, both of which IdeaStar is currently developing for clients who attended the conference. “The main point is that by enrolling agents online, they get a first-hand look at using e-signature themselves in their appointment process with the company. They then have an even greater sense of comfort and will perhaps understand the value-added efficiency of the paperless environment,” Mike said.
Using a portal for ongoing servicing of the agent (app-status, commissions, incentive tracking, brochure downloads, leads, etc.) keeps the agent online and coming back for more day-in and day-out, he added.
“The feedback from the audience was extremely positive,” Mike said. “The Med Supp community has traditionally been somewhat resistant to doing business online. This seems to be changing.”
Mike added that PEW Internet research shows that 70 to 80 percent of baby boomers use the Internet. Thus, the vast majority of the next generation of Med Supp buyers are using the Web on a regular basis. Perhaps the Med Supp insurance community is coming to understand that if they want to serve the baby boomers, they have got to have a Web component - and they need to start working on that now.