Database System Puts Direct Customers In The Spotlight

In the fiercely competitive direct-to-consumer insurance market, the ability to mine prospect data-and act quickly on that information-is critical to success. That was the challenge Savings Bank Life Insurance Co. of Massachusetts (SBLI) faced as it launched an aggressive marketing effort that would eventually bring in tens of thousands of new inquiries from potential customers.Specifically, SBLI, which is based in Woburn, Mass., needed to move several gigabytes worth of data through a system that not only could help identify hot prospects, but also would more proactively track the status of pending customers moving through the application process.

In early 2004, the company implemented a new Web-based system that enables agents to comb through data for new prospects, as well as provide real-time updates on pending application status. The new system is a key element in SBLI's evolution from a carrier that specializes in value-added insurance products for bank customers to a direct-to-consumer model.