Unmask the Disruptors
Pick up any publication, read any email advertisement or any blog and everything is about the market disruptors sucking up millions of dollars in venture capital and ready to completely change the insurance marketplace. They profess that younger consumers prefer to buy through them because they are comfortable buying online and insist on convenience and low cost.
If you’re an independent agent you may be getting a little nervous about what you see, hear and read. It’s no secret to you that the technology you use to operate your business is in serious need of a major overhaul to make it effective. Some of the change must come from your carriers because the system is too cumbersome and does not efficiently allow for the most effective way to transact business. There are also changes you as the agent need to make to improve your systems and more effectively and conveniently offer your protection.
In the last sentence of the previous paragraph I specifically used the word protection instead of product. That’s because we don’t sell a product but instead design and provide protection to meet an individual’s needs so they can live their life fully without the worry of an unexpected event dramatically affecting their financial security.
Many consumers don’t understand the value of the insurance protection that follows them every day of their lives. Without it many homes and building might never be able to be purchased. The presence of a significant weather event on the horizon could mean financial devastation and the loss of their home and/or business. They would have to assume amazing risk in order to operate their vehicles because physical and financial ruin could be just around the corner.
That’s what an independent agent sells, protection. Protection that is in effect every day of a client’s life, ready to step in and make them whole when unforeseen and unexpected events disrupt their lives and threaten their physical and financial future.
How important is having enough of the right protection? Like the TV commercial used to say “Priceless”!
That’s what distinguishes independent agents from the disruptors. We understand it is the most important thing in the insurance buying transaction.
Sure we would love to have a highly automated and convenient system for helping our clients and we will get their sometime soon. But what we have right now is more important than any technology that a disruptor can provide. A total dedication to making sure that the protection we provide is the very best possible for the clients we represent.
Most consumers don’t have the technical knowledge to properly put together a solid package of protection. That’s the job of an independent agent who knows and understands the nuances of insurance protection.
That’s the message we need to be shouting from the mountaintops to consumers, especially the younger ones. It’s not about convenience and low price. It’s about having the right protection to allow them to live their lives to the fullest without fear of physical and/or financial ruin.
Right now the most effective way to compete against the disruptors is to highlight their shortcomings. All of their expertise is in technology, data analytics and artificial intelligence. They’re all about the process but nothing about the protection. That’s like buying a product with eye catching marketing and outstanding packaging only to get it home and find out the product is just mediocre and doesn’t really work like you want it to.
We need to get consumers, especially the younger ones to understand that real value comes from proper protection and not from the buying process. It should be the focus of most, if not all, your marketing efforts. Consumers relate to storytelling so provide then with stories that highlight the importance of proper coverage. Focus their attention on the real reason for buying insurance – proper protection backed up by a dedicated agent and staff there to assist you when they need it most.
