Teleservices will play a major role in a new multi-media effort by Employee Benefits Direct Inc. (EBDirect) to promote sales of insurance policies to employers. At press time, the San Francisco-based firm planned to launch a nationwide marketing campaign to generate inbound calls and traffic for its Web site (www.ebdirect.com).
EBDirect plans to open several customer interaction centers to prequalify prospective buyers of its medical, dental and disability insurance. Three centers recently opened in Chicago, New York and San Francisco. Two more will likely open in Texas and the Southeast, probably after the firm closes a temporary center in Tampa, FL.
The EBDirect Web site offers information about insurance policies available from Aetna U.S. Healthcare, Blue Cross of California, Blue Shield of California, Delta Dental of California, Fortis Benefits Insurance Co., PacifiCare, Sharp Health Plans and Unum.
Until applications for licenses to sell insurance in other states are approved later this year EBDirect is beginning to market itself only in California, holding leads it receives from other states, according to Matt Malpedes, regional vice president for the Chicago office.
Online customers can initiate contact with the firm by calling a toll-free number, clicking a “live-help” button for an online text chat with a customer service agent or e-mailing an online form to generate a price quote.
When the start-up phase is complete EBDirect expects a total of six in-house centers will linked through a computer network with ICT Group, Inc., a Langhorne, PA based service bureau, which is also helping the firm manage its database. Meanwhile all inbound calls are being routed to ITC’s customer interaction center in Pennsylvania.
Agents at ICT now answer inbound calls and type online text chat messages for customers who have questions, or who need help navigating through EBDirect’s Web site. Calls are transferred manually to licensed insurance brokers when a need arises to answer specific questions about insurance.
Before EBDirect began testing direct mail it was generating less than 100 inbound calls and requests for text-chat sessions daily. E-mail response is less popular, probably because most people contacting the firm want a faster response rather than waiting for a return e-mail, Malpedes says.
The company recently sent 10,000 direct mail pieces, and plans to continue the campaign with another 5,000 or 6,000 pieces. The purpose is to generate inbound phone calls and Web site traffic.
Outbound agents will prequalify leads by asking prospects who previously visited the Web site if they received the direct mail information, and if they have any questions. “We’re going to take a low key approach because we don’t want it to seem like a cold call,” Malpedes says. “Bear in mind this is our first mailing.”
He adds, “It’s not going to be a sales call because we’ve done focus groups and we know that the reason people are going to Web sites is that they don’t want to receive a lot of calls.”
When the firm’s inbound and outbound teleservices programs become fully operational, EBDirect will use an interactive voice response system to automatically route inbound calls segmented by Zip codes to its in-house centers. “We’re still in the process of setting up a more sophisticated IVR system,” Malpedes says.
EBDirect also plans to have agents co-browse with customers online. “We’re looking into all the online browsing collaboration techniques,” Malpedes adds.
Online media such as banner space ads and interactive Web site links to are still in the planning stages. Malpedes says the online media portion of the campaign will probably be rolled out during the summer.
Network
