Then there was re-intermediation, in which middlemen showed off their ability to survive. In the latest sign they're here to stay, middlemen are now accepting aid from the same group of original producers that once offered a bounty for their heads.
Middlemen still add a lot of value, especially in a post-sale environment.
There they handle a variety of functions from logistics to setup and maintenance. Middlemen aren't only retaining their beachheads, they're moving up through the dunes. And they're doing it with the help of suppliers and manufacturers that some thought would rather deal with customers directly. Chubb Corp., for example, next year will launch a Web service for its 5,000 brokers and agents that aggregates premium information from multiple carriers, says Stephen Sills, executive vice president of the insurer. The service, dubbed Innovator, is designed to reduce the time Chubb agents spend trying to get complex quotes from carriers.