Tools can be really helpful when they are well designed and easy to find. It is not enough however to build a tool and put it online—it needs to be integrated properly with other content so that it is available to the right consumers when they need it. At the very least, adding a tool cannot cause confusion.
While recently reviewing ‘How Much Do I Need’ calculators on twenty leading US Life Insurance sites, we came across a situation where a confusing link to a useful tool could well lead to task abandoment or at least annoyance.
The graphic below was on the main life insurance page of a leading insurer. Although it appears to link a calculator, it instead leads to a life insurance quote engine.
There is a calculator on the destination page but you have to complete step one of the quote process before you can use it. Unless you have time and patience, the chances are you wouldn’t do that. Most people would just get slowed down in mid-task, and many would get annoyed.
This is a pity, because the calculator itself is well designed and ranked highly against competitors, and people that would find it while in the ‘get a quote’ task mindset would probably love it. So the issue is that the expectation formed by the link is not met by the destination.
The linking confusion is compounded by the fact that this company actually does have another (standalone) calculator linked from the end of the main life insurance page.
On most sites tasks aren’t managed: content is. Each department has its own content and puts it up on the website. On the other hand, consumers don’t think in terms of departments; they think in terms of their own tasks. This is why it is important that companies get staff to manage tasks rather than functional departments.
If there had been someone properly managing the ‘How Much Do I Need?’ task on the site from which the example above was taken, they’d almost certainly have ensured that this confusion did not arise.
Customer-centric, task-focused design should always be at the top of the agenda when adding new content is being considered.
State Farm has continued to improve its site with a redesigned life insurance section. Last month we showcased the new homepage, featuring a de-cluttered, task-focused look that sought to simplify and speed up the user experience. This design philosophy has now been extended to new site areas and represents a considerable improvement.
The new version of State Farm's life insurance main page (above) is significantly more user-centric than the old (below)
This has not been a cosmetic redesign. The colors, fonts, and graphic elements are largely unchanged. Instead, what matters most to site visitors has been radically overhauled: the words, the local navigation, and the content.
We’ll look at the changes in detail in the future (in our customer-only publication Insurance Website Review), but some of the key improvements include:
- Removal of material irrelevant to people researching life insurance from content area
- Addition of content that facilitates easy product comparison
- ‘Get a quote’ and ‘Find an agent’ are integrated prominently within the page design
- Extension from the home page of task-oriented language that resonates with visitors
- Introduction of expanded local left-sided navigation menu
State Farm’s site improvements reinforce the message that we have been communicating for years. Site content and navigation, along with the words chosen for links and general text, needs to align with customer expectations. People come to websites with tasks in mind. The two challenges for companies are firstly to know what the expectations are, and then to tailor the site design accordingly (or rebuild it from scratch).
Company-centric designs – where content is added just because one department or another thought it was a good idea, or for political reasons monthly newsletters – are going the way of the dinosaur. Successful site design comes from knowing with site visitors are expecting, and knowing what they want to do on your site. Good design, of any form, is not a form of artistic expression, and is only successful when it puts the user first.
The page heading on State Farm’s main life insurance page now reads ‘Life insurance just got easier’. For site visitors, this is certainly the case.
So, what are your impressions of the updated site? Do you have a site (in insurance or financial services) that deserves to be showcased?
Life Insurance - "It doesn't have to be complicated"
We have reviewed the websites of Life Insurance companies for seven or eight years and, if pushed for a summary, I would say conservative, even dull but with a lot of complicated content. But there is a real sense of change in the air. No longer are websites simply brochureware assuming the consumer will end up calling the local agent anyway.
There is growing realization and acceptance that consumers want to be in control, at least for the research stage. Online consumers have become accustomed to comparison shop, to seek out multiple options, to ignore brand loyalty. The message is being heard, at least in some insurers, and websites are responding in kind.
Some of the key trends are:
- Many insurers are attempting to demystify life insurance describing it as fun, uncomplicated even simple
- More insurers are providing clearly labelled steps though the research process by addressing “what type of insurance do I need?”, “How much do I need” and “What will it cost me”
- Cost estimation tools are more common, simpler to use and even allow various options to make coverage fit the need or the available budget.
- More insurers are offering instant access to licensed agents through chat or an immediate telephone call backs
- Some insurers are even reaching out to potential customers using social media, interactive social games and engaging micro-sites
- Insurers are starting to understand the power of paid search, long a domain of aggregators, to reach consumers looking for a solution rather than a company
- While still in its infancy, some insurers are already using user ratings and reviews, made popular when buying a camera or TV, but now for Life insurance
- While it is still not the norm yet to be able to buy Life Insurance online, there are more options even though they tend to be at a higher cost
I never thought I would say it but insurers are getting innovative, using techniques that work in other industries and getting the point that while they might judge themselves against each other, the consumer judges them against the wider web world that includes Amazon, Expedia, Progressive and Fandango.
So who is the best? Based upon our common set of objective criteria, numbering over 200 measurements, 26 insurer sites were reviewed. The criteria covered Navigation, Usability, Customer Content and Self Service and availability of options to engage in a dialog.
The top five insurers, in no order, each who have made substantial site changes in the recent months are:
- MetLife,
- Mutual of Omaha,
- Thrivent Financial,
- Western & Southern Life and
- Nationwide Life
Overall, the average score for the industry has risen but only by a relatively small amount. This is partially because of a widening gap between insurers that focus increasingly on the need of the consumers, and others that view the website as a necessary tool to support the job of the local agent. The sites that more support the agent model typically provide limited information, fewer or no interactive tools and no immediate dialog options. They prefer not to pre-empt the agent to consumer conversation. The question for those companies might be whether that conversation will take place.
View a summary briefing of the study
Term life insurance is the simplest type of life insurance policy. It is very easy to understand, it works like this: You typically pay a fixed amount per month for your beneficiaries to receive a fixed and agreed payout on death. It is a cost-effective way to provide a security blanket for a set time-period that might cover a mortgage, kids in college or expenses that would otherwise ruin your family in the event of your death; at the end of the period, it has absolutely no value.
It is easy to understand primarily because this is how most people see insurance; it is how we buy car insurance. We pay, hoping never to use it and at the end of the year, we pay it again. The parameters could not be easier, the younger and healthier you are, the cheaper the coverage. So why is it hard to buy?
Insurance companies prefer us to consult with a local agent that can guide us through this complex financial transaction. Is this just the way of the world? Should we accept that we must have this consultation with an agent who will make an admirable attempt to place a life insurance policy within the big picture of our retirement planning, net-worth management and inheritance planning? All these are good things and financial planning is highly advisable but what if we really do just want to buy a term life policy?
Barriers always create alternatives and web aggregators have sprung up offering us competitive insurance quotes in part to satisfy the growth in the Google search term ‘life insurance quote’. Aggregators often insist upon extraordinary amount of personal information and we accept a multitude of agents calling our homes.
A growing trend might derail the process and that is retail insurance. Term life is a becoming a commodity and if you want it, increasingly you can go online and buy it. In the US, this trend is slow, just a handful of smaller providers, but across the pond in the UK, they are fast saying ‘cheerio’ to the old ways. Life insurance sites are starting to look a lot like retail sites, stepping the consumer through a easily understood process. A quick estimate can be followed with a full online application and finally a purchase. A look at a screen shot for AVIVA, the UK largest insurer is typical; it follows all of the rules and best practice for retail buying online.
Online Application for AVIVA term life insurance
A progress bar shows the consumer where they are in the process and the hesitant consumer can call out to get help or request a call back. If any information is not available, the consumer can save and come back later. Specific concerns are addressed contextually with online help and the VeriSign badge provides security assurances. In short, while it is not perfect, it is a simple online retail application for term life insurance.
Of course, the agent cannot advise of us of all the products we could and should be buying and maybe more than a few people will make mistakes by self-serving. But, maybe more people will take out life insurance if it is simpler and avoid disasters for their families.
When will we see online life insurance in the US? It is here already but not in the same volume as in the UK but it surely is a matter of time.
MetLife recently announced a new set of online life insurance tools (www.metlife.com/straightstory). While online tools are not especially newsworthy, the change it represents in the life insurance sales model is far more wide reaching. Calculators can be are easily built; sales model adjustments are hard. We have witnessed the effect Progressive and GEICO had on the auto insurance sector; can we expect the same changes in life insurance?
For so long, insurance has been sold through distribution networks and agents. The role of the website has been to compliment that approach. The consumer, on the other hand, is turning more and more to the internet to get answers with a less than stellar experience.
According to Beth Hirschhorn, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for MetLife, “Buying life insurance is challenging for even the most motivated. Of those people who say they will buy life insurance, research shows that more than 80% will fail in their attempt.”
Part of the problem for consumers is the disconnect between what they want from a website and what is provided. Companies are hesitant to provide information online that could make an agent call redundant – after all people buy from agents, and research is clear on that point. Consumers however have simple questions not addressed:
- What type of insurance is right for me?
- How much coverage do I need?
- How much will this cost?
Consumers often assume coverage will be expensive and the lack of easy-to-find cost information halts the buying process early on. Those who want to proceed on to buy are often hesitant to engage with an agent too early and are then confronted a complicated and cumbersome process.
There is however, a very willing marketplace. According to Strategic Research Insights Macromonitor Consumer Study, nearly six in ten middle class households recognize the need to increase their life insurance and half of these households intend to buy coverage in the next year.
MetLife’s new online tools are intended to make it easy to get a no-obligation quote without entering personal information (and without any sales pressure). They have added instant response options such as “Click to Call” and “Click to Chat” to help consumers get immediate answers to questions.
According to MetLife, they want to provide consumers with “an experience that’s intuitive, relevant and groundbreaking in its simplicity”. Life insurance and simplicity are rarely used in the same sentence.
“What’s good for the consumer is good for MetLife. By spending months ‘walking in our customers’ shoes,’ we recognized the buying process was less than ideal. That’s why we are changing the customer experience now with more improvements to be introduced in the near future,” added Hirschhorn.
So what happens to the sales channel? The channel may change but that is going to happen anyway, it must. Some of the key questions for carriers are:
- Will a consumer that has a clearer idea of their need be more inclined to buy?
- Will your prospects look elsewhere to get educated and quotes, if so will they return?
- Will consumer still buy from agents but from those companies that work with them through the initial quoting process?
The growth of online aggregators shows that consumers want to comparison shop and are willing to disclose a lot of information to do so. The question is whether carriers can afford to stay on the side during this process. Much of that comes down to brand or agent loyalty but unfortunately, loyalty is at an all-time low.
