Creating the Educated Consumer

What makes purchasing protection from an independent agent the best? Trust, choice and professional advice.

Responsible insurance buyers want to work with someone they trust – who has their best interest at heart. That’s something you can’t get from a faceless, no personality online insurance provider and certainly not from artificial intelligence because trust is a human emotion.

Choice is important because consumers don’t like to have only one solution to their protection needs. Choice means competition and competition keeps providers constantly looking for a better way. Choice is important because people are different and so are their needs and desires. One size fits all might be OK for some consumer goods but it can be a recipe for disaster when buying insurance protection.

Last and certainly not least professional knowledge and advice. This is the most critical piece of the insurance buying equation. It’s also the piece that direct and online insurance providers look to take out of the equation. They treat consumers with a broad brush approach that to the knowledgeable insurance advisor screams “Buyer Beware”.

Independent agents can gain the trust and loyalty of insurance buyers by educating them about the need for adequate insurance protection customized to meet their personal needs and lifestyle.

Currently there is an enormous amount of attention being focused on the speed and ease available to consumers when buying protection. Speed and ease in doing business are truly important but should never overshadow the significant importance of properly assessing a client’s insurance needs. The objective is giving the client the proper protection that allows them to live the life they choose eliminating as much risk to them as possible.

Insurance consumers are inundated with advertising meant to condition them to several things. The idea that all coverage is the same and the only real differentiator is cost and convenience. We need to commit to changing that focus through education about life’s risks and the serious implications of not having the right protection sufficient for their needs.

There is plenty of information available to us. The internet and social media has made communication of that information so easy. The key now is to really focus on helping consumers better understand how insurance works. Always trying to make it as easy to understand as possible. Speaking up when we see misleading or incorrect information that trivializes the importance of having proper protection. If we truly are the insurance professional we tell everyone we are then it is our responsibility to educate and guide consumers.

The message needs to come from you and not from your carriers. In your agencies you have a wealth of information that can be the source for a posting or article. The information doesn’t have to be long or complicated. Just consistent and motivating. It needs to draw attention to real issues that put people at risk. You want to cause discussion and motivate consumers to ask questions. We’re talking about helping people to keep from making mistakes that could hurt them personally and financially. Remember you are showing your professional advice and knowledge.

Take pride in being a professional and your desire to help people make informed decisions. Commit to providing information that will help people to be better insurance consumers. Because a well informed consumer will usually see the benefits of working with an independent agent – trust, choice and professional advice and knowledge.