When a customer visits one of these sites, they start to compare the policies by price rather than by the specific benefits. Turley equates this with the equivalent of every company having the same catalogue and marketing team. The main appeal of these clearinghouse sites to insurers is that they offer a low-cost way for a company to jump into the Internet arena. But by relying on sites that group insurers together, companies are diluting their messages and end up competing head-on with other insurance companies on price alone. Additionally, companies will find that the price of building their own system will be returned by increased efficiency.
Brokers use their knowledge and experience to get clients.
They can talk about the benefits of each company and explain to a potential client the intricate details of the coverage. If you are a company that is offering a great product that has a slightly higher premium because of your extensive benefits, the Web customer will never see information about your plan. Because your pricing forces your quote to end up on page two of the plans listed by the group site. Page two is Web purgatory because no one ever visits it. This is why search engine Web sites charge premiums to companies to be listed in the first few spots during searches.