Erin Kelly, President & CEO, Advanced Symbolics Inc.
Recent innovations in market research and engagement make it easier for businesses in every industry to measure customer sentiment in real-time and even test market messages before publishing them. These capabilities have been enabled by the ability to do statistical modelling on social media populations, a feat that wasn’t possible until very recently. Now, with the ability to construct representative samples, select A.I. research companies can accurately assess customer opinion. With added data from customers—combined with these social samples—we can accurately forecast sales and other outcomes as well.
What our A.I. Polly™ discovered when she turned her digital gaze to conversations on insurance should be welcome news to every insurance broker—a number of conversations focused on the expertise of insurance brokers. Many of the consumers were speaking about insurance packages they received from banks compared with insurance received through brokers, with consumers voting the latter to be significantly superior when crisis hit.
Three pivotal events in 2022 served to impress upon policyholders the value of having a broker who is a knowledgeable expert in her field.
The first conversation was spurred by the invocation of the Emergencies Act after the Freedom Convoy occupation of Parliament Hill in January and February 2022. On February 14th, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, which sowed confusion among truckers as to whether their vehicle insurance was still valid. While only affecting a minority of commercial vehicle owners, this was a loud cohort who shared their lives on social media. Insurance representatives who were responsive and knowledgeable quickly stood out from providers that were not. And while no one had all the facts early on, being responsive and working hard to provide alternatives for clients really stood out and got airplay. Consumers, even those who were not affected by this legislation, were taking note.
“Insurance brokers have an incredible opportunity right now to connect with customers while they’re open to learning about the fine print of various insurance policies.”
The next two events in 2022 that pushed up the conversation regarding insurance policies were the derecho that hit in May and the disastrous travel experiences that hit Canadians through the summer of 2022. The derecho for obvious reasons—so many homes and cars were damaged that insurance companies were overwhelmed. To add insult to injury, supply chain problems meant that loaner cars were hard to come by and skilled trades were in short supply. People with great insurance programs got better support: longer car leases when their car took longer in the shop and longer stays at secondary accommodations while they waited for work to be completed. Those with less robust policies did not receive this support and ended up paying out of pocket. They vented online and said out loud that they wished they’d paid slightly more for their insurance so they would not be out thousands of dollars.
Likewise, with travel insurance through the summer. Good policy? When your flight is cancelled, you are staying at the Ritz while the less fortunate make do with an airport bench. Worse, with so many people travelling this year, incidents of sickness while abroad increased. People were very angry when they discovered their medical insurance wasn’t what they thought it was. We saw many people advising their friends to beware and pay more for a policy that won’t leave them in a financial lurch should the unthinkable happen. Brands were outted online. Suffice it to say that people were very engaged on having a knowledgeable insurance advisor.
Following these, we saw an uptick in customers looking for more detailed information on insurance packages. Not satisfied with prices, we saw customers engaging with material that went into deeper detail. And, most of the material consumers engaged with came from the industry itself. Almost 15% of all information read by consumers online was authored by brokers. That compares to less than 2% coming from other sources including mainstream media such as the CBC and The Globe and Mail. Of the 15% that read a broker article, 9% went on to check out that broker’s website. So, putting out content is key. And most businesses would be thrilled to be the #1 source of news for their prospective customers!
That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that most brokers were not putting out the content consumers craved. When our A.I. surveyed a representative sample of broker social channels and websites, we saw that—after responsiveness—the most commonly talked about item was the price. Expertise was number four. Additionally, the broker content mentioned earlier that was being read by consumers was being put out by only a handful of brokers.
Insurance brokers have an incredible opportunity right now to connect with customers while they’re open to learning about the fine print of various insurance policies. It is time to reach out to them.