CHOICE Administrators Teaming with LiveChime to Offer Internet Sales and Service for Licensed Insurance Brokers

CHOICE Administrators recently announced that it is partnering with LiveChime, Inc. to provide insurance brokers with a new way to generate leads, increase sales, and improve client retention using instant Web chat.

The company said that enables prospects and customers to immediately connect with brokers from anywhere they advertise on the Web.

"CHOICE Administrators is always looking for ways to make our nearly 14,000 current brokers' businesses easier and more profitable, and this is just one more example of how we're doing that," said Ron Goldstein, president of CHOICE Administrators, the nation's leading health care exchange.

CHOICE Administrators, a Word & Brown Company, serves more than 160,000 members and enables business owners to control their health care budgets through defined contribution and single-source administration, while allowing employees to pick from a variety of health insurance plans. Its programs include CaliforniaChoice, CaliforniaChoice 51+, Kaiser Permanente Choice Solution, and HSA California - successful consumer-driven health care programs for small- and mid-sized employer groups; and Contractor's Choice, a unique program for employers on public works projects.

"We are committed to making it easier for our brokers to communicate and build long-term relationships with their clients," said John M. Word III, co-founder of The Word & Brown Companies, parent company to CHOICE Administrators. "This partnership provides immediate cutting-edge technology and personalized service to all licensed insurance brokers across the nation."

"The Word & Brown Companies and CHOICE Administrators are market leaders and share our vision of how the industry needs to adapt to the changing trends regarding how consumers research and purchase professional products and services on the Internet," said Tod C. Turner, chief executive officer for LiveChime.

Recent market studies show that the World Wide Web is becoming the primary channel for researching insurance and other products and services prior to purchasing. A rapidly-growing number of consumers are also using online chat rather than e-mail or phone to ask immediate questions before making a purchasing decision.

According to a Forrester Research report, one out of four people intending to complete an application (sale) abandoned it because they wanted more information about the product or service but wouldn't take the time to call an insurance broker or agency. Three out of four people reported that they most likely would have used "chat" if it was available.

Insurance professionals can now turn these missed opportunities into leads, if not sales, without incurring any significant costs or undertaking complicated installation procedures. LiveChime is unique because it works on any Web page, allowing prospects to "click-to-chat" without having to download and install additional programs or even leave the page.

Potential customers simply click on the broker's LiveChime chat link anywhere on the Internet or in an e-mail, and LiveChime finds the broker. The broker can then quickly respond via a dashboard on www.choiceadmin.livechime.com or from his/her mobile phone. (LiveChime currently works with iPhone, Windows Mobile 5.0 and up, and Blackberry Bold models).

CHOICE Administrators, a Word & Brown Company, is based in Orange, Calif. It is a health care exchange, developing and administering employee-choice health benefit programs for employer groups of all sizes.