What the insurance industry has been lacking is a technology that truly connects advisors with their clients – the ultimate end-consumer of products and solutions purchased.
“The last mile is the hardest one” is a well-known concept in the logistics industry. Flying a package across the country and loading it onto a truck to travel hundreds of miles is relatively easy compared to the “last mile” of the journey — that is, delivering the package to the right apartment in a certain building on a particular street.
The same could be said of the life insurance industry.
There is an array of digital tools available to advisors today, from CRMs to quoting software, that assists in managing prospects and devising policies. But when it comes to the last mile – actually communicating with a client, handing off the policy, and incorporating a feedback loop between all parties – we’ve seen little innovation.
What the insurance industry has been lacking is a technology that truly connects advisors with their clients – the ultimate end-consumer of products and solutions purchased.
At LegacyShield, our singular focus is to enable advisors to succeed and grow through client connectivity, collaboration, and a consistent and dynamic feedback loop. Our recently launched, advisor-rich software, Link, is designed to close the last mile of the advisor-client relationship, empowering advisors to provide the next level of customer-centricity and efficiently manage their businesses.
Here’s why we think the “last mile” is a critical frontier for life insurance advisors.
The Last Mile Challenges for Advisors
For decades, life insurance advisors have built successful businesses by taking people out to lunch and bringing paper illustrations, applications, and collateral. Even now, it’s common for advisors to ask clients to meet in person so that they can deliver or discuss policies. Despite this, agents that have embraced technology through e-applications or e-delivery still cannot close that last mile since the agent has no further connection to that client and that policy after “delivering” the product.
This traditional way of doing business simply won’t cut it in today’s tech-driven world. Especially now, meeting in person is not the desired option. This is especially true for millennials, the largest generation of life insurance prospects. While the new consumers of life insurance still want to be connected to their advisor and have a personalized experience, convenience is also incredibly important. In fact, the idea of long in-person meetings and mountains of paperwork can be a major deterrent to seeking life insurance at all.
If you ask to meet with a client to give them a policy, that client is probably thinking, “Couldn’t this just be an email?” Yet even email and e-delivery of policies present challenges. Emails have to be encrypted, which can be frustrating and challenging for customers. When they do get the policy in their inbox, do they know what to do with it? Will they remember that it’s there? Can they be certain that it’s secure? Most importantly, how will others know about it?
A more comprehensive solution, one that goes beyond in-person meetings or emails, is needed to solve the last mile problem. And while it may seem counterintuitive, the right technology will actually generate more communication and more sales than ever before.
Solving for the Last Mile with Link
Research increasingly shows that insurance customers are not happy with minimal to no communication. A recent Nationwide survey found that, while 94% of advisors think they regularly check in with customers to ensure they’re meeting clients’ needs, only a portion of customers reported sufficient communication. This perception gap is explored in our recent blog post, Insurance Agents: Your Clients Don’t See You as You Do. Conversely, clients who regularly communicate with their insurance advisors are 74% more likely to recommend their advisor to others.
That’s why our team at LegacyShield has developed Link, a digital platform that provides robust communication and connectivity between advisors and clients at all stages of the customer journey.
Link acts as a secure virtual workspace where:
- advisors can easily and securely receive and deliver client information (such as life insurance policies) and share any other information with their clients;
- clients can work within the platform, inputting important information and directly messaging their advisor; and
- advisors get alerts and advanced insights when their clients work within their account, making it easier to identify gaps in coverage and proactively recommend increased insurance coverage or financial solutions.
A New Path to Success for Life Insurance Advisors
Link closes the last mile by providing an easy-to-use and secure platform where advisors and clients can connect and share information.
But the benefits of a collaborative platform extend beyond that. Insurance advisors who collaborate with clients are more likely to retain clients, increase sales among current clients, and get more recommendations.
In an era when insurance competition is increasing and direct-to-consumer insurtech companies are selling insurance without advisors in the mix, it’s critical to meet and go beyond the evolving needs of life insurance customers.
By offering convenience, collaboration, and a relationship-oriented approach to life insurance, you will not only build trust among your current clients but also build a multigenerational book of business for years to come.
To learn more about Link by LegacyShield and how it works, check out our post: Let’s Link – Collaborate with Clients in a Secure Virtual Workspace.
