User-friendly client websites and effective consumer advertising are becoming increasingly important to advisors’ ability to grow their businesses, say those surveyed for this year’s Insurance Advisors’ Report Card.
But, although firms say they are putting more resources into their online consumer platforms and into marketing, many advisors still feel their firms are, to some extent, falling behind in providing these services.
Advisors surveyed for this year’s Report Card rated their firms’ consumer websites at an average of 7.7 in importance, an increase of 0.6 of a point from last year’s survey, and consumer advertising at an average of 7.9 in importance, up 0.2 of a point over the same period. Meanwhile, agents gave consumer websites and consumer advertising average ratings of 7.7 and 7.0, respectively — both representing a decline of 0.2 of a point from last year.
The growing importance of consumer websites stems from the fact clients want access not only to insurance information but also to calculators and quoting tools, many advisors say. Their firms also acknowledge that the online branch of the insurance business will only increase.
“I see information and sales through the [Web] increasing in the years to come,” says Rob Martin, director of marketing, strategy and brand management for Guelph, Ont.-based Co-operators Group Ltd., “particularly for products that are easier for people to understand, such as automobile insurance, simple life products and even home insurance.”
Although the World Wide Web will play a greater role in how clients access insurance products, advisors will always be a part of the sales process, Martin says: “Agents have come to realize that the [Web] is a tool to build their business and to complement it.”
Advisors at Co-operators rated their firm’s consumer website at 7.5, down half a point from last year’s survey. Some Co-operators advisors complained that the firm’s website was difficult to navigate.
“It’s a little confusing,” says a Co-operators advisor in British Columbia.
However, others praised the firm for regularly introducing improvements to the website, including a quoting tool for auto insurance.
“The site provides a high degree of background information and does a good job of positioning and branding Co-operators,” says Martin, who adds that the firm is planning to introduce a home-insurance quoting tool to the website sometime soon.
Advisors at Waterloo, Ont.-based Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. rated their firm’s website at 8.3, up 0.3 of a point from last year, and at 7.7 in importance, up 0.9 of a point from 2008.
Vicken Kazazian, senior vice president of Sun Life’s career sales force, says that the firm’s website provides clients with a variety of planning tools, as well as product and claims information. In March, the firm added a “Today’s Economy” section that deals with the downturn. Further improvements are forthcoming, he adds: “We are in the midst of a project right now to refresh the look of sunlife.ca to align with Sun Life’s global website.”
Furthermore, sales, tools and information provided in Sun Life’s website fit hand in hand with the firm’s belief in the role of agents in providing insurance advice, Kazazian says: “We have been successfully selling our personal health insurance products directly via the Web for a number of years, and have used the opportunity to provide those client leads to advisors.”
Meanwhile, advi-sors with Winnipeg-based Great-West Life Assurance Co. gave their firm’s website a 7.4 in performance, down 0.6 of a point from last year, and a 7.8 in importance, up a significant 1.5 points from last year.
“It’s not user-friendly,” says a GWL advisor in Ontario, “and the client can’t get insurance information.”
As with the firm’s consumer website, GWL advisors rated consumer advertising as an increasingly important factor in their businesses while pummelling the firm for its performance. GWL advisors rated their firm’s consumer advertising performance at 4.3, down 1.1 points from an already low 5.4 in last year’s Report Card. Meanwhile, the importance rating for the category this year was 6.4, up 0.6 of a point from last year.
“They need more advertising to let consumers know who they are,” says a GWL agent in B.C.
Mississauga, Ont.-based RBC Life Insurance Co. saw its performance rating improve the most in the survey in the consumer advertising category, with RBC Life advisors rating their firm at 7.6, up 0.6 of a point from last year.
@page_break@”The more they advertise, the more calls we get,” says an RBC Life advisor in Saskatchewan.
RBC Life focuses its advertising more on products rather than on the brand, says John Hillis, the firm’s head of client strategy: “We like to focus on the advice that our reps and sales agents provide and the expertise that they bring, because that’s part of what of the brand is about — and that’s what our clients are looking for.”
Advisors with London, Ont.-based Freedom 55 Financial rated their firm at 7.6 in consumer advertising, up a slim 0.1 of a point from last year. And although some of the firm’s agents say they were happy with the way the company has communicated its message to clients, others felt the firm was not putting enough resources into advertising.
“We are coasting on Freedom 55’s name,” says an advisor in Ontario.
For the firm’s part, says Mike Cunneen, senior vice president of Freedom 55’s wealth and estate planning group, its most recent advertising campaign, which ran on television and in movie theatres, focused on how its advisors can help consumers build a financial plan based on their particular situations.
“We review our advertising strategy annually,” he adds, “to ensure it continues to support our financial advisors’ business
activities effectively.” IE