Insurance is a unique business. You help people protect their property, health and lives. And you need to constantly look for effective ways to perfect your message. Your competition is right behind you and your customers expect you to use completely different channels and tools to get in touch with them. Especially the one which they use on a daily basis. The problems you have to deal with to stay in the game must be giving you headaches.
Have you ever considered webinars? If not, keep on reading. From this article, you will learn how insurance companies can use webinars to accomplish their business goals. You will also get to know why webinars are a perfect tool to establish a more personal and individual relationship with your audience.
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Challenges the industry has to face
Before we take a look at how webinars can help to deliver your message effectively to your audience, lets briefly discuss the major challenges the insurance sector faces these days.
Technology
Tech issues have been playing an increasingly important role in this industry. It is related to:
- employing the latest technology in products and services,
- the necessity to make the offering available online,
- communication with customers and agency networks.
According to the EY report, the insurance industry will focus on at least five main tech trends that will influence its shape in 2019. One of the trends EY takes a closer look at is the need to digitalize insurance services and products. They want to personalize their approach towards customers and communicate via the channels consumers mainly use.
Referring to the Global Consumer Insurance Survey, you can learn that 80% of consumers are willing to use digital and remote channel options for different tasks and transactions. No wonder more and more insurance companies provide online client portals. The customers can find there an insurance policy, buy it, file a claim, upload all necessary documents and then track their claim processing.
Personal and individual approach
Another challenge the sector faces is the consumers’ need for a personalized approach. They want to be treated individually, and they want personalized products. They expect that companies will do their best to get to know their needs, analyse their situation and, based on that, offer a solution that has been tailored precisely to solve their problems. Besides, they want their communication with companies to be as personalized as possible.
According to the Insurance Top Issues 2019 report by PWC, a personalized customer approach is still relatively new in the insurance sector. However, the companies that are getting it right have lowered acquisition costs, increased customer satisfaction, and gained a corresponding competitive advantage.
As a result, companies from the sector are more and more willing to use machine learning and sophisticated data analytic tools to help their systems “learn” about customers based on their behaviour, choices and actions taken, and adjust products accordingly.
The necessity to conquer new markets and act quickly
Due to the growing competition, companies need to enter new markets and hunt for new customers. The popular promotional and marketing tools, such as brochures and leaflets, are no longer useful. Especially when we take into consideration the fact that Millennials, who are the largest consumer group at the moment, want to have access to information about products and services anytime and anywhere they are, on their mobile devices. So, you need to be quick and use the communication channels your audience uses, too.
How can insurance companies benefit from webinars?
There are many benefits an insurance company can gain using state-of-the-art technologies like webinar platforms. These are:
Effective external communication. The faster you reach out to your audience, and the quicker you present your offer, the bigger the chance they will choose your product. Besides, online meetings on webinar platforms allow you to establish a closer and more personal relationship with your customers and prospects.
Fast internal communication. Your agencies are scattered around many different locations, and you can no longer rely on emails and phone calls. With regular real-time meetings, you will make your and your staff’s lives much easier.
Saving time and money. With webinars, you neither have to spend money on travels nor devote your and your staff’s time to meet in one place to conduct a product demo or soft skills training session.
Building your brand image. When reaching your audience online regularly, not only can you present your product portfolio, but also share knowledge and act as an expert.
Gathering feedback. At a live online meeting, you have the opportunity to learn your audience’s needs, listen to their opinions and get to know more about the challenges they face.
How can you use webinars in communication with customers?
Education and knowledge sharing
Before you offer your customers a specific product or service, consider sharing useful knowledge related to such issues as safety and prevention of dangerous situations. Invite them to a series of webinars with experts and cover one of the exemplary topics:
How to avoid risky situations while travelling abroad;
How to protect your household against fire and robbery while you are on holidays;
The most common traffic hazards and how to identify them while driving a car;
How to act when you are a witness to a car accident;
How to choose an insurance policy so as not to pay for options you don’t need.
If you want your message to reach as many people as possible, considerorganising a webinar. It’s the best communication channel if you are planning to invite a large number of attendees, hold a meeting in real time and interact with participants while hosting it.
You can make it an exclusive event, only for your existing customers, subscribers of your newsletter or your followers on Facebook. You can also use paid ads in Google or social channels to promote your webinar and reach out to prospects. They will surely appreciate the fact you want to share your knowledge with them and may be willing to get to know your offer.
When planning the expert’s webinar, make sure you allow enough time for the Q&A session. Let attendees ask questions they want you to answer. Chances are they will also ask about your products and how you can address problems they need to solve.
Product presentations for customers
When looking for an insurance policy, customers usually start by comparing several offers. They want the lowest possible premium and need to make sure that, in case of emergency, they will get their compensation. They often make use of price comparison websites that are easy to use, but users get no professional assistance there. Based on the data provided by the site, they need to decide which option will be the best for them on their own.
And if, instead of having to look for offers online, they get an opportunity to take part in a live product demo meeting and meet you, an insurance company representative? Yes, it’s a webinar meeting we are suggesting!
Remember that prospects prefer to listen about products they intend to buy. They would rather watch a video about them than read even the most detailed descriptions. Why not invite them to a product demo webinar, make an interactive live presentation and reveal all the benefits they can enjoy?
During a live demo, not only you can showcase your product. You can also start a strong relationship with your prospects. And again, you have the opportunity to gather a huge number of people potentially interested in your offer – in one virtual meeting room.
Product presentations for corporate customers
An important customer group for every insurance business are companies that purchase insurance packages as their employee benefits. Fostering your long-term relationship with them is crucial if you want them to extend their contracts and buy even more products from you.
If you have a subscription on a webinar platform, you can meet your corporate customers online on a regular basis, not only when your contract is coming to an end. A webinar can be a one-on-one event, so you can arrange an individual meeting with each of your customers and make sure the time and date fit their business agenda. During such a webinar you can:
Present a tailor-made product/service;
Discuss new products in your portfolio and how they meet the customer’s needs;
Offer a special discount available for your corporate clients only.
Don’t forget to plan a Q&A session to answer all their questions and do a survey to gather feedback that can be helpful for your future cooperation.
Meetings with the injured party
As you already know, you can invite individual participants to your webinar and have a one-on-one conversation. Why not use this tool to meet with the people who have been involved in an accident or witnessed such an event? Sometimes, a meeting in person is difficult to arrange or not possible at all. In such situations, a webinar platform may prove useful and convenient for both parties.
The tools you can find useful for such a meeting are:
Webinar invitation – send it early enough, provide the time and date of the webinar and include the link to the webinar room;
Waiting room & Agenda – before you start, let them take a look at the Agenda in the webinar waiting room, so they know what issues you are going to discuss and, e.g. what documents they need to prepare;
Q&A session – make sure you have answered all their questions and cleared all their doubts.
How can you use webinars in your internal communications?
Product demo for remote teams
Most insurance companies have a network of agents scattered around a country or even around the world. The HQs must be in regular touch with the teams working there. New products and promotions, new marketing initiatives – your people need daily updates on all of these issues. It would be best to meet in person to discuss them, but it is not always possible due to time and budget constraints.
If you are looking for an alternative to a traditional meeting, think of a webinar. A webinar platform can serve as a meeting point for you and your team and is a perfect place to run a product training session. With webinars, you can see and hear each other, talk in real time and have a great training experience despite the fact you are not in a real meeting room.
The features available on platforms such as ClickMeeting will come in handy when preparing and hosting your online demo:
Presentation slides – show the key features of a new product or key assumptions behind a new discount programme;
Screen sharing – present your team members how to prepare a contract, or fill in the policy forms;
Virtual whiteboard – draw, sketch and take notes during the meeting.
Staff training sessions
Your remote team needs not only a product training session. For sure, they need to develop their sales and marketing expertise as well as improve soft skills.
If you choose a webinar platform to run such events, you will make your and your team’s lives easier. First of all, you can plan regular training sessions without having to spend too much money or devote the time for travelling. You can also adjust the time and duration of each training meeting to your team’s needs. Use the features available to make your training even more effective:
Whiteboard – note down your attendees’ questions;
Audio modes – so everyone has the opportunity to speak;
On-Demand Webinars – make every training available for those who couldn’t participate;
Automated Webinars – save time when you have to repeat the same training session many times a month, and you don’t want to host every one of them live. Record your webinar and prepare a survey you want your attendees to do. You can also attach a video, e.g. an interview and a Call-To-Action button and then you let a webinar platform, e.g. ClickMeeting, do the rest for you.
Enjoy the benefits webinars may bring to an insurance company
Excellent communication with your team, customers and prospects, interactive product presentations, practical training for the staff and knowledge sharing for your audience. All of it will be easier than ever before if you include webinars in your basic marketing toolset.
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