Insurance-Canada.ca Chronicle Newsletter Archive

Issue 2001-23:   November 8, 2001

This newsletter is for members of the Canadian Insurance Industry, and those who serve it. The newsletter is published weekly, and notes information mostly about the use of the Internet and related technologies in the industry. Some is international, where we feel it is relevant to Canada.




"Leveraging Relationships: New Technologies, New Opportunities"

This was the theme of the recent Insurance-Canada.ca conference. This new section will have within a day or so, under the Canadian Information heading, a very short page about the conference, which will in turn link to a longer topic-by-topic, speaker-by-speaker review. Many thanks to attendee Craig Tilford, FIIC for creating this summary.

In the meantime. there is an article from Your Virtual Insurance entitled "7 key reasons for CRM failures". Customer relationship management (CRM) is still a rather new business strategy. CRM solutions have been rather widely accepted by Type A enterprises, but others are still debating whether they should undertake such initiatives. Gartner has examined hundreds of failed CRM initiatives, and have identified seven key reasons that are the "usual suspects" for failure. If you are in a CRM implementation, or thinking about one, this could provide you with some review items. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/ebusiness/other/VICRMFail200111.php

Marketing

The web has brought much change in the ways we can choose to communicate, and other than personal e-mail and surfing, marketing has seen the most dramatic opportunity, and evolutions through generations of what will and what won't work. From Your Virtual Insurance come two items, again of a somewhat generic nature.

Revenue from e-mail advertising will nearly triple this year, according to a soon-to-be-released research report that highlights a little-noticed hot spot in an otherwise cold market for online advertising. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/market/other/VIEmail200111.php

The dynamic or interactive media nature of the web allows video and other rich media to be used for communicating messages with impact. Video email not only couples these benefits with true 1 to 1 messaging capabilities, but also carries with it many complexities. There are at least 144 different combinations of variables that affect how a user will view the media being presented. Before launching a video email program, these five steps will guide you around the hazards inherent in any rich media email campaign. more at www.insurance-canada.ca/market/other/VIVideo200111.php

E-Business and Technology

We earlier reported that Clarica had won an ITX award. The October issue of CIO Canada magazine has part II of an article which describes the four winners - Clarica's award for Outstanding E-business Strategy includes the development and evolution of their Web-enabled Agents - a strategy which uses the web to reinforce their agent channel by using Internet technology. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/ebusiness/canada/ClaricaITX200111.php

The use of Electronic Billing Presentment and Payment (EBPP) is growing in Canada. In Toronto, our local Hydro Utility recently distributed flyers telling their customers how to sign up, and why they should. Optus Corp, through a survey by Ipsos-Reid, finds that 87% of the country's top billers are actively considering an electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) initiative.... more at www.insurance-canada.ca/ebusiness/canada/EBPP200111.php

Distribution

In the US Life Marketplace, captive insurance agents, long the key distribution channel for the vast majority of traditional life insurance policies, now account for less than half the premiums paid. But the big winner in the distribution sweepstakes has not been the Internet. It has been independent producers, and their control over life distribution looks like it will continue to grow enormously in the foreseeable future. This is the finding of a new Conning & Company strategic study on the distribution of life insurance. more at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/other/ConningLD200111.php

Manulife Financial and Investors Group Insurance Services Inc. today announced an agreement that will allow Investors Group's approximately 3,500 consultants access to a range of Manulife individual term and universal life insurance products. more at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/canada/ManulifeIG200110.php

CGU on the P&C side has web-enabled several of their backend systems using technology and services from DWL. Testing and pilots have been completed and the new communications tools for a number of functions are being rolled out to brokers across Canada. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/announce/DWLCGU200111.php

P&C Brokers in Canada are continuing to merge, acquire, be acquired, grow etc. This article by Craig Harris, Editor of ci Canadian Insurance Magazine, from the October issue, entitled "Tier Transformation" looks at how the profile, especially for Tier II brokers, has changed. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/canada/citier200110.php

P&C Brokers across the country face lots of issues and these come to the fore in their respective provincial organizations. Although each province is unique is some ways, the large population in Ontario along with its one-of-a-kind auto insurance regulations, gives incoming IBAO President Danny Craig some challenges for the next year. His focus is on education, technology and political communications. More in this article by Anna Sharrat from the same issue of ci Canadian Insurance magazine. The article is at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/canada/ciCraig200110.php

By focusing on service, Loyalist Insurance Managers and their broker network has set themselves apart. This is further described in an article in the Oct. issue of ci Canadian Insurance Magazine, by Anna Sharrat. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/canada/loyalistAnna200111.php

from Doug:

Many, probably safe to say most, of us did not live through the horrors of Canada's coming of age at Vimy Ridge, or many other battles in The Great War, or the many expeditions of WW II. All of us did see and sense the tragedy of Sept 11 only two short months ago. Take some time and reflect on those who gave so much more than we have, over this Remembrance Day period.