Harleysville Insurance Companies, The

Rough Notes, Jun 2000

The Harleysville Insurance Companies has introduced a pilot program designed to send potential sales leads directly to its independent agents via the Internet.

By clicking on the company's Web site (www.harleysvillegroup.com) and a "Get quote" button, prospects can access the quote request section. They then answer basic questions about themselves (name, address, phone number, e-mail, etc.) and their insurance needs (personal, business, life, etc.). Harleysville automatically transmits an e-mail to an agent in the prospect's area who then contacts the prospect directly in order to obtain the additional information needed to furnish a quote.

If the prospect already has an agency or specifies an agency not included in the initial phase of the program, the lead is e-mailed to Harleysville's customer service department to forward to that agency.

Because this is a pilot program, it is not available in all states or with all agencies. Currently it is available for personal lines, commercial lines and life insurance products in 24 states.

The Harleysville Insurance network, headquartered in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, has operations in 31 states.