How to Improve Sales with Better Data-gathering Techniques (Survey Results Included)
Life drastically changed in 2020 and it doesn’t look like businesses are going to return to what we once called “normal” any time soon.
So over the last several months of last year, we set out to see if we could quantify exactly how much the world was changing, with a specific focus on life insurance companies.
Did remote work impact operational costs and productivity?
How did uncertainty in the markets and workforce impact client acquisition?
What technology gave life insurance reps in the field the biggest boost?
These are just some of the types of questions we wanted to answer. In today’s blog, we’ll illuminate our findings of how life insurance companies are thinking about client acquisition, and how an improved data-gathering process can be a difference-maker in improving their ability to win more clients and grow their businesses.
Trends in Client Acquisition
Client and prospect engagement has been shifting toward digital interactions, and away from in-person touchpoints, for years. That trend accelerated in 2020 even as revenue took a short-term reduction.
In our survey, over 60% of respondents indicated that their new business increased during the summer of 2020 and they were resoundingly positive in their expectations for revenue growth in 2021.
While many commentators are focused on the disruption caused by a full movement to digital engagement, the recipients in our survey appeared relatively unfazed in how that impacted their virtual client engagement process. Nearly 90% told us that they thought it was average to good.
Those high ratings might be an example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, a bias in which people often rate themselves as above average in any number of things—but that isn’t for us to comment on in this blog.
And in an indicator that most firms know there’s still improvement to be made, a full 100% of respondents said they have plans to improve their client engagement experience.
One of the trends we identified for how that’s going to happen, in addition to better technology, is that these firms want to create “advice-led sales” that prioritizes financial planning and a comprehensive financial view for clients.
The Problems with Data Gathering
The desire to provide comprehensive financial planning illuminates the issues that most firms have with data gathering early on in the client engagement process. Namely, how difficult it can be to gather enough data to provide a valuable and complete financial plan early on in the relationship.
And when it comes to improving that complete financial view for clients, 56% of the respondents in our survey listed it as a significant priority. [Fig 41]
Getting a complete view is an important step for a rep to prove they truly “Know Your Client” and it also reveals necessary information for how to provide the best advice that so many companies say they want to lead with.
The problem with data gathering, however, is in how it’s most often done. When clients are asked to self-report their financials, they may forget about or withhold certain information, for various reasons.
When a representative tries to be more active in the data collection process, it’s often time-consuming and can create issues with storing or accessing login credentials for clients.
What reps need is a technology-enabled client process that gets paired with human advice.
4 Steps to Improving Data Gathering
Just under 60% of the responding firms in our survey said that they offer client profiling tools to help with early discovery and preliminary fact-finding. [Fig 27]
Following that, however, 41% said they don’t have a client portal to assist with giving a prospect or client access to the information they might fill out early on. A client portal can also be a tremendous resource and central location for providing remote advice and conducting meetings remotely, but firms without one are missing out on those opportunities too. [Fig 28]
When there’s no physical location to go to, consumers want a “place” where they can go to self-service, access their financial resources, and feel connected to their advisor.
To that end, the firms who don’t already structure their data gathering process with a solid technology backbone can follow these four steps to improve their processes:
Implement a Discovery Tool
There’s no better way to begin a relationship than to give a prospect a voice in it early. Discovery tools that guide them through the process of examining their financial situation become not just a data-gathering exercise, but a way for them to self-analyze and understand what they own. If you run a discovery meeting with Asset-Map’s tools, you can even provide an immediate deliverable so they have a reference to follow up on.Use a Client Portal
The Client Portal gives a prospect or client that “place” where they can grab the information they want and connect with their representative. In a time like now, where meetings are all remote, the advantage can’t be understated in how important these can be in building early trust by providing access to valuable technology. And given the widespread acceptance of cloud technology today, there’s no doubt that portal adoption will only rise and be expected by consumers.
Strengthen Initial Interactions
Whether a rep runs a discovery meeting in-person or virtually, or connects with a prospect after they've filled out a discovery questionnaire, the human element of advice has to kick in to take interactions to the next level. The most important way to ensure that data gathering is accurate and complete is to simply have a conversation and ask the right questions to prompt deeper thinking and uncover anything that might have been missed.Present a Visual Summary
Nothing will stick with a prospect more than a simple visual that summarizes their financial situation. It’s why the Asset-Map report is so impactful—it shows a client everything they own so they know they have complete coverage for all their financial needs.
Starting data gathering with a technology-first approach, and then continuing the relationship with an advice-led engagement that uses visuals to reinforce key messages is the right strategy for life insurance companies and their reps to use in 2021
Want to read more about how life insurance firms are prioritizing advice and planning to grow? Click here to read the full study.