We’re Not Alone

It’s easy to feel that you’re alone when you struggle with business issues. One issue I have been struggling with lately is how independent agents and brokers can get consumers to appreciate the value they bring to buying insurance protection. To those of us who work in the system it’s a no-brainer. There is also a group of consumers who understand the value and buy their protection from us. The big question is what it will take to motivate consumers who currently buy direct from companies that our method has advantages they shouldn’t pass up.

Over the holidays I found myself waiting in Walmart for my wife who was as usual spending way more time shopping than was necessary. I found myself in the books and magazine section so I grabbed the latest issue of Mother Earth News and started to flip through the various articles. One caught my eye written by Joel Salatin entitled The “New Fashioned” Food System That Helps and Heals. The article was all about the struggle of organic food producers who attempt to provide healthy, safe food in a sustainable way. What I found surprising was how similar their problems were to the ones we encounter attempting to get consumers to appreciate the value we bring to insurance protection.

Like us they compete with gigantic food conglomerates that have enormous advertising budgets that allow them to convince consumers that cheap and convenient food is what is important. Their competition also trivialize issues like GMOs, heavy chemical fertilizer use, inhumane treatment of animals and dangerous food additives. Sound familiar??

We compete with large, direct insurance companies that spend significant amounts of money on advertising to convince consumers that buying insurance protection comes down to lowest cost coupled with buying protection as conveniently as possible over the phone or internet. They trivialize our role as a trusted advisor to the consumer and downplay the potential risk of buying too little coverage or failing to buy protection that the consumer may very well need. They infer that consumers don’t need an advocate during the claims process and instead should be happy with how quickly their claim is processed. Is it possible that quick resolution of a claim doesn’t allow the consumer to get everything they are entitled to and eliminates their ability to do something about it because the insured has signed off and the claim is closed?

The funny thing is that there are consumers who know the value of buying organic and sustainable low impact food, however they are lured away from it by the low cost and the hope that they and their family won’t suffer as a result of their decision. I believe we also have a group of insurance consumers who feel the same way. They are drawn to buying their protection from direct response companies for the premium savings and they hope that they and their family won’t suffer as a result of having missing or inadequate coverage. They believe they are sharp enough to deal directly with the insurance carrier getting all they are entitled to and making sure their claim is handled quickly and fairly.

The solution Mr. Salatin recommends for organic food producers is to educate consumers that the methods they use are not old-fashioned but actually new-fashioned because they incorporate the best of today’s knowledge to provide a safe food supply. He encourages those producers to educate consumers to all the benefits their method of food production provides, especially for the health of their family as well as the planet.

I believe we are tasked with a similar challenge. We need to show consumers they can get excellent advice and proper coverage provided quickly by an agency that uses technology. We also need them to under- stand and be confident that we will provide them with proper protection and claims backup at a very competitive price. We need to find a way to educate them to all of the traps and pitfalls associated with not having the correct or enough coverage. Technology, specifically social media, can help us do that.

Use social media to educate consumers by providing stories of how someone suffered financially, physically and emotionally because of having too little or missing coverage. We can’t forget that inadequate or improper coverage can cause physical and emotional suffering due to not having the funds to assist injured people to fully recover. Too many people don’t see themselves being involved in a significant loss. They equate insurance protection to a fender bender or some minor home damage. Those types of losses aren’t significant enough to cause concern if someone’s coverage is lacking. But have a serious car accident or home loss without enough or proper coverage and a person’s world can be turned upside down. The effect of such an event can last for years and in some cases a lifetime.

The point of my article is to say that it’s not only independent insurance agents who suffer from a lack of consumer attention to the quality of its product. Buying cheap and convenient may not be the best value and yet we see it promoted in many businesses. We need to educate consumers to the fallacy of that kind of thinking. Our efforts need to be creative if we are to gain their attention. We need them to truly understand the risk they take should they fail to buy the correct coverage or enough coverage. Yes, not everyone will experience a serious loss; however there is no crystal ball they can consult to see if they will be the one. Choosing wrong could have a disastrous effect on them and their family. Once they know the potential outcome are they still willing to take that risk?

If most independent agents really make a sincere effort to get this message out it will start to resonate with consumers. It will encourage them to discuss the issue and ask questions. Most consumers don’t trust insurance companies so it should be easier to convince them that dealing directly with one is not in their best interest.

Consumers like the idea of low cost insurance. Would they still like it if it meant little or no coverage when they need it the most? What a terrible feeling to know you could have protected your family better but you were swayed by poor judgment and the opportunity to save a few dollars. It’s our job to educate them to the risk they are taking and to offer them the professional advice and service they need and deserve.