The REAL Secret to Developing Proper and Profitable Relationships

An article by Vincent Rush

Every salesperson I speak with today talks about relationships and what a good one they have with their customers.

Granted, since the beginning of time, relationships have been the backbone of any great sales professional.

But a lot of younger sales people in today’s climate have a misconception of what a proper client relationship consists of. Ask most struggling Account Executives what they think relationships consist of and you’ll likely get answers that speak of buying lunch, delivering doughnuts or a round of golf.

The fact is, that if you want to build a PROPER and PROFITABLE client relationship, you must first understand this…your clients do not want friends…they want RESULTS!

1) You must minimize their risk! Lets face it, clients have been burned too many times by sales people who are long on promises and short on delivery. In today’s economic climate, everyone is very “Risk Adverse” when it comes to making decisions.

2) Enhance their competitive standing, both as a company and against their colleagues. Make them a hero in the eyes of their boss and you’ve done more for them that 1000 lunches and dozens of Krispy Kreme doughnuts could ever do. (OK, that last part may be a stretch)

3) Help them achieve their goals. Lets face it, all companies have the same foundational goals at heart; Increasing Profit and decreasing costs…But what about the individual goal of partnering with your client to help take his company to the next level?

Most sales people never ask the client to VIVIDLY describe the problems that they are facing and even fewer ask the client, how they themselves are affected by those very problems.

Any salesperson can gather facts and pitch feature/benefit selling, but the GREAT sales people ignite the emotions of the client and uncover what motivates them to act.

Even those sales people I meet, that are very good at uncovering the pain in a situation, use that as a trigger to launch into FAB selling.

When is the last time you heard a professional problem solver ask you, as a client;

“If you and I could find a solution to this problem, what effect do you think that would have on your company, over the next five years?” or “What would it mean to you to be able to solve this problem, once and for all?”

Even more importantly;

“If you came to your boss, with a solution that could save the company $$$$$$ a year, what would that do for your personally?

Once you help your customer accomplish these goals, you are no longer a salesperson but rather a trusted and valued PARTNER.

Vincent Rush is VP of Business Development for Lynx Telematics, a full service telematics provider that not only supplies fleet managers with the tools and education to reduce their operating expenses by nearly $2500 per vehicle on an annual basis, but helps assist managers in increasing the overall CSA scores as well as managing their telematics projects to achieve maximum return on investment.

Vincent Rush is also a professional consultant and has run multiple businesses ventures and provided career coaching and mentoring to thousands of business professionals throughout the United States.

For more information on how Lynx Telematics can assist with operational challenges and escalating operational costs, contact Vincent Rush directly at Lynx Telematics (513) 702-0495 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

Telematics and Dealership Customer Relationship Management

From Telematics Update

Jessica Royer Ocken reports on how telematics is reinventing the customer experience

Telematicsenabled customer relationship management(CRM) has the potential to reshape OEM-dealer-driver relationships, and perhaps OEMs’ relationships with insurance companies as well. Dominique Bonte, vice president and practice director at ABI Research, describes CRM as an “umbrella platform” that allows OEMs or dealers to reach customers “more efficiently” to offer services based on their profiles.

Telecom service providers are also discovering the potential for value-added services and are taking steps to provide systems that can be put quickly into place.

Data about the status of the car, through live “real-time” diagnostics, can be of great use to a dealership looking to strengthen the Dealer-Customer relationship and provide a competitive advantage over independent auto repair shops and instant oil change stores.

Make it easy and fun

Reaping the benefits of telematics for CRM is all about technique and approach. It’s a matter of “providing advice to the driver in order to improve the way he’s managing his asset, the car itself,”

Not only can dealerships alert drivers when they need to bring their car in for maintenance, they can let them know when their tire pressure could use adjustment and why that benefits them through improved safety, more reactive brakes, and lower fuel consumption.

But the most effective CRM communications will be more than just directives and data. OEMs need to make it “easy and fun” for drivers to access data about their behavior behind the wheel.

Add an element of gaming or social networking so people can compare data and behavior or their fuel consumption. This makes it more digestible.

These ideas fall under ‘vehicle relationship management’;

Diagnostics, maintenance, and perhaps vehicle-centric firmware updates. But the larger umbrella of CRM is about a more complete experience,including offering or up selling content and apps to drivers, navigation, and better entertainment and better information.

Off-the-shelf solutions

Perhaps the biggest boon for dealerships is the fact that CRM systems don’t have to be built from scratch.

Often OEM’s, such as Lynx Telematics in Cincinnati, can adapt their existing telematics systems and “fine tune them to add a customer dimension,” A CRM system just needs access to vehicle data, which is already in place.

We use what is already existing, already tested, already successful on the market, but we have decided to reshape and reconfigure that in a different way to provide value.

Dealing with dealerships

As OEMs move into the CRM game, their relationships with dealers as well as drivers is likely to change.

Maintenance updates and scheduling are likely appreciated not only by drivers but by dealers as well, because advance notice about which vehicles are coming in for service helps them better manage their resources, including space and staff.

Right now the dealer is an important touch point for OEMs to contact customers regarding sales and maintenance as well as up selling services and apps. .

In addition, as CRM grows in popularity, other parties will be involved in communicating with customers, telematicsenabled insurance companies, for example, or TSP call centers.There’s a big risk if everyone is reaching out to the driver but not in a coordinated way. There’s a big objective to get the players working together.

For information on the value of telematics data and how positive customer relationships improve dealership ROI contact Vincent Rush at Lynx Telematics and for a tutorial on using marketing partnerships to build brands and Telematics revenue opportunities.

Re-posted by Lynx Telematics, Cincinnati, Ohio (513)-965-6318

Vincent Rush VP of Business Development and Dealer Opportunities, Cincinnati, Ohio. (513) 965-6318 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

AAA Study: Teen Drivers with Passengers are Riskier

By SARAH CRICHTON sarah.crichton@newsday.com

About one-third of all fatal car crashes are caused by speeding, but for 16- and 17-year-old drivers, the numbers rise to almost half when there are three or more passengers, according to a new study.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, according to the Federal Highway Safety Administration.

This week is National Teen Driver Safety Week, and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released its latest findings to highlight how the prevalence of risky behavior generally grows for drivers ages 16 and 17 when teen passengers are present.

For 16- and 17-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes, the analysis found:

Prevalence of speeding increased from 30 percent with no passengers to 44 percent with two and to 48 percent with three or more.

Prevalence of alcohol similarly rose from 13 percent to 17 percent and 18 percent.

The foundation analyzed data on fatal crashes in the United States from 2005 through 2010. Researchers found 9,578 drivers age 16 and 17 were involved in fatal crashes, and that 3,994 of these included at least one teen passenger. All risk factors were more common among male drivers.

New York State’s graduated driver licensing program, which took effect Sept. 1, 2003, limits teens with learner permits and junior licenses to driving only from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. in Nassau and Suffolk, except for limited travel to work, school and driver’s education, with proof required. It also caps the number of passengers under 21, among other restrictions.

An earlier foundation report found loud conversation and horseplay were substantially more common with multiple teen passengers than with siblings or adult passengers.

Re-posted by Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics, developers of the LynxSafe Teen Driving Monitor.

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These are some of the very reasons that we developed the LynxSafe Teen Driving Monitor.

One of the scariest days in any parent’s life is that moment you hand them the keys for their first night out on the town.

As my own Mother has often said; “I would lie awake every night, until I heard the garage door open. Only then, could I get good nights sleep!”

Actually, if Mom had known the way I was driving; those nights would have been even more restless!

After a personal family tragedy involving teen driving, I began to really think about my two children that had yet to begin the driving process and made the determination that I would not sit back and do nothing, other than say a prayer and keep my fingers crossed.

Telematics has been on the rise over the past few years and has really made a leap into mainstream public, thanks to a gal named Flo and Progressive Insurance’s product offering called “Snap Shot”

“Snap Shot” is a product that simply plugs into your vehicles diagnostic port and harvests data, based on driving habits, for the insurance company.

Known as UBI (User Based Insurance), the insurance company’s actuaries will assign a risk assessment profile to the individual driver and either slightly increase or lower premiums based on the data accumulated.

As one insurance company CEO recently remarked to me; “Telematics is to the insurance industry, what credit score was five years ago.”

Credit scores used to be accurate indicators of a drivers risk profile and predictors of the likelihood to be involved in an accident.

However, now that credit laws and new regulations on lending have changed due to the economy, many people who were previously considered “good credit profiles” are now considered marginal to poor, due to no fault of their own.

What was once an accurate indicator of risk factor for an individual driver was now becoming viewed as increasingly inaccurate?

Telematics provided a “game changer” to the insurance industry, with accurate indisputable driver profiling as a result of individual driving habits and real-time monitoring.

While this is a great product and many of the top insurance companies are now moving to a UBI model, there is still a basic flaw to me; As a parent, I want to know my kid is a bad driver….the second he is a bad driver and not…2 weeks after it’s too late, when my insurance company tells me his driver score went down 3 points.

The LynxSafe Teen Driving Monitor, by Lynx Telematics has allowed us to develop device that simply plugs into the drivers diagnostic port that allows a parent to monitor in real-time EXACTLY what their teen drivers are doing behind the wheel.

Once the LynxSafe device is installed, a parent logs onto their personal website and sets up parameters or rules, that they expect their teenager to follow when behind the wheel.

Along with rules and boundaries, a parent or loved one, chooses how they want to be notified, either by smart phone, with live map locations when violations occur, or by any internet enabled device. As for me, I like seeing on my smart phone exactly where my kid is…the moment they have broken a rule.

For example, I want to eliminate his or her ability to text and drive or browse his web enabled smart phone, I can now take full control over that deadly habit with our Anti-Texting” technology.

Next, thanks to a “Speed by Street” feature, I only want my son to drive no more than 5mph over the speed limit on any given highway or street.

With our “On Star” like capabilities, I can set up a collision alert and have the peace of mind to know that if any fender bender occurs, our 24/7 call center has already contacted my child before I even have a chance to call.

I can also set up other parameters such as excessive RPM’s, jack rabbit starts, panic breaking, cornering too hard as well as a special feature called “Boundaries”

If my son or daughter happens to be grounded and I only want to allow them to drive back and forth to school and work, I can set up a boundary that will notify me the second they leave that zone or if they cut out of school early, I will know the moment they leave the lot.

As a parent, I can also monitor specific engine diagnostics such as low fluids, mechanical glitches and head off future expensive repairs.

Or if my daughter is at the movies and leaves her lights on, I can be at home and receive an urgent alert that her battery has dipped below 12 volts thereby calling her to go start her car and avoid the potentially unsafe practice of asking a stranger in a movie parking lot at 11:30pm for assistance.

And thanks to a login screen that shows a live GPS location of where my monitored vehicle is, I now never have to hear that excuse; “Sorry Dad, my phone battery was dead.” Or “I apparently had no coverage.”

By the way, guess what car my Daughter will use for her dates!

Our goal at LynxSafe, is not to “bust” our kids and have cause to punish them rather to let them know that Mom and Dad, are still along for the ride.

As our slogan says; “They have the license, they have the keys…and now you have peace of mind!”

For more information on the LynxSafe Product by LynxTelematics, contact Vincent Rush at (513) 965-6318 or at vrush@lynxtelematics.com or visit http://lynxtelematics.com

Telematics – Can you afford NOT…to have it in your vehicles?

Monday 6 August 2012. Fleet Voice Column. by Alisdair Suttie

How far would you go to save fuel?

According to research by ALD Automotive, around nine out of 10 drivers in the UK would be happy to have telematics fitted to their car to help cut fuel bills.

As fleets have ever more pressure applied to them to reduce fuel costs and emissions, finding ways to make cars and drivers more efficient is essential. This is a more accessible and quicker to implement solution, too, than simply replacing a fleet with newer, more economical vehicles.

Managing Director of ALD Automotive, Keith Allen, says: “Over the last seven years, the technology surrounding telematics has improved and evolved dramatically.

“It now delivers a functionality that can help businesses better manage the costs and risks associated with their fleets. Drivers are also now far more aware of what telematics are and how they can help, benefiting themselves and their employers.”

By monitoring the data of individual drivers, fleet managers can not only work out how to best improve the efficiency of that user, but also the car itself. The fleet manager can also build up a detailed picture of overall fleet performance, whether that means using different vehicles for specific roles or deciding on driver training.

Not Big Brother

ALD’s Keith Allen is quick to assure drivers this is not a Big Brother operation to spy on company drivers, but it is a chance for all concerned to get the best from themselves and the vehicle.

This type of technology has been in use for some time, notably in larger commercial vehicles as a supplementary system to the existing tachograph and for young drivers keen to cut their insurance premiums.

With the spread of the technology to the wider fleet business, there is a chance for company drivers to show they are among the safest and most considerate on the road. The popular image of a stressed-out, mobile phone-wielding road rage incident in waiting is very far from the truth as we all adhere to health and safety guidelines and remember corporate manslaughter legislation. Yet, the public perception of company drivers is closer to that popping blood vessel behind the wheel of urban myth.

Introducing telematics to the wider company car fleet, can only help stamp out the last remaining examples of such bad driving that brand us all with the same iron.

Younger drivers

Talking about the use of telematics for younger drivers, Simon Douglas of the AAa says: “Telematics can help moderate driver behavior and ensure young drivers are more likely to drive safely rather than roar around in their cars”

Douglas also talks about telematics’ advantages for the wider driving community and points out that anyone who is afraid of having such a device fitted is possibly just the sort of driver who needs it most. If you drive responsibly, why should you fear having your driving habits recorded?

This raises the question of personal freedom and the associated liberties and laws that go with it. However, simple telematics that tell a fleet manager where a car is, the duration of its use and fuel consumption need not spark concern among business drivers.

It is tacitly acknowledged that many drivers exceed the speed limit regularly but not excessively. If this behavior is moderated by fitting telematics, that is a boon to a fleet’s safety record, especially if this speeding is in town or areas where there are lower speed limits in force.

If the telematics identify a particular driver has little regard for speed limits or the places where he or she speeds, such as near schools or in heavily inhabited areas, then it’s a chance to offer further training and education to that individual.

Equally, telematics can also offer an element of praise for those drivers who get the best economy from their car through safe, correct driving techniques. As has been seen in studies in the USA, by making good driving habits and standards a competition between those in a company or organization, often it is the previously worst offenders who rise to the top as the standard bearers for better driving.

Greater role

The competitive element appeals to many drivers natures, even those who are otherwise placid souls outside of the car. Behind the wheel, many people change their attitudes as they are ensconced in a steel box that becomes their personal fiefdom.

By adding telematics into the mix, it makes these drivers more aware there is a world beyond their windscreen and they have to be part of it in a responsible, courteous and safe manner.

Trials of telematics have shown individual drivers can save as much as 25% in fuel spent without noticing any great shift in their driving. Apply this across the whole of the countries company car fleets and the savings run into the billions of dollars per year. Those are savings we’d all like to see on a bottom line, recession or no recession.

With the vast majority of fleet drivers now open to the idea of telematics being fitted to their vehicle, and with the cost of installing such technology now dropping to very affordable levels, the question we ask ourselves must surely change. It has to shift from “Do we want telematics in our vehicles”? to “Can we afford not to have telematics in our vehicles”?

Such a fundamental change in attitudes and approach may seem radical or even unlikely to some, but look at the great changes that have happened in the recent past we now all accept as the norm: diesel is the predominant fuel for company car drivers, carbon dioxide-based taxation, and hybrid technology being used on ever more cars.

But have no doubt, telematics will play a much greater role in all of our working lives behind the wheel of a car very soon. Not only will it save companies money, it could positively help to reduce stress for business users as time limits can be more appropriately enforced and safety improved as a result.

Another spin-off benefit of telematics in a vehicle is, should the worst happen and you’re involved in a collision, the technology will be able to establish liability more easily and save a great deal of red tape and form-filling by innocent parties.

Just think: technology that actually saves on paper work.That really is a future worth dreaming of.

Re-Posted by Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics

For more information, contact Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics at (513) 965-6318

For more information on how Lynx Telematics, an OEM located in Cincinnati, Ohio can help your fleet become more operationally efficient or custom design a solution to meet your fleet management needs, contact Vincent Rush at (866) 314-0461

Lynx Telematics is an OEM that controls design, engineering, firmware, software development, IT support and manufacturing processes of our product, allowing us to produce the highest quality product in our industry, while offering our customers competitive pricing.

As your partner, we provide ongoing training and support to insure that the product is properly sold to the end user, maximizing the re-sellers profitability.

As one of the pioneers in telematics technologies, Lynx Telematics provides our clients with powerful end-to-end vehicle telematics tools. Our technology offers a real solution that delivers safety, saves money and provides an unprecedented level of peace of mind to our customers.

Our product, LynxSafe, is the newest and most advanced in-vehicle communication system currently on the market. It combines GPS/satellite and GSM cellular technology to provide users and family members with immediate access to real-time information delivered directly via any internet enabled device including I Phone and Android smart phones.

Insurer: Letting us spy on your driving cuts premiums!

By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY

If you thought devices that voluntarily spy on your driving might be a passing fad, think again: One big insurer says it’s finding that such systems are more than two-and-a-half times as good as traditional methods at predicting accidents.

Progressive Insurance just released a finding based on the program it introduced a year go that finds “loss costs” for the drivers with the highest-risk driving behaviors are about two and a half times higher than those for drivers with the lowest-risk behavior.

Though it has tried “usage-based” insurance programs for years, Progressive introduced a system called Snapshot last year in which drivers are sent a small device that plugs into their cars and relays information about their driving habits. The insurer says it measures the time of day the car is driven, distance driven, and how many hard brakes per mile the driver makes. Other insurers, such as State Farm and GMAC, also have similar programs.

As a result, Progressive says it has found that 70% of drivers who have signed up for its Snapshot program pay less for their insurance than they did before the program began:

They are saving an average of $150 a year. It’s offering to let any driver give the program a 30-day tryout, not just its own customers, to see if they will save money in the 42 states in which it is offered. Progressive officials say they want to prove that good drivers are paying unnecessarily high premiums based on the risk they present to insurers.

“For most, the rates they’re paying are higher than the risk they actually present –- and in many cases, much higher,” says Progressive CEO Glenn Renwick in a statement.

Re-posted by Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics

Insurance companies want to take the lead in marketing and managing UBI services. It makes sense since they already have familiar brands as well as the customer base. Most important, they are the ones with relationships with state regulators, keeping track of the myriad regulations and requirements of individual states.

A Company in Cincinnati, Lynx Telematics has developed a device called the Lynx Safe Teen Driving Monitor that can not only provide insurance companies with a UBI telematics device, but is the first of its kind to give parents “real-time” parental control and live monitoring of their teens driving habits, while at the same time, preventing texting and driving.

Vincent Rush, President of Business Development for Lynx Telematics, commented in Nashville recently that, “While we realize that quality and integrity of data is paramount in the UBI market, we also saw a gigantic void. Many insurance companies have the programs, however parents really have no control over their children’s driving habits, until the company reports back to them. We wanted to bring, not only savings to a parent, but peace of mind as well. As a parent, I don’t want to receive a report about my kids poor driving habits, 3 days after their funeral. I want to know the instant my teen is getting careless. I’ve already had one personal experience and I don’t care to have another”

With the LynxSafe telematic device, Mom & Dad are now, figuratively in the front passenger seat with their teen driver from the moment they pull out of the driveway”. Rush went on to say that, “Our single user interface model allows Mom and Dad to set parameters as well as receiving immediate text alert and emails when their son or daughter is speeding, driving radically, or in any type of accident as well as experiencing any mechanical break down.”

For more information on the LynxSafe Device and Lynx Telematics, contact Vincent Rush at (513) 965-6318 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

Telematics and Customized UBI Business Models

Susan Kuchinskas looks at open niches within the lucrative UBI space

According to Towers Watson research, insurers representing 60 percent of the personal auto insurance market have implemented a version of a UBI program in at least one state. Many more are running or preparing to run internal UBI pilots. And Ptolemus Group forecasts more than 100 million vehicles will be insured with telematics globally by 2020, generating premiums of approximately $60 billion.

The advantages for consumers and insurers are clear: More accurate ratings of risk factors will lead to lower claims and lower premiums for safe drivers. Technical barriers to these offerings are minimal, but the industry will need to appease consumers and regulators.

Pay-as-you-drive solutions

Many US insurers offer pay-as-you-drive (PAYD), also called usage-based insurance (UBI). This option is available in the majority of states. These plans use a plug-in device to measure actual miles driven: The less you drive, the less you pay for insurance.

Progressive’s PAYD program, SnapShot, provides a free device that drivers plug into their cars for six months; after that, they send it back and the rate based on miles driven is finalized. State Farm’s Drive Safe & Save program uses OnStar to validate mileage, and it just inked a similar deal to let consumers transmit mileage info via Ford Sync.

Because insurance rates have long used driver-reported mileage as one rating factor for evaluating risk and setting rates, PAYD is a relatively easy product to get approved by state regulators. Each state in the US regulates auto insurance independently. (For more on US state regulation, see Insurance telematics: US state regulators tackle UBI [2].) It also makes sense to consumers, because they’re used to this metric. And it doesn’t raise privacy concerns.

Pay-how-you-drive schemes

Things get more interesting, and potentially more lucrative, when insurers use additional ratings factors that allow them to better calculate an individual driver’s risk. Telematics devices incorporating accelerometers and other sensors can provide accurate information about driving style that could impact a consumer’s risk profile. So-called pay-how-you-drive (PHYD) schemes use a variety of factors, including speed, time of day, braking, acceleration and cornering, to paint a more accurate picture.

State Farm’s PHYD plan is called In-Drive, and it uses a device created by Hughes Telematics. In-Drive has rolled out in Illinois and Utah, with more states in the offing. “Obviously, mileage is a good predictor,” says Dick Luedke, spokesman for State Farm. “The more miles you drive, the more likely it is you’re going to file a claim.”

State Farm did quite a bit of testing to find what other factors would be most useful for rating an individual’s risk by installing the devices in the cars of associates across the nation. The secret sauce, of course, is the algorithm each insurer uses to weigh all these factors. Each firm guards them as trade secrets. Luedke says drily, “I doubt we’d be too specific.”

Simply gathering data from telematics devices is not that difficult. Doug VanDagens, director, Connected Services Solutions at Ford Motor Company, says that, while the agreement with State Farm calls for only transmitting mileage information, Ford already can technically accommodate transmission of any metric needed for PHYD. In fact, Ford’s Crew Chief product for fleets, powered by Telogis, provides information on braking, acceleration, maintenance warnings and more.

“Anything happening in the vehicle, we can communicate outside of it,” VanDagens says. It’s easier and cheaper to do so via Sync, he points out, because Sync uses the driver’s cell phone for connectivity. “We can provide all of that relatively easily, as soon as insurance companies want to set up the programs.”

Insurance companies want to take the lead in marketing and managing UBI services. It makes sense since they already have familiar brands as well as the customer base. Most important, they are the ones with relationships with state regulators, keeping track of the myriad regulations and requirements of individual states.

A Company in Cincinnati, Lynx Telematics has developed a device called the Lynx Safe Teen Driving Monitor that can not only provide insurance companies with a UBI telematics device, but is the first of its kind to give parents “real-time” parental control and live monitoring of their teens driving habits, while at the same time, preventing texting and driving.

Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics discusses the LynxSafe Teen Driving Monitor

Vincent Rush, President of Business Development for Lynx Telematics, commented in Nashville recently that, “While we realize that quality and integrity of data is paramount in the UBI market, we also saw a gigantic void. Many insurance companies have the programs, however parents really have no control over their children’s driving habits, until the company reports back to them. We wanted to bring, not only savings to a parent, but peace of mind as well. As a parent, I don’t want to receive a report about my kids poor driving habits, 3 days after their funeral. I want to know the instant my teen is getting careless. I’ve already had one personal experience and I don’t care to have another”

With the LynxSafe telematic device, Mom & Dad are now, figuratively in the front passenger seat with their teen driver from the moment they pull out of the driveway”. Rush went on to say that, “Our single user interface model allows Mom and Dad to set parameters as well as receiving immediate text alert and emails when their son or daughter is speeding, driving radically, or in any type of accident as well as experiencing any mechanical break down.”

The manage-how-you-drive model

As consumers get more comfortable with these products, they may shrug off the Big Brother warnings and embrace the manage-how-you-drive (MHYD) model. With MHYD, drivers get feedback that helps them improve and potentially lower their rates.

American Family Insurance says its Teen Safe Driver Program has helped teens reduce risky driving behaviors by 70 percent. The program includes a free in-car device attached to the review mirror. When incidents like extreme braking, cornering, and accelerating too fast—as well as actual crashes—take place, it saves eight seconds of footage prior to the mishap and the four seconds after it. The information is transmitted wirelessly to American Family’s data center for review by driver coaches.

Parents get a weekly driver report card that measures the teen’s performance against safe driving objectives and peer averages. They can log in to see the report, watch video of incidents, and get tips for safer driving that they can share with the kid.

State Farm’s In-Drive, created by Hughes Telematics and currently offered only in the US states of Utah and Illinois, provides an entrée for State Farm into stronger customer relationships and value-added services competitive with OnStar and motor clubs. It offers one-touch emergency response, roadside assistance, stolen vehicle location assistance, vehicle diagnostic alerts and maintenance reminders, plus parental monitoring tools for location services and speed alerts.

It also includes the MHYD program, Drive Safe & Save. In-Drive will provide driving performance data, and the customer’s savings will be based on mileage, turns, acceleration, braking, speed and time of day vehicle is operated.

New revenue streams

While State Farm will provide discounts on rates of up to 50 percent for the safest, lowest-mileage consumers, In-Drive also represents an opportunity for new, recurring revenue streams. The service offers four subscription levels with additional services like stolen vehicle assistance, emergency calling and alerts for events like speeding, with subscription fees from $7 to $22 per month.

Tim Moroney, insurance regulatory attorney with the law firm of Barger & Wolen LLP, thinks these services can help insurers get off the rate-cutting treadmill. “Personalized automotive insurance is very competitive,” Moroney says. “While cheaper premiums are usually the biggest hook, [by coupling services with telematics] you can offer more things. Insurers are now offering concierge benefits. They can do all things automotive and be very creative.”

Insurers could take it even further by offering classes, content, applications and third-party offers. The strategy could be similar to that used by health maintenance organizations that provide weight-loss and smoking cessation classes to members. (For more on new sources of revenue, see Consumers and UBI: The power of value-added services [3] and Telematics and UBI: How to increase consumer acceptance [4].)

Says Frederic Bruneteau, managing director of Ptolemus Consulting Group, “Thanks to insurance telematics, the insurer can become an insurance service provider. Today, the notion of insurance is, ‘They take your money and then you hear from them if you have a problem.’ With telematics, they have a real-time relationship with any policy holder.”

Susan Kuchinskasis a regular contributor to TU.

The Perils of Teen Driving, and Letting Go

Momspeak: The perils of teen driving, and letting go By Tracy Grant I remember tucking their two premature bodies — each weighing less than five pounds — into the newly installed car seats in the back of the Toyota Corolla for the 12-minute drive from Holy Cross Hospital to our home in Silver Spring. My husband drove the back roads because fewer cars meant lower chances of a collision, a lesser likelihood that another driver would grow angry at and aggressive with the car that crept along at five miles below the speed limit. When we pulled into the driveway, it was with audible sighs of relief. Never again would a car journey with our sons be so fraught with anxiety and perceived peril.

That is, until you make the appointment for that once-sub-five-pounder to take his driving test. Christopher has had his permit for the required nine months. We have spent time virtually every weekend driving. If I am to be fair, I have to concede that I no longer sit in the passenger seat not breathing, knuckles white, my foot depressing an imaginary brake. He has mastered changing lanes, highway driving, night driving, even driving in the rain. I am almost comfortable with him driving his brother and me almost anywhere we need to go. In an emergency, I would feel that he could get me where I needed to go.

In short, I was slowly — very slowly — moving toward acceptance of the idea of Christopher, having his driver’s license. That is, until the release of two studies last month by the American Automobile Association and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on the perils of teen driving.

The AAA study added new data to the long-proven fact that teens are the most dangerous drivers on the road. Specifically, the research found that the chances of a fatal accident increase by almost half when a 16- or 17-year-old driver has one teenage passenger. The risk doubles when the teen driver has two teen buddies in the car and quadruples when the teen passengers number three or more.

The Insurance Institute study found that teen deaths in automobile accidents have fallen since 1996, when tougher rules requiring graduated licensing for teen drivers were enacted. (Graduated licensing refers to requiring teens to have a set number of supervised hours of driving — generally about 60 — before they can get what is called a provisional license that imposes some restrictions, including on the number of minors in the car and on night driving.) But it also reported that if states enacted tougher licensing rules, 500 deaths and 9,500 crashes involving teen drivers could be avoided each year.

When Christopher started the driver’s ed process, the thought of driving with him for 60 hours seemed daunting and interminable. At times during the last nine months, it has proved to be that — for both of us. But is he a better driver at 16 than I was? Absolutely. Would I object if the state required him to get another 10 or 20 hours of supervised driving before he could take his license test? Absolutely not. A friend whose son got his license within the past year told me she offered him this bit of wisdom before he took the test: “Failing the test doesn’t make you a bad driver, and passing it doesn’t make you a good one.”

I have warned Christopher that having his license isn’t likely to change his driving habits very much. He can drive just about anyplace we go as a family, but the notion of my tossing him the car keys and offering a cheery “be safe” as he, his brother and some buddies go off to the movies doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

“We know that carrying young passengers is a huge risk, but it’s also a preventable one,” said AAA Foundation President Peter Kissinger in presenting his study’s findings. Oh, and did I mention that the other sub-five-pounder is finishing up his two-week driver’s ed course this week? Here we go again.

Tracy Grant is the editor of KidsPost. Her Momspeak column runs every other week.

If you’re a concerned parent of a teen driver and would like more information on the LynxSafe Teen Driving Monitor by Lynx Telematics, that eliminates Texting and Driving, Speeding, Distracted Driving and monitors seat belt usage, mechanical failures and allows a parent to set up geo fencing, please contact Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics at vrush@lynxtelematics.com or directly at (513) 965-6318

Fatal Auto Crashes Up Despite Rise In Patrols

Ohio Patrol says many of this year’s 312 victims weren’t using seat belts.
By Mark Gokavi, Staff Writer, Dayton Daily News
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

More people are dying on Ohio roads at a significantly higher rate in the first four months of this year after a record-low number of traffic deaths last year.

The 16.4 percent rise in statewide traffic fatalities in the first third of 2012 comes despite the Ohio Highway Patrol cracking down on drunk driving and seat belt and felony drug violations.

Plus, the six-county area of Montgomery, Warren, Butler, Preble, Darke and Miami has seen 24 more traffic fatalities — many not wearing seat belts — than during the same period in 2011. Those numbers don’t yet include a recent double fatality in Butler County or a late-April fatal in Greene County.

“Fatals are a difficult thing for us to curb,” said OHP Lt. Matt Hamilton of the Warren County Post. “We’re aggressive in OVI (Operating a Vehicle while under the Influence of drugs or alcohol) and seat belt enforcement so if that crash does happen, they have the best chance that they have to survive.”

Statewide, provisional OHP statistics show there have been 312 fatalities (from 275 crashes) through four months in 2012.

That number was 268 in 2011, which became the lowest auto-related fatality year (1,020 deaths from 947 accidents) in Ohio history and also the lowest nationally.

A national highway safety advocate said Ohio lacks leadership and commitment to strengthen laws. Jackie Gillan, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said Ohio is among the worst eight states in that organization’s annual report.

“Ohio is at the bottom of the barrel because they are lacking so many critical laws like primary enforcement of seat belt, all-rider motorcycle helmet laws, they don’t have major elements of an important teen driving law, they have weak drunk-driving laws,” Gillan said.

Gillan’s organization supports limits for teen drivers such as night-time and cellphone restrictions, and 16 as the minimum age for learner’s permits. In Ohio, most drunk-driving crimes are misdemeanors unless drivers have multiple offenses.

Most dead weren’t wearing belts

Of the 38 deaths in those six local counties through April that did not involve pedestrians or motorcycles, at least 25 were not wearing seat belts. In four more cases it’s unknown if seat belts were used. The causes of the crashes range from people falling asleep to driving left of center to alcohol-related and excessive speed.

“There’s crashes and it’s people being ejected out of the vehicle and the crashed car, in the compartment, there isn’t any real intrusion or trees or poles or anything, it’s just a damaged car,” said Sgt. Jeff Kramer of the post that serves Montgomery County. “But not having their safety belt on they get ejected out of the windshield or something like that and then the car rolls over on them.

“I don’t know for sure that they’d be alive had they worn their seat belt, (but) probably there’s a good chance the injuries would be minimal and not fatal. We see this time and time and time again. It’s just a simple thing of clicking your seat belt.”

Despite seat belt infractions being a secondary offense, enforcement also is up 16.4 percent in Ohio overall and much higher in some counties.

In Montgomery County, seat belt enforcement is up 64.7 percent — 799 in 2012 versus 485 in the same time frame last year. In Greene County, seat belt tickets are up nearly 70 percent. In Warren County, those numbers are up 44 percent. And in Miami County, troopers have enforced seat belt infractions 511 times, up from 267 in that period last year — a 91.4 percent increase.

“We’ve had four fatal (crashes) with four dead,” said Sgt. Vee Witcher of the Piqua Post. “None were wearing seat belts, so that’s why we’re cracking belts.”

Gillan said an unbuckled seat belt should be a primary reason to pull someone over.

“We know that wearing a seat belt is one of the most important things you can do to protect you and your family,” Gillan said. “So why are we tying the hands of law enforcement so that they can only enforce the law if they see someone doing something else that’s equally or more dangerous?”

All Enforcement Increasing

Statewide, troopers made more than 24,000 additional enforcement stops from January through April compared to this time in 2011 — an increase of 16.3 percent.

Drug violations were up 32.8 percent, felony arrests up 18.1 percent, misdemeanor summons up 36.1 percent and commercial vehicle enforcement up 19.6 percent, among others.

“The new leadership in the Highway Patrol is a big part of this. We’re refocusing our efforts on the things that the public find most important,” Hamilton said of Col. John Born, who took over in 2011 as the OHP’s superintendent.

The “Trooper Shield” initiative was introduced in 2011 and continues to pick up steam in 2012. Officials say Born wants criminal patrol to be as important as traffic enforcement.

“If you drink and drive, we’re looking for you. If you’re hauling drugs on our roads, we’re looking for you,” said Sgt. Anthony Lauer of the post that serves Greene County. “And bottom line is a seat belt is going to save your life. That’s where you’re seeing an increase in those numbers.”

County Numbers

In Greene County, that mentality has translated into much higher numbers of OVI violations (29 percent) and drug violations (30 from 11). In Warren County, OVIs are up 26 percent and commercial vehicle violations (tied mainly to construction zones on I-71 and I-75) are up 55 percent.

In Miami County, overall enforcement stops are up 64.7 percent — from 1,262 in the same time frame last year to 2,112 this year. In Montgomery County, some felony and drug violations are down, but overall enforcement stops are up 36 percent.

“Trooper Shield is kind of a new phrase that the patrol has been using, adopted by our Col. John Born,” Kramer said. “The premise is getting in the minds of the troopers, ‘What will you do today to contribute to a safer Ohio?’ ”

Kramer said the OHP will keep finding violations, especially during the Prom, Memorial Day and graduation season. But troopers can’t put on seat belts, which he said is the best defense in a crash: “It’s all in their hands when they make that decision.”

For more information, contact Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics at (866) 314-0461

For more information on how Lynx Telematics, an OEM located in Cincinnati, Ohio can help your fleet become more operationally efficient or custom design a solution to meet your fleet management needs, contact Vincent Rush at (866) 314-0461

Lynx Telematics is an OEM that controls design, engineering, firmware, software development, IT support and manufacturing processes of our product, allowing us to produce the highest quality product in our industry, while offering our customers competitive pricing.

As your partner, we provide ongoing training and support to insure that the product is properly sold to the end user, maximizing the re-sellers profitability.

As one of the pioneers in telematics technologies, Lynx Telematics provides our clients with powerful end-to-end vehicle telematics tools. Our technology offers a real solution that delivers safety, saves money and provides an unprecedented level of peace of mind to our customers.

Our product, LynxSafe, is the newest and most advanced Text and Web Browsing Disabling technology, in-vehicle communication system currently on the market. It combines GPS/satellite and GSM cellular technology to provide users and family members with immediate access to real-time information including seat belt usage, speed, accident notification, and real time ECM diagnostics delivered directly via any internet enabled device including Android and Blackberry smart phones.

LynxSafe Video: http://youtu.be/q9UmPyBq4SU

Telematics for Dummies…A Simple Explanation

What is a Vehicle Telematics System?

Vehicle telematics systems make vehicle information readily available from any capable internet connected device by combining GPS technology, computers, and possibly cellular networks. These systems are generally used in trucks, cars, and logistics vehicles and can also be called “in-vehicle electronics” or “on-board technology.”

Mobile Data Transmitting

Vehicle telematics systems typically found today have mobile data capabilities which allow them to communicate with other devices over the air. In recent years this type of technology has rapidly advanced, and companies are finding more and more uses to help optimize their operations. The most notably useful feature of mobile telematics data is its’ ability to transmit vehicle information wirelessly to be examined in real-time. This allows fleet managers to make informed decisions from any location and improves overall efficiency.

Satellite GPS Navigation

An increasing number of new vehicles have GPS turn-by-turn navigation implemented in them, which puts paper directions in a museum. Eventually GPS navigational systems will be a standard feature in all new cars as technology progresses and prices fall. The Global Positioning System (GPS) operates by connecting antennae equipped devices to 24 to 32 satellites orbiting the Earth. These satellites monitor two things when a unit connects to them: the exact time of the transmission and the satellite’s position. The antennae in the devices receives this information and the device’s internal computer calculates the time it took for the signal to travel from various satellites to the antennae. These figures are then are plugged into mathematically algorithms to compute the device’s exact position (i.e. your GPS navigation system’s location). Another kind of GPS exists using cellular towers. This sort of GPS works in an entirely different manner by using triangulation and several cellular towers to find exact locations. The major drawback to cellular GPS is that it’s completely limited to the availability of cell phone signal. Therefore, if you don’t have a signal, you won’t be able to receive GPS capabilities. Unfortunately, the times when you’re in a remote area without cellular service is when you need GPS functions the most.

Vehicle, Trailer, and Asset Tracking

Telematics systems give companies the power to track their vehicles and assets in real-time which is a great benefit for fleet managers. Industries receiving the largest benefit from these systems are usually related to transportation or logistics. Standard vehicle tracking systems plug into the OBDII port or are hardwired. They are enabled to work directly with GPS satellites and usually cellular towers. Benefits such as driver information, vehicle location, current speed, dispatch messaging, job status, an array of automated alerts (harsh braking, idling, speed, etc), and simply generated reports assist fleet managers in making informed decisions to optimize operations and reduce costs. These devices are helping to reduce human errors, and organizations notice improved efficiency and cost reductions.

Fleet managers enjoy having a say in what happens regarding drivers, where as previously drivers habits and behaviors were completely unknown once they left the yard. Utilizing vehicle telematics, driver’s behaviors can be coached to reduce the likelihood of accidents, speeding, and other possible expenses. Drivers are unable to stray too far from their assigned route which saves fuel and time. An additional benefit is improved security and safety by tracking stolen property, reducing accidents, and receiving less speeding violations. Asset and trailer tracking have similar benefits as standard vehicle tracking, with a chief difference being they usually operate on a long-lasting battery.

For more information, contact Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics at (866) 314-0461

For more information on how Lynx Telematics, an OEM located in Cincinnati, Ohio can help your fleet become more operationally efficient or custom design a solution to meet your fleet management needs, contact Vincent Rush at (866) 314-0461

LynxTelematics is an OEM that controls design, engineering, firmware, software development, IT support and manufacturing processes of our product, allowing us to produce the highest quality product in our industry, while offering our customers competitive pricing.
As your partner, we provide ongoing training and support to ensure that the product is properly sold to the end user, maximizing the re-sellers profitability.

As one of the pioneers in telematics technologies, Lynx Telematics provides our clients with powerful end-to-end vehicle telematics tools. Our technology offers a real solution that delivers safety, saves money and provides an unprecedented level of peace of mind to our customers.

Our product, LynxSafe, is the newest and most advanced in-vehicle communication system currently on the market. It combines GPS/satellite and GSM cellular technology to provide users and family members with immediate access to real-time information delivered directly via any internet enabled device including I Phone and Android smart phones.

Baseball and Insurance: Don’t Make Early Assumptions About the Data

By Robert Regis Hyle, PropertyCasualty360.com
April 2, 2012

Although I touched on the sport in last weeks blog, since this week is the real start of the Major League Baseball season—despite the fact two American teams played in Japan last week (with a Japanese tech company’s logo on the batting helmets)—it’s time for my annual observation about analyzing data in different ways.

Since last season, the predictive analytics book Moneyball was turned into a movie and both Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill were nominated for Oscars for their roles, which should have excited data geeks. After all, when you can get Pitt to portray someone who believes in statistical analysis of data you’ve won half the battle, right? (He could do for actuaries what Julia Roberts did for paralegals.)

The benefit insurers have gained over baseball teams in the use of advanced statistical data is that pretty much all insurance companies believe there is value to be gained from the data. There are plenty of baseball executives and managers that only believe what they see on the field—even if they don’t always know what they are looking at.

As user-based insurance expands across the personal lines insurers—my agent tells me Nationwide will be coming out with a new personal auto telematics product this summer—it will be interesting to see how they interpret the driving data they receive.

I spoke with a friend about telematics a couple of weeks ago at the IASA Boot Camp and she said she was not looking forward to widespread use of telematics because she admits that she drives too fast.
The safe assumption is that people who drive fast are bad drivers. But what if, over time, the statistical data insurers accumulate through telematics leads us to findings that we didn’t expect.

Just as baseball managers continue to waste outs by having good batters lay down a sacrifice bunt with a fast runner on first base, will insurance companies continue to believe that those who have too many speeding tickets are bad drivers and that they don’t need telematics to prove such a belief is true—or maybe even false.

We shouldn’t be afraid of collecting more data; we should be afraid if we assume that new data always verifies old beliefs.

So let that batter swing away with a runner on first base and let telematics tell us what the real factors are behind poor driving that leads to accidents and, inevitably, claims. We might all be surprised what the predictive analytics of that data tells us.

Re-posted by Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics

Lynx Telematics, located in Milford Ohio, is an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture) that specializes in developing proprietary fleet GPS Tracking devices for fleets of all sizes and functions.
For information on how Lynx Telematics can help your company save an average of $2500 per vehicle annually, contact Business Development Manager, Vincent Rush at (513) 965-6318

Lynx Telematics is an OEM that controls design, engineering, firmware, software development, IT support and manufacturing processes of our product, allowing us to produce the highest quality product in our industry, while offering our customers competitive pricing.

As your partner, we provide ongoing training and support to ensure that the product is properly sold to the end-user, maximizing the re-sellers profitability.

As one of the pioneers in telematics technologies, Lynx Telematics provides our clients with powerful end-to-end vehicle telematics tools. Our technology offers a real solution that delivers safety, saves money and provides an unprecedented level of peace of mind to our customers.