Meeting Customer Expectations
Welcome to the expectation economy. This is an era when consumers enjoy full transparency thanks to the internet. Shoppers now have the ability to easily research products and conduct competitive analysis and benchmarking, maybe even more thoroughly than some corporations.
The internet offers something that wasn’t available to the previous generations of shoppers—ease of communication. In the past a salesperson might get away with not performing at his or her peak. But now anyone can go online and compare prices, experiences and products.
With a product like insurance, it’s difficult to communicate the value to a prospective buyer, when in many instances; they do not have a choice whether to purchase it. But with larger insurance carriers able to compete on price where you, an independent agent cannot, it becomes necessary to compete on some other point.
In an expectation economy, consumers expect more from all the products they purchase from entertainment to yes, insurance. If you cannot provide them an experience that rivals that of your competitors, you will lose them to someone who can. What’s more, you cannot simply copy what your competition is doing.
You must be aware of what is going on in your industry. But besides your direct competition, what could you learn from other industries and the consumer expectations they have set.
In what ways could you improve the experience customers have when they do business with you?
Have a web site. In an increasingly online society, not having a web site is akin to not having a mailing address. Your web page needn’t be elaborate; it’s simply a way for prospects to check you out. Consider using a platform like word press and creating a page with a synopsis of yourself and experience, a section about your company and the people who work there and a listing of your products. If you are interested in developing a more sophisticated site, you may need to employ a web designer. And check out this post about the anatomy of a successful site.
Provide stellar information. Better service your clients by providing better information than your competition. Create whitepapers on your products, so you have something tangible to hand them when you meet. If you don’t have writing expertise, hire a freelancer. It’s important that this information be simple and intelligible. Laypeople don’t have the skinny on the ways to save on the various types of insurance. Show them how and they’ll be yours. Add great content to your website and start seeing yourself rank in the search engines.
Create a commercial. In the internet age anyone can have their own commercial. Check out
These ads on YouTube for some inspiration. You no longer have the excuse that you are a small company with limited resources. It’s easier than ever to put yourself out there.
