4. We Care About the People Behind the Platforms
Insurance can be a cumbersome business, and that is not a secret. The purchase cycle is complicated in our industry, and it is on us to simplify this process for clients. To do this, we need to commit ourselves to developing a deep understanding of buyer behavior and bring disruptive design thinking to our organizations.
Sounds simple, right? This transformation will not be easy, and it will take time. However, the process becomes a lot more feasible when you have the right people behind the data and you keep the client at the forefront.
Amid all this technology and innovation, it can be easy to forget what (or rather who) is really driving this shift in our business. This is about more than technology—it is about expectations and how we exceed them. To make this happen, we need to attract resources from other industries that have done this successfully, we need to change fundamentally the way we work, and we must always start with the end customer in mind.
5. The World Will Never Be the Same
No. 5 was admittedly a different “why” prior to the global lockdown that we are all currently living in. Customer experience is no longer just a trend to watch—it is a top priority for companies that want to remain relevant. Everyone has been thrown into a virtual world and our comfort operating in this realm is increasing faster than ever predicted. Never let a good crisis go to waste, right? How many times have you heard this phrase during the past 40 days? Now more than ever, leaders must understand client needs are evolving rapidly and changes to go-to-market strategies must also accelerate. If you combine this with the changing demographics of the customer base, there is a powerful change afoot. Trillions of dollars in assets will pass from the boomers to younger generations in the coming years, quantifying the opportunity to meet these future customers where they are.
The world is changing, and it is not going to stop. Buyer behavior will dominate the next decade, triggering transformation that will put clients’ needs more firmly at the forefront. We need to think big, empower the people behind the data and recognize the need to revolutionize the way we do business. If the insurance industry does not embrace this new reality, we will lose the race to relevancy. We cannot afford to be left behind.
Aimee DeCamillo is chief commercial officer and president at Jackson National Life Distributors LLC.