Are Agents Finally Taking Up the Digital Challenge?

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When the results of the second Insurance Digital Transformation Survey (www.insurancedigitalrevolution.org) are released in a few weeks, we should see improvement in how agents are adapting to digital technology – more agencies upgrading their websites, adding a client portal or mobile app and using social media more effectively. There will likely be reason to applaud but perhaps not to cheer because significant deficiencies and practical roadblocks continue to remain. In advance of the IDTS survey, our firm conducted a small survey to explore the digital challenges from a different perspective.

For practicality, we kept the survey short and limited it to small-to-mid-sized agencies. Several takeaways jumped out.

First, we found agreement that showcasing “services and expertise” is the most important function for an agency website. No consensus, however, emerged on whether or not each agency derived significant value from it. Slightly more than one-third reported a modest increase in leads and new business while less than one-quarter reported seeing some new business from their websites “but not enough to justify spending more time on it.”

On the positive side, more agents are looking to add features such as mobile apps, chat, video and testimonials. Respondents also expressed greater interest in video and a growing understanding that Google and Facebook are changing the rules of engagement and what it takes to maintain online visibility (SEO).

Marketing takes manpower, so we also asked who performs marketing duties for the agency and how much time they spend. Over half employ one staff member who does the marketing for the agency in addition to other duties. One-fifth reported having a marketing person full-time and another one-fifth had not assigned anyone to perform marketing functions.

In 2016, the first IDTS study showed only 43 percent of agents reported that they operated on a 24/7 basis using staff, automation, or a combination. In our study, we asked agents how they handle after-hours claims. The results produced a mixed bag. Thirty percent said they instruct policyholders to report the details to the carrier first, another quarter only provide voicemail and another 20 percent use an answering service.

One concern: more than half of survey respondents said they either have no access to the metrics of how their website is performing or do not read reports they do receive. Given the large number of technology options available to agencies as well as time and staff constraints, it’s not hard to understand how these metrics could be overlooked. At the same time, however, the critical importance in evaluating the ROI of an agency website cannot be overstated.

These findings indicate two things:

• Too many agencies still don’t know how or take the time to measure the effectiveness of their website, and;
• More agents now see their website transitioning from a “passive” tool to a more dynamic, promotional engine.

Agents can never become complacent about digital technology because the landscape is forever changing – and the pace of change is speeding up as well.

Topics Agencies