Independent agents could be using the Internet to make their Web sites part of an electronic hub for their communities, offering news and information, financial services and products as well as insurance, says Richard H. Roy, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of idNET, a new electronic commerce company based in Simsbury, Connecticut. It is already expanding its services to meet agents' evolving competitive needs and a growing recognition of the size and complexity of the Internet market, Roy says.
Independent agents continue to be under siege on several fronts.
Independent agency market share continues to shrink, giving agents a limited number of options for survival. Agents who choose to continue to pursue the growth of their business need to identify expanded revenue opportunities along with continued expense control. The power of the Internet and the resulting e-commerce will afford these agents just such an opportunity, Roy says. Independent agents have always built strong, local brand loyalties. But until recently, they lacked the ability to develop those loyalties over a broader range of products and services delivered through a powerful marketing medium.