Good news for worksite marketing prospects: Nearly 20% of Americans who shop for life insurance do so through their workplace — and 75% of those shoppers went on to buy life insurance, according to a recent LIMRA survey. However, the survey also reveals several missed opportunities for producers.
Eight in 10 workplace shoppers feel their producer is very knowledgeable about insurance in general and provides good information about the policy, while nearly three-quarters feel they can trust their producer. Even so, almost half of workplace shoppers say their producer failed to follow up with them — a third of workplace shoppers who didn’t buy said that they were not finished shopping. Additionally, four in 10 workplace shoppers didn’t feel that their producer considered what they could actually afford. More than a third report not receiving enough product options.
There are three things that workplace producers can do to improve, according to the survey, LIMRA’s U.S. Life Insurance Buyer-Nonbuyer study, which targeted only consumers who “seriously shopped” for life insurance over the past two years:
1) Since workplace shoppers tend to be younger and less experienced, producers should ensure these consumers fully understand the products and how they work.
2) Provide additional information if needed during the decision-making process, such as printed reference materials or a link to information online.
3) Follow-up with the shopper.
“We were surprised to see so many workplace shoppers feeling that they needed more follow-up from the sales rep, which was a significantly higher percentage than we found for consumers who shopped through other channels,” says Kim Landry, analyst at LIMRA group product research. “Our behavioral economic research indicates that consumers may need time to consider their decision and, as our study found, if we don’t follow-up with them, we may be leaving money on the table.”
After all, much of the work is already done for brokers, as nearly one third (30%) of workplace shoppers for life insurance products reveal they shop simply because the product is offered to them at work.
“More and more people are turning to their place of work to get the financial products they need,” says Landry. “Clearly, the convenience of having the resource at their place of work coupled with the feeling of security felt by working with someone their employer has (implicitly) approved, are drawing consumers to this channel.”
The survey reveals workplace shoppers also have higher average incomes than other shoppers and tend to have more investable assets.
Life triggers — like having or adopting a baby or changing their marital status — are most likely to drive people to shop for insurance. Similarly, in the workplace, a change of marital status or a new baby round out the top three reasons consumers say they shopped for life insurance.
The study finds workplace shoppers are more likely to be male than female (55% vs. 45%), more than three-quarters are married or living with a partner, while a majority have children under 18 in their households.
