its4me PLC - Hi-tech Hi-touch branding on the Internet

Introduction

In late 1999, two senior figures from the U.K. insurance industry - Patrick Smith and Paul Cheall - got together to launch a new company and a new brand into the marketplace. Their ambition was to launch an online insurance intermediary to sell motor, home, and other general insurance products over the Internet.

Smith has a strong track record in building financial services companies, having launched private health insurance companies and direct motor and home insurers in the UK as well as developed high street insurance brokerages. He has a habit of challenging the conventional thinking of the marketplace while never losing sight of the bottom line. Smith saw the opportunity the Internet provided to revolutionize the insurance sector by stripping out the cost from the traditional distribution process, while at the same time seizing the opportunity to tailor the product and the service as closely as possible to the needs of individual customers. The opportunity was to offer better value in terms of products and service directly to the customer, while reducing costs for the company and the customer.

The Brand Name

The brandname created was "its4me". "The thinking behind this was to take a basic product and give consuemrs the maximum opportunity to personalize it," Smith explained. "its4meconveys one of the most important aspects of our business philosophy-personal attention and personalized products. We agree it's not the normal type of insurance company, and it reflects our innovative approach to business. We are new and we are different, and we aim to break the mould".

So, how was the company created, and how did it aim to gain credibility in the eyes of consumers? The launch project began in February 2000, having secured venture capital backing from a major international financial services company. its4me is fully funded for at least the first five years of operation, which puts it in a strong position to be able to build the business without concerns about finding more funding. Many major Internet brands struggled to secure second-round funding, especially in 2000.

The Business Model

The starting point for the its4me plc business model was the creation of a panel of insurance companies who could supply motor and home insurance products electronically to its4me. Their products are offered for sale on the its4me.co.uk. website. Consumers enter their details and obtain a quotation instantly online, pay for it online, and view and print their policy doumentation online. The system will then send an electronic data interchange (EDI) message to the relevant insurer, giving details of the policy sold. In the event that the customer wants to change their policy, they simply log on to the system and make the changes themselves.

There is no need for any human intervention from the first point of contact to conclusion - there is just the system and the customer. This results in minimal cost and maximum efficiency. Where insurance is sold through a traditional insurance intermediary, there is a lot of delay and duplication. This all means cost, the potential for errors, and a slow service for the customer. And the best part is that, being Internet-based, the system is available 24/7, 365 days a year. Try finding a regular broker in the physical world who will sell you a policy at 2 a.m.!

So, that is its4me's recipe for happy insurance customers. Or is it? Well, not really. You see, a big part of the model is missing, and that is the reality check. There are people who want the clinical efficiency of a system, but there are just as many, if not more, who want the warmth of a relationship. its4me recognized this from the outset and believes that what it has put together will set it apart from other emerging e-insurance companies.

Let's go back a bit. In 2000, only about one-third of the U.K's 60 million population were regularly accessing the Internet, either at home, work, or college, and probably no more than 10% were regularly buying goods and services over the Web. This meant that the vast majority of people still weren't using the Web; in particular, they still weren't buying over the Net. In insurance terms, according to Fletcher Research, only around 400,000 of the U.K.'s 25 million or so vehicles would be insured over the Web in 2000.

It seemed that people were using the Web as a source of information, but when it came to the point of purchase, they used more traditional methods. Why? Trust. People trust brands. But its4me was a new brand. Back to the same question: how could it gain the consumer's trust? It is one thing getting brand awareness, but it is another matter entirely to get consumer trust. Lastminute.com in the U.K., actually reached an 84% brand awareness level but only a 17% trust figure.

In finalizing its business model, its4me realized that:

• For the foreseeable future, the majority of the insurance business was offline, moving online.
• It needed to establish itself as providing not only great products,but also great service.
• The key to gaining the trust of the customer was by making itself available to the customer in as many different ways as possible. It needed to create a human face to the company, which allowed customers to build a relationship with the brand.

So, when the final model was put together, it looked something like this:

• The customer, if he or she so wishes, has the ability to buy customized insurance on a fully self-service basis. They enter their personal details, the system calculates the relevant premium, they pay online by credit or debit card, or they set up a direct debit online. Once the payment is accepted, they can browse their policy documentation online and print it on their own printer in the comfort of their home. There is no need to talk to anyone, so there is no pressure selling. They simply get what they need delivered efficiently.
• However, at any point in the process, if assistance is required, its4me has, waiting in the wings, a team of insurance professionals ready to help. The means of contacting them is up to the personal preference of the individual customer:
• The system includes a searchable help facility and glossary of insurance terms, which works in a similiar way to what you might find within the Microssoft Office products.
• The customer can click on an icon to send an email to the team with a query.
• its4me publishes a service level on its site saying that all emails will be responded to within one hour, and it consistently beats that target a significant margin.
• Customers can open up an interactive text chat session. This is a very direct means of having real time dialogue with the team across the Internet. This facility allows questions to be answered immediately. its4me's staff can help the customer complete the on-screen forms remotely via a collaborative viewing facility, and they can even "push" help pages through to the customer's screen using the software. They can also "push" through an image of the team member the customer is having an online dialogue with. This helps to personalize the service even more.
• The customer can elect to ring the team, or request the team to call them back at an allotted time.
• its4me is also able to complete the entire process for the customer over the phone if they so wish.

Customer Intimacy and Empowerment

Empowering the customer to customize the product, and the way the service is delivered to them, has given its4me a real means of differentiating itself, as well as the ability to gain customer confidence in a marketplace where customers are still more than a little nervous of e-commerce companies and still believe that the Internet means low cost but zero service. It recognizes that other companies will be able to obtain similar products from their insures, that other companies can probably build a similiar processing system, but that what will make a difference over the long term is service quality-and that means people.

The Internet doesn't have to mean remoteness of contact. There are many ways to build a bond with customers if you just think differently. As we write this case study, its4me is in the process of installing a webcam in its offices so that customers can see the team at work-ready to leap to their assistance. Its4me is a great example of hi-tech hi-touch branding using CRM techniques. You can visit the site at http://its4me.co.uk/

Click here for the latest branding cases.