Customer’s age not necessarily best indication of how they want insurance quotes: survey

A prospective customer’s age is not necessarily a good way of predicting whether they want to get insurance quotes online, but agents need to become adept at using mobile devices and online services such as blogs and social media, a recent report from Accenture suggests.

The report, dubbed “The Digital Insurer,” is based on a survey of 4,000 personal lines property and casualty customers in the United States. 

Respondents were asked questions about how they get insurance information and who they prefer to deal with, such as, “by which channel would you prefer your quote be sent to you?” Answers were broken down by how the quote would be presented and by age group.

For example, 10% of customers ages 18 to 24 said they preferred to get the quote through a mobile app. Of those in the 25 to 44 age group, 5% preferred quotes by mobile app while only 1% in the 45 to 64 age group preferred mobile apps.

But nearly one-third (32%) of respondents ages 18 to 24 preferred to get quotes in person, while only 18% of those between 25 and 44 preferred quotes in person. In the 45 to 64 and 65 to 74 age groups, in-person quotes were preferred by 26% and 39% of respondents respectively.

One in five people 65 and older surveyed preferred to get quotes from websites, while 41% of those in the 45 to 64 age group preferred quotes from websites.  More than half (53%) of those in the 25 to 44 age group preferred to get quotes from a website while only 37% of those aged 18 to 24 did.

These results, according to the report, “serve as a reminder that there are many demographic, psychographic, lifestyle and other factors” accounting for how customers want to be treated.

What do insurers need to do to attain growth in personal-lines #insurance? bit.ly/ZHjc62

— Accenture (@Accenture) April 23, 2013

“Much has been written about young consumers who are entering the market, and how their familiarity with the Internet, social media and mobile devices is changing insurance distribution,” Accenture noted. “The fact is that age is not a decisive and consistent predictor of channel preferences.”

The report was written by Erik J. Sandquist, Accenture’s insurance distribution and marketing business services lead for North America, and Gordon D. McFarland, Accenture’s managing director of global P&C distribution services.

The authors suggest carriers should ensure they have a “digital marketing strategy” and that they store data in modern customer relationship management systems, or with their agents’ computer systems.

“Uses of this data should include sophisticated customer segmentation and the development of data-driven insights that facilitate messages that are relevant and compelling to each individual customer,” Accenture wrote.

“Carriers also need to segment their agent base so that website visitors can be connected with agents who are most likely to make the sale, establish an enduring relationship and grow their share of the customer’s wallet.”

Accenture, whose services include computer systems integration, added insurance agents need to have prospecting and office management tools, as well as collaboration technologies.“Agents should also be trained to become expert at using websites, blogs, social networks, testimonials, mobile devices and any other new digital media to reach and engage with customers wherever and however the customers prefer.”

In the survey, Accenture asked customers how they would prefer to set up their policies and proceed with payments. It broke down answers by “strong preference” and “moderate preference.”

A total of 71% of respondents said they prefer to set up policies and make payments in person with local agents (44% had strong preference and 27% had a moderate preference). About a third (35%) had a strong preference to set up policies and make payments online, while 23% had a moderate preference.

When asked where they go to get information about products and prices, a total of 72% had either a strong or moderate preference to get this information from insurance carriers’ websites. Accenture accepted multiple answers to this question, and a total of 61% said they had either a strong or moderate preference to get such information from family or friends.

About a third (21%) had a strong preference to use Google or another search engine, while 34% had a moderate preference. Nearly half (49%) had either a strong or moderate preference to get this information from independent agents.