Life insurance sales conversion rates could become 3-5x higher, according to a new study by BCG, Income Insurance and ZA Tech which explores how to successfully turn digital leads into high value insurance sales.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many industries have accelerated towards adopting and applying more digital approaches within their workflow.
However, in insurance, digital sales still only account for a small fraction of sales. Recent research by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that only one in eight insurance customers preferred a “fully digital insurance purchase journey.”
Interestingly, for more complex life insurance products, this rate was even lower. Data shows that around 70% of customers wanted to complete at least parts of the journey digitally, which could include getting advice, comparing quotes, or finally applying for and buying an insurance policy. Additionally, the data also showed that these customers wanted to switch between online and offline channel seamlessly too.
In addition, a vast number of insurers have been investing in partnerships with such platforms to sell micro-insurance products and generate new leads for their insurance business. However, according to the study. few have been able to successfully convert such digital leads into high-value, long-term life insurance sales.
Furthermore, the whitepaper conducted by the three firm’s pinpoints five key omni-channel success factors that potentially could drive growth.
Firstly, there is Seamless cross-channel journeys, which highlights how since customer preferences are fluid, a seamless continuity across channels and stages is vital, as data and context need to be carried over in real-time without any process repeats.
This is then followed up by Continuity of a serving “bionic” advisor, which addresses how customers need to be paired up with a best-suited, dedicated advisor to ensure an end-to-end trusted relationship.
Next up is high-quality, pre-nurtured leads, which reflects on how insurance is a low engagement product, therefore suggesting that multi-stage nurturing initiatives need to be established with platform partners to gently push and warm up leads for the advisors.
The fourth factor states how attractive lesser people are likely to spend thousands on life insurance after encountering an offer on a digital platform, therefore affordable entry-level insurance products bridge this gap, providing a gentle introduction to life insurance.
The last factor is Plug-and-play integration in partner platforms, which suggests that insurance is hardly ever a digital platform’s top priority. However, it argues that to become a partner of choice, insurers need to provide a “zero tech integration effort” solution, allowing platforms to seamlessly work with insurers with minimal effort on tech build and integration.
