First, is lead generation. For me, what that means is, it’s using digital, non-digital forms of marketing. Drive educators to Horace Mann, really kind of turning us into a lead factory. And obviously, any tactics we use would be complemented with what agents already do. The second thing is you can drive leads to you, we have to make sure you receive them and capture them appropriately. So for us, what that really means is we need to enhance our digital holding capabilities. So drive the leads and be able to quote them. And then third, is really converting leads. And I kind of signaled this earlier, we know that a large fraction of people begin their journey online, but they want to end it offline. So what that means is, we have to have really strong analytics and process to ensure that we get online quotes that are completed to the right agents at the right time to convert the sale.
So those are the three things we’re thinking about lead gen, lead, capture, lead conversion, we think that that complements our agency channel. And I’ll just sort of wrap by saying, we really believe that as we go forward, integrating our channels, digital call center agents working together, aligning them with what consumer’s behaviors, a really a win win for everyone. It’ll be a win for educators because they can access us, when and where they want. It’ll be a win for agents, because they will get online leads and therefore grow the book. And obviously, it’d be a win for Horace Mann, because we can sustain profitable volume. So hopefully that gives you a sense for how we’re thinking about it. And again, thanks for the question.
Marita Zuraitis: Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Steve. That was great. We’re all excited about the capabilities that we’re building in this area. I’m going to turn it over to Matt, so that he can comment on supplemental and group benefits growth and some pretty strong numbers that we’re seeing come through that segment. Matt?
Matt Sharpe : Thanks, Marita. Thanks for the question, John. Marita mentioned in her comments that educators choose to start their journey with Horace Mann in a variety of ways. And one of those ways is through the Worksite and the benefits packages that their employers offer. The addition of the Worksite acquisitions that we’ve made over the past few years gives us the ability to address the needs of those consumers through their worksite, whether they’re coming at it on an individual basis through our direct business on our supplemental products, or they’re coming at it through the employer — the employee benefits package that their employer offers, through the independent benefit consultants that work with the district. And we’ve seen a lot of growth on both sides of the house.
In that regard, our direct business continues to grow back to the pre pandemic and beyond levels, we continue to have great momentum going on the individual side, both in our educator segment and in our others who serve the community segment, particularly in the firefighters as Marita mentioned in the script. And then our benefit distribution partners also have done a tremendous job of expanding our reach in the employer benefit package side, either through the employer paid long term disability short term disability book, or by adding in the group supplemental products onto the platform of their customers and the employers that they serve alongside what we do.
Marita Zuraitis: Yes. Thanks, Matt. Historically, we’d always talk about whether educators started their journey through the garage or through a 403(b) enrollment. And now we have so many more ways to engage with them, and for them to start their relationship with us. And it’s also exciting to see how solid the retirement book continues to do. So it’s not like we’re walking away from the way we used to start, we just have more ways for educators to reach us. And that’s converting into an increase in overall households for us. So thanks for the question, John, and apologize for the long answer. But we think it’s the right way to think about it.
