A thought leadership program with the CMO Council and the special interest network, the Customer Experience Board
There is some great news for marketers in the insurance space: your customers are ready, willing and able to learn more about what you do and how you can become more involved in their lives. This may simplify the news, but according to the consumers surveyed for What’s Critical in the Insurance
Vertical, 21 percent of consumers who received information about additional products or services off ered by their insurance providers contacted their provider or agent to learn more or buy. In fact, only eight percent of customers were happy to never hear from their providers.
But as with all things that sound too good to be true, the downside of this customer opportunity is that few marketers in the insurance space are engaged in robust retention, cross-sell, up-sell and monetization strategies that maximize a customer’s lifetime value. Customer analytics are used, primarily, to monitor top customers, and few marketers are actively investing in insight and analytics programs due to constrained budgets, lack of internal resources or a mandate that revolves around acquisition.
Part of the ongoing look into Precision Marketing tactics, strategies and outcomes, Critical in the Vertical sets its sights on four key vertical industries with deep customer bases and often, industry shaping volatility ranging from public scandal to recession. The first industry, insurance, has been one hard hit by variables often out of the control of the providers. Transformation of the industry, according what insurance marketers have witnessed, has largely been fueled by regulatory controls and compliance requirements that force changes and reshaping of the business. But, a growing number have seen price comparison, price aggregators and consumer buying behavior – especially as customers tighten their belts in tough economic times – as a key development that is shaping this industry.
As customers feel the sting of tightened purse strings, and corporations look to cut back on costs and services, insurance marketers are feeling the pressure to convert more qualified leads into sales as the push for acquisition moves forward. On the line is a piece of the estimated $1 billion net premiums
written in a year and in a time when industry shifts have created fragmented markets competing for a seemingly smaller audience, the pressure to convert has become intense.
Admittedly, 2009 was not kind to the insurance industry, and many marketers saw the relationship with their customers change. For the most part, marketers were forced to address new needs, expectations and requirements of customers. For their part, customers were adding to the challenge by going online, shopping around, and taking longer to decide on purchases and services while they compared costs.
It is also worth noting that one of the greatest challenges that insurance marketers face starts with regulators and compliance mandates. These seemingly ever-changing regulations, according to 21 percent of respondents, have changed how companies engage, and how quickly they can engage. “Take what some marketers might consider a simple, if not every day task, namely updating a page of sales collateral,” said one senior marketer whose experience includes serving as CMO at one of North America’s most respected insurance providers. “In long-term care insurance, for example, it’s almost
impossible to get a single page of collateral up on your website in less than a year, because you have to go through 50 state insurance departments. And that’s JUST for people who focus specifi cally on long-term care. Multiply this for every service, every type of policy, every country you add, every state.
It’s a real bear.”