5 Clever Ways Insurance Companies Are Leveraging Digital Financial Wellness to Achieve Their Goals

Despite offering a way to minimize the consequences of unforeseen disasters, insurance companies and their products are not overly popular. In fact, there are five major challenges when selling and marketing products that insurance companies must overcome.

Let’s look at each of these and how leveraging a digital financial wellness program can help overcome these challenges.

#1:  Build Trust With Prospective Customers

Generally speaking, consumers are wary of financial institutions. A TrustPilot survey found that almost one-third of respondents found financial institutions of all kinds to be untrustworthy¹.

55% found the industry to be somewhat or a little trustworthy. Only 20% of consumers found financial institutions to be very trustworthy.

Finally, of the five subgroups – personal loan providers, mortgage lenders, fintech companies, insurance companies, and robo-investors – insurance companies came in last place.

According to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer for Financial Services, the trust level for insurance companies fell 3% in the past year². The trust rating for financial services is actually lower than any sector except media. 

Solution: Consumers need to feel that their insurance provider cares about their overall wellbeing and is offering products based on their needs rather than personal profit. This can be accomplished by establishing rapport with potential and current clients.

One way to build rapport and establish trust is to offer digital financial education tools.

A program, such as Enrich, offers information to help consumers determine the right products. It also shows consumers that the insurance company cares for their financial health beyond specific insurance products. 

#2: Understand Customer Needs as Demographics Change

Insurance is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. The products needed by a married man with a spouse and three young children will differ from those of a single woman with one child or an empty-nest man nearing retirement.

Plus, trends in society have changed with people marrying and having children later, single-parent households increasing, and home ownership decreasing.

Solution: Identify the needs of different target markets. By offering digital financial wellness, you can help clients learn what their needs are and what products can solve those needs – all in their own time without the pressure of sales.

By doing this, clients become educated about insurance products in a holistic way that makes sense for their particular situation. Then, when an agent recommends a product, the client is already aware of its existence and its potential benefits.

Insurance companies should also consider providing a digital financial wellness platform, like Enrich, that offers the opportunity to speak with a financial coach. This third-party member can answer questions on insurance-related topics in a sales-free environment. 

#3: Make Insurance Concepts Easier to Understand

There are a lot of complex insurance terms and concepts that are difficult to communicate to clients.

What is the difference between term and whole life insurance? What is the difference between a deductible and a copay? When do premiums change and why? What is covered and what is not? What is underwriting?

State Farm found that although many people feel positively toward insurance products (maybe even relieved, confident, and protected), some have the opposite experience³:

• Confused – 17%
• Overwhelmed – 14%
• Stressed – 14%

By the time an agent has covered the ins and outs of different policies, many clients become confused. This confusion makes selling a policy nearly impossible and could even be seen as unethical. 

Solution: Agents need to break down insurance into easy-to-understand “sound bites.” Offering a digital financial wellness program provides clients with a chance to learn about insurance products:

• That meets their unique needs
• At their own pace
• With multimedia exposure such as videos, articles, infographics, and more
• By reviewing lessons and vocabulary until it becomes familiar

Learning about insurance products in this way can make the entire process less intimidating.

#4: Prepare for a Weakening Economy

As inflation rises and the economy weakens, insurance rates are likely to go up. No client will be happy when this happens even though the likelihood of increased rates is spelled out in the contract. This can create a bad image for insurance companies.

Solution: There is little you can do about price increases, however, you can show clients and potential clients that you understand their financial concerns and want to help them make their dollars go as far as possible.

By offering a digital financial wellness product, clients will learn how to budget, save, and reduce debt. They will also learn valuable information about insurance products and why they are necessary even when budgets are tight. 

By engaging with potential customers before they are ready to buy, insurance companies will reduce acquisition costs associated with competing with competitors.

#5: Finding Leads is Difficult – Engage With Customers Before They Are Ready To Buy

Finding leads can be difficult because prospects may not understand the need for the product or may not want to look at potential challenges down the road – such as a partner’s death or funding retirement. Add to this the fact that many prospects use online sources to determine potential insurance needs, and agents may find it difficult to find those who need their help.

In addition, insurance is not usually at the top of people’s minds. It’s not something anyone shops around for until they actually need it.

So how can insurance companies build relationships with prospects before they’re ready to buy?
 

Solution: Bring prospects to your website by offering a financial wellness program. While there, they can not only learn how to better manage their money, but they can also learn about your insurance products.
 

By building these relationships, your insurance company will be in front of mind when it comes time to buy. As these prospects increase their financial wellness, they will also increase their understanding of and trust in your products. 

Mutual Of Omaha – Using Enrich to Deliver on Their Mission

The Mutual of Omaha mission is to help customers protect what they care about and achieve their financial goals. That’s why they are offering the Enrich financial wellness platform to customers⁴. 

They have found that the platform offers:

• Convenience
• Customization
• Wide range of information, tools, and resources

Schedule a demo to learn how Enrich can help you leverage digital financial wellness to achieve your goals.

1 - https://marketing.trustpilot.com/hubfs/Content%20Marketing/Navigating%20Consumer%20Trust%20in%20the%20Finance%20Industry:%20A%20Global%20Trustpilot%20Report%20(US).pdf

2 - https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2021-04/2021%20Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer%20Trust%20in%20Financial%20Services%20Global%20Report_website%20version.pdf

3 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/statefarm/15019946756/

4 - https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/private-company-services/library/financial-well-being-retirement-survey.html