Penn National Insurance Re-launches Corporate Web Site, With New Portal Navigation & Enhanced Business Transactional Tools for Agents. Site Built Using Microsoft's .NET

Business Wire, Dec 17, 2002

Business Editors

HARRISBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2002

Penn National Insurance will re-launched its corporate Web site December 31. The company completely redesigned the site and its navigation structure, following agency focus group and customer focus group testing of navigational preferences. The site employs a portal home page to quickly direct the site's three distinct customer groups to the content designed for them. The site's three customer groups include the following:

-- Agents, who use the site's PennConnect agency extranet features, to perform business transactions with Penn National Insurance

-- Policyholders, who use the site's Online Insurance Center extranet features, to check and pay bills and perform basic policy management tasks

-- The general public, who are seeking information about Penn National Insurance.

Agent extranet component of site already offered agents variety of Web-delivered tools and services

Even before this site re-launch, the agents' extranet component of the corporate Web site, PennConnect, has allowed agents to perform the following functions in the following categories:

Billing

-- view billing manuals

-- search direct bill information

-- pay on behalf of direct-bill policyholders

-- view weekly agency activity report

-- print agency-bill company adjustment notice.

Claims

-- search claims status information

-- view loss runs

-- view direct repair program information

-- view losses outstanding and paid report.

Agency reports

-- view agent's statement

-- view commercial and personal lines production and experience

reports.

Underwriting

-- rate commercial policies using an online rating tool

-- view news, bulletins, manuals and forms.

Company enhanced agency extranet as part of Web re-launch

As part of the enhancement to the corporate Web site, Penn National Insurance introduced improvements to PennConnect. PennConnect now allows agents to do the following:

-- view and print personal lines dec page images

-- change from one primary agency code to another on several of

the PennConnect pages

-- perform direct bill search, claim search, and loss runs in one

policies and accounts search section

-- direct-enter personal lines policies (for agents whose agency

management systems are not compliant with our upload/download

personal lines interface)

-- search the policies and accounts section using any portion of

a name, not just the full name or from the beginning of the

name, making searches easier if the agent can't remember the

full customer trade name

-- search by claim number in addition to policy number

-- view and print sales & marketing materials

-- see alerts relating to claims catastrophe team activities

Corporate Web strategy: support independent agency distribution system by offering money-saving and time-saving tools and services to agents, and services to policyholders that reduce administrative burden on agencies

Penn National Insurance distributes solely through the independent agency system. The company's Web strategy calls for continuing development of money-saving and time-saving tools and services for its agents, and Web-delivered services to policyholders that reduce administrative burdens on agencies, while maintaining the primacy of the agency-policyholder relationship.

President and CEO Dennis Rowe said, "Our strategy calls for us to be the independent regional carrier of choice, for top independent agents. We're using the Web to enhance our efficiency and to make it easier and more efficient for our agents to do business with us. By offering Web-delivered payment options and simple policy management services to policyholders, we offer them the convenience of the Web without imposing ourselves between the agency and the policyholder. Everything we do is designed to emphasize the primacy of the agency-policyholder relationship."

Award-winning site now built around business transactions, not PR

"We've taken our award-winning site and completely restructured it around a portal navigation system designed to get visitors to the tools and services they need, quickly and easily," says Christopher Markley, vice president of corporate communications.

Previous incarnations of the company's Web site have won numerous regional and national awards, including awards from the International Association of Business Communicators, the Professional Insurance Communicators of America, and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.

The company launched its first Web site in 1995, as a simple online brochure, providing general information about the company and offering an agency search engine, but no tools for business transactions.

"As the Web grew, we grew with it," says Markley. "Each time we add business transaction tools, we're overwhelmed with the positive customer response."

Site developed in partnership between corporate communications, e-commerce team, and external business partners

The company's corporate communications and e-commerce department managers led the project team. The company's corporate identity and marketing communications partner, Smarilli Marketing Communications, and a Web development firm, Pipeline Interactive, led the design and navigation creation, while the in-house e-commerce team members built the site, using Microsoft .NET, following a style guide created by the vendor partners.