Insurance advisors have to find more creative ways of prospecting and engaging clients as individuals increasingly go online for information rather than seeking out professional advice, industry experts said on Wednesday.

At the 2013 LIMRA and LOMA Canada Annual Conference in Toronto, panelists discussed the changing face of insurance distribution in Canada. As consumer expectations and behaviours evolve, they said, insurers and advisors must adapt.

“Consumers think differently today, so we’ve got to sell them differently today,” said Frank Santa-Donato, special consultant with LIMRA International. “We have to understand their needs differently, we have to provide different solutions.”

In part, the changes stem from the fact that consumers have gained access to an endless supply of information online. They now have access to far more educational resources than they used to, and are effectively bombarded by information on a daily basis. As a result, they’re less dependent on financial advisors for information.

“It’s a lot more difficult to get in front of these consumers today than anytime before, because they’ve got so much information coming at them,” said Perry Badham, financial center manager with Sun Life Financial Inc.

Adding to the problem is the fact that clients are busier than ever, and have become accustomed to getting instant access to products and services: “They want something quick,” said Badham. “They’re not prepared to give you the time.”

The result, Badham said, is a much lengthier prospecting process. He said advisors must now spend much more time cultivating relationships with prospective clients before clients will agree to sit down with you.

Trust is a critical part of this cultivating process, and must be established very early on, according to Santa-Donato. “Trust is something that has become more and more of a premium,” he said. “Trust is the currency of the new economy.”

Younger clients, in particular, have very different expectations when it comes to purchasing products and services and communicating. In order to begin establishing relationships with this huge generation of future clients, the panelists said, the industry must begin meeting these expectations.

“We, as an industry, have to become much more creative in how we start to engage that younger generation,” said Michael Hamilton, senior vice president of sales and distribution at RBC Insurance.

For instance, advisors may need to tweak their sales process. Although face-to-face meetings are still considered the ideal way of closing a sale – and likely always will be – some clients prefer to discuss their insurance needs with their advisor via email.

“We would never have done that before,” said John Hamilton, president and CEO of Financial Horizons Group. However, he said some clients are demanding it. “They don’t give you the time, and you have to be able to adapt to what your consumer wants.”

Les Herr, president and CEO of Empire Life, said the industry needs to do a better job of keeping up with changing consumer expectations. “We truly, I think, as an industry, aren’t as connected to our customers as we might think we are,” Herr said.

He called on the industry to get a better handle on what clients want. “We need to pick up our game,” he said.

As client engagement strategies evolve, however, the fundamental principles of insurance sales have not changed, the panelists noted. Ultimately, individuals buy life insurance in order to protect their loved ones, and advisors should not lose sight of this timeless notion, said John Hamilton.

“In many ways, it hasn’t changed at all,” he said. “The product that we sell is future security…at the end, the buyer is still buying for the exact same reason they did 35 years ago.”