Life Insurance Quoting Software
If your life insurance company doesn’t offer online quoting tools for your insurance agents and/or potential clients already, it’s past time to add digital quoting software. Savvy insurers are focused on delivering exceptional, holistic customer experiences. Quoting tools have a place in the customer experience but you need to look at the bigger picture. Zinnia has the expertise and innovative technology you need to deliver an enjoyable buying experience from end to end.
It’s true that life insurance quoting solutions generate leads, and that’s the main reason these tools are so prevalent on comparison sites and insurance agency and carrier websites. It’s also true that these solutions don’t necessarily generate good leads or increase sales.
Life insurance quoting software does play an important role in the buyer’s journey, but it’s not sufficient as a standalone resource for most life insurance companies.
Life Insurance is Confusing
LIMRA has identified the following top three reasons people do not have (or have enough) life insurance:
- It’s too expensive
- Have other financial priorities
- Not sure how much or what type to get
Year after year, as part of its annual Insurance Barometer Study, LIMRA finds that respondents “greatly overestimate” costs. When asked to estimate the annual cost of a 20-year, $250,000 term-life policy for a healthy 30-year-old, more than half of respondents estimate the cost to be $500 or more. The average annual cost is $170 per year, roughly a third of the assumed costs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, when consumers assume they can’t afford life insurance coverage, they prioritize other expenses. Moreover, consumers acknowledge confusion about types of life insurance (e.g., term life insurance, whole life insurance, universal life insurance, final expense, etc.) and the coverage amount they need to protect their loved ones.
More education is clearly needed, and while quoting software can help consumers get a better handle on costs, it can’t help customers understand the different types of policies or which products are best suited to individual needs.
Life Insurance is Hard to Buy
Even when a consumer is ready to buy a life insurance policy, the next steps are not always obvious. How many life insurance quotes should you get? Do you buy directly online? From a startup or an established carrier? Should you purchase through an agent? Is it better to use an independent or affiliated agent? Can your financial advisor sell life insurance? Will there be a medical exam? How long does it take for an application to be approved?
LIMRA’s 2022 Insurance Barometer Study notes there has been a “large consumer shift favoring online life insurance shopping and purchasing.” However, this does not mean that agents don’t have an important role to play. In The Purchase Funnel report by LIMRA, one of the key findings is that “omni-channel carrier capabilities at all points in the shopping process are essential.”
While much of the buying process can be done online, consumers expect to be able to interact with an agent or financial professional as needed through the buying process. In fact, over half of the respondents in the Insurance Barometer Study research agents and advisors online.
Life insurance quoting software does not make life insurance easier to buy. Rather than focusing on quoting software, life insurance carriers need to make it easier to buy life insurance.
Today’s Life Insurance Buyer’s Journey is Hybrid
And it’s a win-win for carriers, advisors, and consumers alike. Let’s break it down.
When a consumer recognizes the need for life insurance, they increasingly begin the buying journey online. Self-education encompasses research on carrier and agent websites as well as social media. For carriers and agents, this means the online customer experience needs to be easy to understand and navigate, to include options for getting questions answered quickly, and to establish trust.
Before soliciting quotes, many consumers benefit from needs analysis to help them understand the type and amount of coverage needed. Savvy carriers and agents are using these inputs to deliver personalized education and product recommendations based on individual consumer needs.
When it comes to digital quoting, it’s no longer enough to quote only one or two simple products. Consumers want to be able to build, adjust, and get quotes for single, multi-product, or multi-insured offerings. And when the consumer has selected the quote that meets their needs, the information should automatically convert into an eApp without the need to re-enter any information.
The eApp experience is critical, and consumers expect to be fully supported from start to finish. This includes the ability to start, edit, and complete life insurance applications with the help of an advisor or by themselves, as well as support multi-product, multi-insured, simple and complex underwriting. Lastly, customers need payment options including pre-authorized debit, credit card, or pay-by-check payment options, the ability to eSign, and receive a PDF summary of the application.
When the application is approved, and the policy is in force, carriers and agents need tools to keep customers engaged and deepen the relationship. If the only time a policyholder engages with your brand is to make a claim, you are missing out on additional touch points that can uncover upsell and cross-sell opportunities, as well as new leads.
Zinnia has the Solutions You Need
Life insurance quote software is important, but also much more effective as part of a larger strategy for providing a great consumer experience. By making life insurance easier to understand and purchase digitally, you will improve conversion rates and placement ratio while meeting the consumer where they are.
From our Hybrid Origination platform to ongoing Engagement & Loyalty, Zinnia has you covered with innovative solutions that will help you deliver exceptional insurance experiences to one and all.
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