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Why Insured’s Bind Behaviors are Driving the Evolution of the Industry

September 21, 2016  |  Posted by Nick Peterson  |  3434 Views

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The numbers have spoken. The millennial generation is now comprised of about 76 million people, the largest living age group on the planet. Most industries have wised up to the fact that millennial buying behaviors strongly oppose the ideologies from generations past, except for the insurance industry which is still inexplicably toddling in the wake of tremendous opportunities.

The primary issue is that while the greater part of renewals may stem from differing demographics, somewhere down the line we’ll need to address the elephant in the room—a majority of new business is coming from millennials, and an astronomical 75% of them start their buying process online.

Sure, companies like Amazon who have developed easily accessible platforms that streamline purchasing, delivery, and customer service have cemented new expectations from the 18-36 year-old buyers. The levels of attentiveness, care, and immediacy have exploded in the last decade alongside the technologies needed to execute them. But how can the insurance industry compete with these standards when it wasn’t built to keep this pace?

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MacNeill Group is evolving and building the tools for both agents and insureds to have the resources necessary to make informed buying decisions.

So how have we decided to rebuild our online presence for our agents and insureds? Most recently, MacNeill has pioneered systems like MOUS (MacNeill Online Underwriting System), an agent portal which grants easy access to quick quoting tools, resources, and marketing and sales tips. Because customer service is not limited to face-to-face encounters and phone calls, live chat is available on our website to provide even faster responses from underwriters, marketing, and agent customer care.

And that’s not all. Social Media is becoming a promising channel of exploration. Providing valuable content and resources on platforms like facebook and linkedin has proven to strengthen brand and product awareness and opens an outlet for direct communication with industry professionals.

A recent survey from the IBM Institute for Business Value shows that millennial consumers value peer-to-peer reviews more than company claims. This disproves the massive question mark which has lingered over social media accounts for insurance companies since its inception. Providing online forums for discussion of new policies, products, and promotions will only serve in the favor of insurance.

Visibility for carriers, MGA’s, and agencies is trending its way into alignment with insureds.

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