Quote Engine or Not

GreenSky

Guru
5000 Post Club
15,319
Henderson, NV
I have a webmaster trying to market my California site and we're going back and forth as to whether a quote engine vs. a response form is the better choice.

I don't think the quote engine makes the sale and frankly, every site that has one uses one of two engines - they all look alike.

The cost for a quote engine along with an auto responder is $129 per month through Quotit which included individual and group.

Does the lack of a quote engine reduce the value of my site in the eyes of consumers? I'd like to hear what others that are marketing on the net have to say.

Rick
 
I just signed up for Norvax and frankly, I can justify the expense of it merely by the amount of time savings afforded by not having to manually do 3-5 quotes.

I think it is also beneficial to your clients to be able to compare plans/rates when doing every quote with the click of a button. It's easy to just quote one company when you're bogged down and doing it manually.

As far as your site is concerned, I think that a quoting engine can't hurt anything. I doubt you will see a huge increase in sales unless you promote the site, but it's a nice feature to have.
 
Let's go HSA shopping

norvaxpictb7.jpg
 
I'm learning a bit more about the quote engine I will likely use and guess that both companies can do the same thing.

I have various tabs on my home page, including copay plans, HSA plans, etc. The link for the quote engine can be set on each page to only quote that type of plan. Might be an interesting feature. Someone reads about HSA plans and then can run a quote on only those plans. Something to think about.

I'm leaning towards the expense because as was pointed out by joshril, what can it hurt?

John makes a compelling point. It's nice to email a quote comparison and using my current engine (on another site), the comparison really doesn't look "pretty." I also guess if I ever learn how to do a desktop share, it will come in very handy.

Anyone NOT using one and why?

Rick
 
Novax has their new engine out - now I can add in the optional benefits (not options as far as I'm concerned) right on the 1st page of the quotes so I'm showing my client true rates - not "oh....well on the next page we have to add wellness to the HSA 100.)

norvaxbenefitsbt3.jpg
 
Novax has their new engine out - now I can add in the optional benefits (not options as far as I'm concerned) right on the 1st page of the quotes so I'm showing my client true rates - not "oh....well on the next page we have to add wellness to the HSA 100.)
Not an issue in California. There are no options that I know of.

Well, maybe crappy dental and expensive term life.

Rick
 
I've been using Norvax. It's easy to compare the plans and if the lead comes into their system, you can quote it fast and compare all the plans. You can email the quotes you have selected and they can apply themselves.
:cool:
 
Putting a quote engine on you site seems like a dumb move to me, but what do I know. However, if you do then at least make them register with their contact information before they can get a quote.

If they can go to your site and get all the information they need without talking to you just think how many potential clients you are missing. If you were a dumb ass and couldn't talk on the phone then maybe. However you are the "silver tongued one" when on the phone.

Wouldn't you rather give them enough information to prompt them to make a phone call or send you their contact info rather than letting them think they have all the info they need and then contact someone else to buy their insurance from?

If the prospect knew as much about insurance as you do then wouldn't they be selling insurance? The internet is a terrible thing, is lets people think that they can make their own "well informed, intelligent decisions" when in reality most don't have a clue what they are doing or looking at.

Ask yourself this question, "do the majority of prospects know as much about insurance as I do"?

That's why I don't contact seniors until they are at least age 67. It takes them two years before they realize that they don't have a clue what they are doing and have made some huge mistakes.

You use the quote engine if your schedule is so tight, and you are selling so much insurance that you don't have time to figure a quote. Don't put it on your website, personal service still is important to a lot of people.

If you are going to put it on your website then you might as well make the app available to them and give them your agent number and have them do everything themselves.

That is definitely not selling or providing the kind of service that will build customer loyalty. However, that is just my opinion. I'm sure others are making a fortune by simply having a website with a quote engine.

You've been in the senior market for a long time and have been very, very successful. Do you think you could have achieved that extreme level of success letting seniors go to a website and make their own decisions?
 
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