In its annual 2022 Insurance Barometer Study, LIMRA reports that the life insurance need-gap – the difference between survey respondents that say they “need” life insurance versus those that say they “have” it – continues to grow. Estimates on the market value for the “unmet” need for life insurance vary, but LIMRA estimates that it encompasses more than 100 million Americans and trillions of dollars.  

That’s a huge untapped market opportunity. 

We explored some of the reasons behind the ever-widening need-gap in a prior post and concluded that the experience of purchasing life insurance products has simply been too difficult. It’s one of the reasons that Zinnia is prioritizing the consumer experience of life and annuities.  

We believe that delivering exceptional consumer experiences is integral to growing the market for these important products, and we’re not alone. 

Capgemini recently released its “Top Trends in Life Insurance 2023” report to provide life insurance carriers with “practical tools to navigate the complex scenarios ahead and help prepare your organization for the future of insurance.” Not surprisingly, the first four trends are driven by the consumer experience.  

We’ll take a closer look at each of the top four customer-centric trends as identified by Capgemini, and how Zinnia can help. 

Trend 1: “Agents empowered with digital capabilities increase productivity and customer engagement” 

Just as Zinnia places a premium on the Advisor Experience, so, too, does Capgemini – recognizing the crucial role advisors play in life insurance sales and the consumer experience. Today’s life insurance customer expects to be able to digitally interact with advisors, so advisors need digital engagement tools as they educate, onboard, and continue to support policyholders.  

Some of the benefits that the right digital tools enable include:  

  • Faster time from quote to policy 
  • Expanded distribution networks 
  • Visibility into the customer journey and personalization 
  • Policyholder retention and increased customer lifetime value 
  • Advanced analytics for data-driven decision making 

Capgemini notes that “This shift will provide material benefit for insurers,” and we agree.  

The future of life insurance is already here. The Zinnia Hybrid Origination platform delivers exceptional digital buying experiences with a suite of tools that address the end-to-end buying lifecycle from lead to in force policy. Zinnia Engagement & Loyalty deepens the consumer-carrier relationship. 

Trend 2: “Ecosystem partnerships offer a path to innovative financial value propositions” 

Capgemini notes that “Life Insurance is a strong pillar towards financial stability” and encourages insurers to collaborate with ecosystem partners that can deliver “personalized experiences to help policyholders achieve long-term financial goals.”  

Benefits to working with an ecosystem partner include: 

  • Speed to market with policyholder engagement solution and opportunities for value-added services 
  • Ability to offer personalized engagement experiences and modern CX 
  • Data and analytics that deliver insights to create personalized action plans and uncover cross and upsell opportunities. 
  • Risk reduction 

According to Capgemini: “By offering customers incentives such as rewards and policy discounts for healthy financial behavior, life insurers will earn trust – leading to better and deeper customer relationships.”  

The leading SaaS engagement platform, Zinnia Engagement & Loyalty is a great example of the type of ecosystem partner Capgemini describes. Engagement & Loyalty uses behavioral science and positive psychology to educate and motivate policyholders to improve their financial, physical, and emotional well-being while driving key metrics for carriers.  

TREND 3: “Embedded life insurance offers convenient right time, right channel accessibility” 

Meeting consumers where they are is key to reaching new customers and reducing the life insurance need-gap. Capgemini suggests that embedded insurance will also “boost growth among underserved customer segments.”  

The LIMRA 2022 Insurance Barometer Study identifies people of color (primarily Hispanic or Black), younger generations (18-41), women, and lower income households (> $35,000) as those with the highest need-gap. 

Benefits to “right time, right channel accessibility” include: 

  • Serving previously untapped markets 
  • Creating new revenue streams through cross selling and bundling 
  • Reducing distribution costs 

Capgemini notes that “the transition to embedded insurance is not as straightforward as it appears” given regulatory requirements and complex underwriting, among other factors. And while Zinnia is actively exploring embedded insurance opportunities, we do not have a solution in the market.  

Meanwhile, where we can deliver “convenient right time, right channel accessibility,” we absolutely do. Both Hybrid Origination and Engagement & Loyalty help insurance companies meet consumers when and where they want to be met so carriers can deliver on the promise of the future of life insurance today. 

TREND 4: “Wellness-as-a-service initiatives deepen customer engagement” 

Zinnia has been well out in front of this trend with Engagement & Loyalty: Our platform has long featured a holistic approach to wellness. Capgemini identifies this trend for “future-focused life insurers,” an apt description of Zinnia Engagement & Loyalty customers. 

Benefits of “Wellness-as-a-service” include:  

  • A better understanding of customer behavior and needs 
  • More frequent engagement through personalized services 
  • Opportunities to create new customer value propositions 
  • Risk prevention through better visibility 

Capgemini notes that “A Wellness-as-a-Service framework can enable insurers to advance from a focus on transitions to one that builds relationships via hyper personalized experiences…” We know this to be true, and we’re here to help you make the transition. 

Final Thoughts on Trends  

At Zinnia, we choose to leave the prognosticating to the industry analysts and consultants. The fact that we are ahead of most trends is thanks to decades of industry expertise and advanced technology in service of delivering exceptional insurance experiences. 

Helping our customers deliver exceptional insurance experiences is at the heart of everything we do at Zinnia. By delivering a great consumer experience, we are ensuring that the future of life insurance is bright. At Zinnia, we want to expand the market for life and annuities so families that want life insurance coverage can get it more easily. We want to close the insurance gap once and for all! 

 

Read further on life insurance solutions.