Overall, recent surveys bode well for agent/brokers, but also indicate that they may need to change some of their business methods and expand their marketing footprint when it comes to consumer-directed health care and their clients. Essentially, the surveys by Regence Insurance, Information Strategies, Inc. (ISI) and others show a growing trend of individuals and corporate leaders utilizing additional information sources when shopping for and using health care insurance and services. This shift reflects greater usage of the Internet and other sources such as managers of other firms, friends and relatives, social networks and professional organization-sponsored events. Clearly, the Internet is having an impact.
But there are some indications that agent/brokers may be behind the curve in terms of client needs. At the same time, other competitors are using new marketing techniques to win clients. The percentage of business leaders polled by ISI who are dissatisfied with their agent/broker has grown from 7 percent in 2003 to 22 percent in 2007. On average, each yearly survey has included more than 3,000 respondents representing everything from two-person, home-based businesses to Fortune 1000 corporations.
Their responses are in line with ISI data, which show that there is a significant disparity in the role of the agent/broker in the decision-making process for consumer-directed health insurance and other policies. In its latest survey of industry leaders, agent/brokers were rated “most influential” just 34 percent of the time by companies with health savings accounts (HSAs) versus 54 percent for those who had other, non-CDH offerings. At the same time, amongst users of all types of health care insurance programs, agent/brokers have steadily diminished as a primary source of information over the past four years, dropping from 61 percent in 2003 to 49 percent in 2007. The corresponding rise in Internet usage has gone from less than 10 percent in 2003 to more than 45 percent in 2007. Concurrently, the influence of outside managers, friends and family, professional organizations and associations rose from an average of 14 percent to almost 35 percent. Taken together, these figures indicate that agent/brokers need to start rethinking their marketing efforts.
One of the strengths of agent/broker marketing has been the ability to utilize referral and personal contact as a means of building books of business. If a new survey by PQ Media is to be believed, even that channel is being successfully attacked. Programmed usage of directed word-of-mouth (WOM) advertising is growing, with several insurance industry leaders utilizing this approach to win new clients for their agent/brokers.
To give you an idea of the importance of this new channel, spending on WOM is expected to top $1 billion in 2007, making it one of the fastest growing alternative media segments. Driving this growth is the continued consumer shift to alternative media and the marketer's need for increased brand engagement and ROI. These are some of the findings of the first in-depth analysis of the emerging WOM marketing industry.
PQ Media is an industry player who defines WOM marketing as “an alternative marketing strategy supported by research and technology that encourages consumers to dialogue about products and services.” Increasingly, social network members, mostly through online venues, are also advising on purchases.
Agent/brokers fulfill many roles within the healthcare industry, including usage advisor and honest broker between the user and the insurance provider. That role, which reinforces the client/agent/broker relationship, is also under attack, but in a much more subtle way.
A Regence insurance poll of 2,000 residents in the Far West shows a trend toward greater usage of the Internet and other sources to determine when and how they will use their health care insurance. The number of people inclined to comparison shop for medical services such as knee surgery could be much higher than previously thought. In fact, seven out of 10 consumers indicated they would seek out information, such as price and quality for medical services, according to a recent survey of 2,000 people in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah.
The continued success of eHealth and the proliferation of online competitors offer another clue as to the weakening of this bond. In a still unpublished survey by a leading insurance provider, 29 percent of 2,500 respondents said they had utilized the Internet to check on their agent/broker’s proposal and more than half of them said the prices quoted online were less than those from their local provider. Interestingly, more than three-in-four respondents said they went with their local agent/broker in the final decision.
At the same time, 22 percent of agent/brokers polled by ISI said they used Internet insurance sites to check their quotes against other insurance providers.
Taken together, all of these surveys and trends indicate that although insurance has been primarily a locally-based industry, change may be on the horizon.
*For further information or to contact this author, please use the forum below.
But there are some indications that agent/brokers may be behind the curve in terms of client needs. At the same time, other competitors are using new marketing techniques to win clients. The percentage of business leaders polled by ISI who are dissatisfied with their agent/broker has grown from 7 percent in 2003 to 22 percent in 2007. On average, each yearly survey has included more than 3,000 respondents representing everything from two-person, home-based businesses to Fortune 1000 corporations.
Their responses are in line with ISI data, which show that there is a significant disparity in the role of the agent/broker in the decision-making process for consumer-directed health insurance and other policies. In its latest survey of industry leaders, agent/brokers were rated “most influential” just 34 percent of the time by companies with health savings accounts (HSAs) versus 54 percent for those who had other, non-CDH offerings. At the same time, amongst users of all types of health care insurance programs, agent/brokers have steadily diminished as a primary source of information over the past four years, dropping from 61 percent in 2003 to 49 percent in 2007. The corresponding rise in Internet usage has gone from less than 10 percent in 2003 to more than 45 percent in 2007. Concurrently, the influence of outside managers, friends and family, professional organizations and associations rose from an average of 14 percent to almost 35 percent. Taken together, these figures indicate that agent/brokers need to start rethinking their marketing efforts.
One of the strengths of agent/broker marketing has been the ability to utilize referral and personal contact as a means of building books of business. If a new survey by PQ Media is to be believed, even that channel is being successfully attacked. Programmed usage of directed word-of-mouth (WOM) advertising is growing, with several insurance industry leaders utilizing this approach to win new clients for their agent/brokers.
To give you an idea of the importance of this new channel, spending on WOM is expected to top $1 billion in 2007, making it one of the fastest growing alternative media segments. Driving this growth is the continued consumer shift to alternative media and the marketer's need for increased brand engagement and ROI. These are some of the findings of the first in-depth analysis of the emerging WOM marketing industry.
PQ Media is an industry player who defines WOM marketing as “an alternative marketing strategy supported by research and technology that encourages consumers to dialogue about products and services.” Increasingly, social network members, mostly through online venues, are also advising on purchases.
Agent/brokers fulfill many roles within the healthcare industry, including usage advisor and honest broker between the user and the insurance provider. That role, which reinforces the client/agent/broker relationship, is also under attack, but in a much more subtle way.
A Regence insurance poll of 2,000 residents in the Far West shows a trend toward greater usage of the Internet and other sources to determine when and how they will use their health care insurance. The number of people inclined to comparison shop for medical services such as knee surgery could be much higher than previously thought. In fact, seven out of 10 consumers indicated they would seek out information, such as price and quality for medical services, according to a recent survey of 2,000 people in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah.
The continued success of eHealth and the proliferation of online competitors offer another clue as to the weakening of this bond. In a still unpublished survey by a leading insurance provider, 29 percent of 2,500 respondents said they had utilized the Internet to check on their agent/broker’s proposal and more than half of them said the prices quoted online were less than those from their local provider. Interestingly, more than three-in-four respondents said they went with their local agent/broker in the final decision.
At the same time, 22 percent of agent/brokers polled by ISI said they used Internet insurance sites to check their quotes against other insurance providers.
Taken together, all of these surveys and trends indicate that although insurance has been primarily a locally-based industry, change may be on the horizon.
*For further information or to contact this author, please use the forum below.
