Norvax Product News

New System Upgrades
We’re always looking for ways to improve your performance. That’s why we recently upgraded our production server environment to make your Norvax products run better than ever. What’s changed?

• •You’ll notice faster page load times, meaning BrokerOffice will work more quickly. And prospects visiting your Norvax website can access information even faster.

• •We’ve also increased the number of users that can access BrokerOffice at the same time. Now it doesn’t matter how many users are running major reports simultaneously — you can keep using BrokerOffice without interruption.

If you have technical questions or concerns, please contact our Customer Support Team at www.norvax.com/support.

Larry McClendon Shares His Solution To An Overpriced Individual Market

Larry McClendon, CEO of National Insurance Agency and Roth Robertson, COO, recently shared their thoughts on the new HSA-compatible plan rolled out by American National — Catastrophic Complete —and what it signals for the insurance industry as a whole.

Norvax: Tell me a little about National Insurance Agency, and what you do.

Larry McClendon: At National Insurance Agency our primary concern is providing a top rated carrier that is going to be around in the future, because we’ve all seen them come and go. If you can’t get the policies issued, if you can’t get them paid, can’t educate, can’t get renewals, can’t receive their commission, then what’s the point? We advance commission every single day. If an agent submits an application we pay them the following day. We’re very unique in this market. And then we provide them with 5 leads for every application.

Norvax: Let’s talk a little about one of your core carriers, American National.

LM: American National has been around since 1905 and is just one of the most well respected companies out there in the marketplace. Which I have a lot of respect for because they don’t move with the trends, they don’t lower their rates because they’re trying to buy business and then up them when the rate guarantee wears off. They’re there for the long haul. And I think that’s so important for an agent to realize: this is a strong carrier that’s out there, been in the marketplace; they’re like a sleeping giant that is just there with some great policies, great plans and great protection for a consumer. They’re not going anywhere; they’re not going out of business; their capital reserves are fantastic. I formerly worked for them, back in the early 90s, as an underwriter. So I know everyone from the inside out.

Norvax: Can you describe their new plan, Catastrophic Complete? What is it, and what are the benefits?

LM: Catastrophic Complete is a new product that American National has put out and the niche and need for this product is right now. I think it is the most needed product on the free marketplace, due to you can actually get the deductibles down lower again while the trend has been to raise deductibles to get the premiums down. The rates on this product are simply phenomenal.

Roth Robertson: They’re very competitive with anything out on the market. And the good thing about it is you can have it non-HSA or qualified HSA — indemnity or PPO.

Norvax: Besides the deductible and the pricing, what are the other benefits of Catastrophic Complete to the consumer?

RR: With a lot of carriers you have to put a certain amount in to start collecting interest. With this one it’s first dollar interest and there’s no account set-up fee whatsoever, and the administers’ fee per month is very very low. I don’t know any other carriers that do that.

Norvax: What impact will this new plan have on your business?

LM: It’s going to have a great impact on business. The price of the product is so affordable with a lower deductible. In today’s marketplace most employers are pulling out and not providing group insurance for their employees. I’ve talked to waitresses and waiters, barbers and beauticians, everyone, none of them have any health insurance. They can’t afford it. This product brings it back into line where they can have a product that can give them some excellent coverage at an affordable price. And 73% of Americans spend less than $500 a year on healthcare expenses. And then 95% spend less than $5,000, or less each year. With that being said, what are your chances? Should you raise the deductible? It gives you a great choice to know you can have a catastrophic program that’s there, that you can make a choice on your deductible and on your premiums with a huge carrier like American National backing it up.

Norvax: How do new programs or plan introductions impact agents in general? Does it take awhile for agents to get up to speed?

LM: This product, the commissions are a little higher because it’s a catastrophic program, generally 5% higher than the average health plans that are out there overall. The advances are a 10 month advance commission and those are paid daily. With the Norvax program, they’re able to quote this product very very easily. You click on Norvax, you pull it up and all you see is American National because of the price. Norvax pulls up and basically sorts them by price by the cheapest going down, for pages and pages you see American National because of the price. And the Catastrophic Complete is going to be a major player in today’s market.

Norvax: Is Catastrophic Complete a difficult plan to rate?

LM: The difficulty with rating it was some carriers want to be very conservative on how they let agents get to the rate software. And some are so conservative that it makes it prohibitive for agents to quote it. You’re jumping through hoops just to quote their program. With Norvax, you go on there quote it, it’s done. Agents in today’s market are not going to jump through hoops when time is money. And they’re going to go in there and try to learn a new password and download it from the carrier? Just go to Norvax. Quote it. You’re done.

Norvax: Can you forecast the revenue potential Catastrophic Complete will have for you?

LM: I’m forecasting in the neighborhood of probably about $10 million in annualized premium for 2007.

Norvax: Do you foresee any big trends in health insurance? Is Catastrophic Complete a sign of things to come?

LM: I think you see two trends. I see trends with carriers who are going after the agents’ business. Because they think, “What can we do for an agent to make them do business with us? How can we make it easier to do business with us?” Norvax makes that a little bit easier on their own. And I see Catastrophic Complete has a niche. You have people who say, “I just need some Catastrophic Coverage up to 7 million dollars to help me with some low premiums.” Then you have the customer who’s more worried about the low dollar stuff like the $25 office co-pay and the drugs. There are two different mindsets, and we want to be able to field both of those mindsets.

Ask The Expert

Why Aren’t My Ads Showing Up In Google?

Q: We’ve just started playing with Google and Yahoo bidding. That’s fairly easy. But if you run a regular Google search on “Health Insurance in Colorado” as an example, all my competitors are there but I’m not. People tell me it’s a question of “optimizing our website”. Do you offer such a service? — Steve S.

Getting your pages listed in Google is a constant challenge. New websites are always popping up. Existing sites are constantly adding new pages. And just to make things interesting, Google likes to change the formula it uses to rank results every once in a while.

Google wants to provide people with the best possible matches to their search. Getting Google to consider your pages good matches is called search engine optimization — or SEO for short. The best way to optimize your website is by making your pages relevant.

How do you make your pages relevant? There are many strategies, but here are three of the most important:

Content. If you want your site to show up when people search for “Health Insurance In Colorado,” you need quality pages on your site about getting health insurance in Colorado. That doesn’t mean you should have 50 pages stuffed with keyword-heavy nonsense like “health insurance Colorado, get Colorado health insurance, health insurance in Colorado.” That used to work, but search engines are smarter now.

The rule of thumb to follow is that if a page has information that people will find useful, Google will consider it useful, too. And yes, spelling and grammar are important.

Shoot for between 300 and 500 words a page — and make sure each one has a nice big headline that says exactly what the page is about. The most important thing to stress here is quality.

Links. When someone links to your site, they’re giving it a vote of confidence. It’s like getting a third-party to vouch for your credibility. The more links that point to your website, the more likely it is to get a high rank.

But don’t go looking all over the web for people who want to trade links. You could find yourself mistakenly signing up for what’s called a “link farm.” A link farm is a devious way of tricking search engines into thinking your site is more popular than it is. And don’t bother buying links. If a human can tell that a link was bought, Google can too.

So where should you get started? Try your local Chamber of Commerce, online insurance forums, directories. Your local Yellow Pages probably has online listings, too.

Accessibility. Are your most helpful tips and guides buried in some obscure corner of your website? If so, dust it off and move it closer to the front of your site. Your content should be easy to find. If possible, link to it from your homepage.

This isn’t just good for Google — it’s good for your visitors, too. Putting useful information right where people can find it will make your website more helpful, and can score you some repeat visitors.

Should You Pay For Better Rankings?

We don’t offer search engine optimization. But if you decide that professional SEO is a good investment for your shop, there are plenty of companies that are happy to help. Be prepared to spend between $1,000 – $5,000 a month, and expect to wait at least 6 – 8 months to see results. And before you agree to do business with them, MAKE SURE you speak with referrals. Any company worth their salt will provide you with a long list of happy clients. Any company that can’t isn’t worth your time.

If you want to find out more, or learn the basics yourself, there are several good resources out there on the web. A few of our favorites:

• WebMasterWorld.com

  http://webmasterworld.com/

  The original, and still the best. You’ll find it all here.

• Google Blog

  http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

  The official place to find out cutting-edge changes to the search engine world.

• Search Engine Watch

  http://searchenginewatch.com/

  All the latest news about search engines and optimization strategies.

Michael Mahoney is Lead Generation Manager for Norvax, Inc., where he oversees B2C Marketing Campaigns. Mr. Mahoney has over 4 years of website management, optimization, and online marketing experience.

Ask a question
Have a question you would like answered by our experts in a future newsletter?
Email your questions to experts@norvax.com

How To Beat The Post-Summer Sales Slump

It’s that time of the year — the weather’s getting a little cooler, the kids are back in school, and the sun is setting earlier and earlier. Summer is officially over.

For agents, this can mean trouble. Autumn and winter are typically slow periods for most agencies. Between getting their kids back into school and the holiday season that’s lurking around the corner, people have plenty to think about right now. And buying insurance just isn’t on the list.

So how can you keep your book healthy during the cold months?

They’re Out There…

The good news is that there are always people who need insurance, no matter what time of the year it is. The bad news? You can’t always find them.

Internet leads are an easy way to get connected with these prospects. The lead companies do all the legwork of finding online insurance shoppers — you just have to close them.

It works like this: people go online to explore their insurance options. Using popular search engines, they find a site run by a lead company. They fill out a simple form to connect them to insurance agents in their area. When they click the “Submit” button and send that form, they’re matched with you, and their info is instantly delivered by email. You get them on the phone and make an offer.

It’s zero-effort prospecting, and it’s a great way to keep your lead pipeline nice and warm during the slow season.

Why Internet Leads Beat Other Strategies

The real advantage of internet leads? They deliver prospects with interest.

How much did you spend on your last direct mail campaign? How many leads did it get you? How many sales did you close the last time you did a serious cold-call effort? Was it worth the time and frustration?

With internet leads, you get the names and numbers of people who have started their insurance-buying process — they’re already interested.

And you choose how many leads you want for your fall campaign. Instead of heading to the office dreading a day of cold calling, or worrying about when your next lead will come in, you have a batch of leads to look forward to.
Says Bob Brow, an Indiana-based agent and long-time lead user: “I don’t have to spend any time prospecting. That’s important. I can spend all my time selling. You know every day you’ll have 10-15 people to call up. You can get into a routine. It’s just important if there’s a bad couple days I know I have ten more coming in tomorrow. You don’t make sales this way unless you’re constantly in front of people, and leads let you always stay in front of them.”

And leads can work with automation technology, too. When you hook your lead supply up to a quote engine and email autoresponder, your leads are instantly contacted with a custom quote — without you having to do anything. And the ones that don’t close keep getting messages, on a schedule that you set — so follow-up goes from being tedious to being effortless.

It’s no magic bullet, but buying internet leads keeps you in the game while things are slow. Instead of sitting around the office — hoping the phone will ring — you’ve got a constant supply of leads pouring in.