Is the web channel the enemy of the call centre?

Privilege Insurance sent me a renewal notice for my car insurance a few weeks ago & I was surprised to note that it had gone up over £70 ($140) since last year. I went online to find a lower cost alternative and used the Tesco Car Insurance Comparison  Site. This is an independent search and comparison website. 

Getting quotes online saves significant time

It must take at least 10 minutes to get one car insurance quote by phone. On the Tesco site, it took about 10 to 15 minutes to enter all my details but a minute or so later I had quotes with a summary of cover from 23 companies. It is possible to select 4 quotes to compare in more detail against nearly 30 criteria which took another 15 seconds or so.

And Saves Significant Money

22 out of the 23 quotes were lower than my renewal quote offering a potential saving between £60 & £334 ($120 - $668) which is not bad for 15 minutes effort.

Same company, different costs

Imagine how surprised I was to see my existing insurer (Privilege) with the 2nd lowest cost, £209 ($418) lower than my renewal quote. 

Same company, more worried about internal competition than helping customers

I clicked the 'Buy' button to get more details to make sure I was comparing like for like. However, there was a problem on the Privilege website and all the text for the price and terms and conditions was jumbled up and not legible. I called their call centre and explained the problem. They said that their website never has problems and therefore the problem was at my end and they couldn't help.

I asked as an existing customer, could they transfer me to the web prices to match my web quote. They said no: I would have to re-enter my data on the website and start again.

I explained they were about to lose a customer of 4 years and they said they couldn't help.

Web marketing tips that any business (large or small) could apply to attract and retain new customers

• How could you help your target audience solve their problem? In my case, Tesco helped me save over £200 ($400) in around 15 minutes (by taking all the hard work out of contacting more than 20 companies) which is worth doing. Their site was easy to use, provided good information to make a decision and followed up with emails making it easy to log in again.

• Many businesses have different pricing strategies for different channels with the internet often being a lower cost? Too many companies see other channels within their company as the 'competitor'. Do you make it easy for customers who want to switch channel or would you rather lose their business to an 'external' competitor?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.