OLATHE, Kan. -- June 23, 2005 -- In 2004, Bill Ashley, CEO of Allied National, Inc., wasn't looking for an e-commerce solution to achieve his goal of launching online sales of his short term (gap) medical insurance product. After all, most e-commerce solutions available were oriented to retailers with static products. His product required a more complex generation of insurance rate quotes based upon multiple variables such as age, sex, and location of applicants.
In the end, Ashley's innovative thinking drove an effort to create a custom solution by building on top of StoreFront's already proven e-commerce functionality, and he is "thrilled to no end" with the results. Allied National has met or exceeded all of its goals with the new online product offering featuring full insurance quoting capabilities with an efficient and timely application process that delivers a great customer experience at an attractive price.
In 2004, Bill Ashley, CEO of Allied National, Inc. recognized a market segment he wanted to reach. The traditional means of selling short term (gap) medical insurance to people between jobs, or in waiting periods, was the old-fashioned paper application and enrollment process. However, the short term nature of the product necessitated a faster application process and recovery of setup costs. Ashley recognized the perfect vehicle for selling short term (gap) medical insurance was an online enrollment and sales tool, and he set out to develop it.
The online product would require collection of personal and demographic data, interaction with a rating engine, dynamic product quote display and questionnaire capabilities able to generate state specific health questions and purchase acknowledgements. It would also require credit card processing and a graphic presentation unique to Allied National.
First stop for Allied National was an experienced ad agency, who proposed a design concept and development of the web site. The design was good, but it came with a whopping six figure price tag. While Allied was committed to, and believed in the viability of this online market, this cost-of-entry caused them to look to other options.
Through discussions with StoreFront's e-commerce experts, Ashley concluded that the base functionalities of the presentation component, the credit card charge component, and survey capabilities were already in place in the StoreFront product, and his unique requirements could be met by augmenting the StoreFront product with some straightforward customizations.
To meet the unique requirements of Allied, the custom solution would need to capture the gender, age, dependent coverage needs and state of the applicant, which would act as a driver for rates, product availability, and application questions/acknowledgements. Shoppers would be presented various rate quotes options (reflecting different deductible levels, etc.). Upon selection of a product, enrollment data would be captured from applicants and the survey functionality used to present medical questions to determine eligibility for the plan.
The graphic presentation of the website pages required customization to reflect insurance terminologies, and to present a look and feel distinctive from the Allied National home site to facilitate this site's marketing and use by outside insurance agencies.
LaGarde was employed by Allied to customize the StoreFront product. Allied supplied the specific data to drive the rating engine. The two companies worked hand-in-hand to test the rating engine and insurance-specific custom functionalities.
Allied also chose LaGarde to provide hosting services and marketing services (including search engine optimization and pay per click for insurance agents' sites), recognizing LaGarde's expertise in this area. While Allied possesses a sophisticated IT department, LaGarde was found to be able to provide these services more economically and efficiently, and free Allied's internal IT department to work on other corporate priorities.
To ensure success, Allied tested the custom solution by conducting focus studies, among both shoppers and insurance agents. The feedback was carefully evaluated, and adjustments were made to ensure the best possible shopper experience.
The Allied National custom site proved that leveraging StoreFront's e-commerce technology was key to launching their product quickly and efficiently. They were able to launch the product at a cost of about 25% of what was originally proposed -- and in a shorter timeframe.
"The old build-it-from-scratch approach just didn't make any sense and was terribly inefficient," said Ashley. "By looking at the problem more creatively, we now have a site that delivers all of the functionality we need, gives shoppers an exceptional experience, and opens the doors for us to capture a significant market.
"The online segment of this business is proving to be equal to or greater than the traditional means of selling short term medical insurance. In fact, online sales have actually expanded the market size for this product offering. We are thrilled to no end with the StoreFront product and services, and LaGarde's ability to help us launch this product so important to our business."
About LaGarde
LaGarde, maker of StoreFront(R), is an e-business software and service products provider to small and medium-sized businesses worldwide. LaGarde's market-leading line of StoreFront e-business products provide organizations of all types the power to create e-business systems that leverage the capabilities of the Internet to grow their businesses. As the world's most popular e-commerce solution, StoreFront powers over 50,000 online stores.
