That’s what a millennial marketing analyst in the insurance business said about her experiences with her insurance agent. (Millennials were born in the early 80s to the early 2000s.) She complained that, though he was a nice guy, with his current style of selling he called at the wrong times. And he consistently offered her the wrong kind of insurance.
You see, her agent’s mindset was in the past. At the same time, his customer, our young company professional, is firmly entrenched in the fast paced, visitor-centric information age. She resents cold calls about insurance she hadn’t thought about. If she has questions about insurance, she does her research online.
She pays her bills and views her account details online, too. With multiple jobs plus a full class load (these “kids” are very hard workers!) she wants her correspondence through email or online. As she says, “Current insurance buyers today do not want to be ‘sold.’ Instead, they want to do their research, and when they find a suitable company whom they trust, then they will engage in a sale.”
Our millennial cites a study of insurance sales models that concludes, “Many other buyers—especially younger ones—want an approach that is more self-directed, independent and flexible.”
Is this true of other businesses, too? I see studies that prove anywhere from 70%-89% of shoppers research online before buying. And one study had 94% of Business to Business buyers learning about products on the internet before purchase.
She goes on to say that, “Millennials want value that is useful to them when solving their specific problems, presenting new ideas, and sharing new information. By building knowledge, trust, dependability, and credibility, these consumers are more likely to use [their] agent’s advice in future buying processes.”
So what does this mean for you, your business, and your online presence?
It means that if your customers are getting questions answered by doing their research online, you need to be there for them when they do. You must strive for as high a ranking in the search engines as you can get.
Once your visitors find your business, stand out by leveraging your story with clear, engaging content. Be informative. Solve your audience’s problems. Tell them what’s new in your industry. Be generous in sharing relevant information.
Our millennial insurance company marketing analyst advises all of us in business to build knowledge, trust, dependability, and credibility online. If you can solve your customers problems, you’ll gain stature in the marketplace. If you provide products that correlate to your customer’s needs and wants, you’ll pull them into your website…and your business.
This is what our audiences are telling us. Will we listen and change our current style of selling?
Until next time,
Nick
Nick Burns is an SEO web writer specializing in persuasive copywriting and content marketing. He provides clients a winning content strategy plus the special web writing to make it work. You can contact Nick here.
