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How Millennials View the Insurance Industry

Written by: Sabah Karimi
Published on: Jul 26, 2016

Millennials

They’re young, healthy, and busy planning their futures, but how many millennials are even thinking about insurance? According to new research from Mintel, more than 50% of millennials say that insurance companies are more trustworthy now than they were five years ago. More than half also agree that insurers are looking out for their best interests which means these consumers may also look to their insurance agent as a trustworthy advisor.

What Does this Mean for Insurance Agents?

Building relationships with these customers is still a high priority. Keeping up with the times by adopting the latest technologies and connecting with these customers in places where they frequent — for example, Facebook — can help to strengthen these relationships. Today’s tech-savvy insurance agent may find it easier to reach out to this target market and provide exactly what the individual needs.

And when millennial customers are looking at prices, the agent can step in and provide information that will help them make the most informed choice. Providing access to innovative products, price comparison tools, and directing the individual to quoting tools can be an important part of the sales process. It allows the agent to serve as a trustworthy guide as the customer is making their decision. Insurance companies that monitor how these customers are using different tools, what they are shopping for more frequently, and what types of questions keep popping up can close the sale faster.

Millennial Insurance Shopping Behaviors

According to the same study from Mintel, insurance apps are not yet fully adopted by this market. While many millennials are comfortable shopping for other products and services online, doing online research and communicating with each other using different apps, buying insurance falls low on the list. Intel reports that only one in five consumers with auto insurance have downloaded a mobile app linked to their insurance policy and only 14% have downloaded a life insurance app.

So how are millennials shopping for insurance?

According to this report by Applied Systems, the experts at InsuranceNewsNet report that millennials turn to family members and other people they can trust to make important decisions. The majority rely on referrals and seek out a trusted advisor when buying homeowners insurance. They prefer to call direct over online interactions and about one-third prefer in-person communications.

And since digital technology is an important part of this generation’s daily life, agents will fare well by becoming more social and engaging with their clients in innovative ways. This may be something as simple as managing a Facebook Page or being active on Twitter, positioning yourself as an insurance expert and providing valuable content for this generation to consume. It may be more involved with email marketing and eBook downloads that educate these customers about their options and help to strengthen the agent-customer connection.

Overall, millennials have a positive view about the insurance industry and are willing to make in-person connections with an agent they can trust. While many still turn to social media for entertainment and communicating with their peers, the latest trends reveal more than half are still shopping for insurance the ‘old-fashioned’ way.

Learn more about the latest insurance jobs catering to the millennial market and other consumer groups.