Shopping for Insurance Can Be a ‘Progressive’ Experience

It’s getting to be that time of year again.
March Madness? Maybe.
Tax time? Too early.

No, for me it’s my yearly auto insurance renewal for my two cars: the Sienna minivan and the crusty Tercel. Each year, I make a few calls or quiz my local agent on potential options or quotes through other companies. This year, the company I decided to check out was Progressive (www.progressive.com).

Progressive fascinates me due to its three-tiered structure for getting quotes-by independent agent, by web and by phone agent. Not to buy into the hype, but I started thinking about the value in using each of the conduits. What does the agent add? What benefits are there to the web? What makes the call to Progressive a better option?

I decided it was time to try it out for myself.

The agent experience
Knowing that my local independent agent was a Progressive representative (he’s got it on his agency materials and signage), I shot him an e-mail one night that said, “I know my policy is about up and I’d like a quote from Progressive.” The e-mail added that I wanted an e-mail or a fax with a quote and a breakdown based on the previous year’s policy.

Boom. By morning an e-mail from my agent was waiting saying that Progressive was probably not going to be competitive with my current coverage but that I was going to get a fax shortly with the complete information. A bit later, I had a fax with my current policy and Progressive’s quote in my hand.

The web experience
Then I hit the web. At my lunch break, I logged on to progressive.com and started the quote-request process. The site is nice in that it provides all sorts of secondary information about buying insurance, plus all kinds of functionality for the “do-it-yourselfer.”

Well, half a form into it I realized I would need my policy information. You are afforded the ability to save your quote request as you go, and I used it. Fortunately that fax from my agent arrived, so I got back on the site and picked up where I had left off.

The quote online ended up being about $100 cheaper than the agent quote, and the site gave me a choice from a number of payment options and methods, allowing me to start coverage the moment I concluded my transaction or on a date of my own choosing.

The phone experience
I finished up work that day and then gave Progressive’s toll-free number a ring. After waiting seven minutes on hold and listening to a wide variety of sales pitches, I talked with Mike. Mike checked his database and saw that I’d already requested a quote online. So I asked Mike to make sure that what I filled out online was correct, he went over the basics with me, and I said thanks and goodbye. The price was the same as the online quote.

The overall experience
It’s amazing to see how much technology is used in order for all of these quotes to get to me. One is a fax based on past information stored in an agency management system. One is a customer-driven web-based application, and one is an interconnected database that allows Progressive to lend a knowledgeable human voice to the web experience.

It’s not so much the technology on the insurance information and distribution side of things, as it is on my side. Giving the customer the tools to do his or her own comparative shopping and service is a double-edged sword. On one side, it frees the customer and gives him the ability to shop at his own leisure; but on the other, it can cause some frustration in that forms or phones don’t intimately know policy history.

For example, my agent will ask me all sorts of questions about automobile features, driver history and driver practices which may result in a discount. I found myself wondering where all that data would go, since I didn’t see it or enter it in the web form.

As for Mike at Progressive, he was helpful but still wasn’t as thorough when reviewing my online request as my agent. Even though I tried to persuade him that my junky 1984 Tercel was in itself anti-theft deterrent, it just felt like he and I were missing some potential areas for rebate or credit.

The simple fact is that while the latest technology does wonders, the honesty and hard work of an insurance agent well outweighs it. Progressive is trying to recreate that agent experience online by offering three comparative quotes from other companies and the link to a live person.

Is it worth the extra $100? The question for me is a resounding “yes.” At the end of it all, my policy is still cheaper than the Progressive quote for the same coverage. Plus, my agent now insures my home and all of my other personal property. So while he may have lost a little on the Progressive deal, he gains a stronger agent-customer relationship, increased business and greater retention.

I applaud Progressive for being so, well, progressive in their redefining of how insurance companies should act and their consumer-centric approach to providing insurance services and products. However, as Progressive knows, technology cannot replace nor recreate an agent with a commitment to customer service.

Topics Agencies Tech