{"id":13313,"date":"2018-12-21T10:45:04","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T15:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/Life-Insurance-Blog\/deloittes-2019-insurance-agent-outlook-stay-optimistic\/"},"modified":"2018-12-21T10:45:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T15:45:04","slug":"deloittes-2019-insurance-agent-outlook-stay-optimistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2018\/12\/21\/deloittes-2019-insurance-agent-outlook-stay-optimistic\/","title":{"rendered":"Deloitte\u2019s 2019 Insurance Agent Outlook: \u2018Stay Optimistic\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Consumers may go online to get information about life insurance, but advice from an agent is still a big part of the insurance-buying process.<\/p>\n

That was the word from Deloitte\u2019s annual Insurance Industry Outlook for 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found that consumers want to do self-directed research when they are interested in buying life insurance. And then, after they do the research and talk with family and friends, they still want to talk to an advisor,\u201d said Gary Shaw, Deloitte vice chairman and U.S. leader for insurance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also found that 25 percent of consumers said they were interested in going direct and buying life insurance online, but only 10 percent actually do.\u201d<\/p>\n

What this means is that consumers acknowledge that the life insurance purchase decision is significant, said Kevin Sharps, a principal in the Deloitte Consulting Insurance practices. \u201cBut the opportunity for the advisor to show up at the right point in time around the point of sale and provide the right amount of advice is becoming narrower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carriers are still spending much effort advertising their products to consumers, Shaw said. But the flat rate of premium growth shows that \u201cit\u2019s just not moving the needle.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing that the researchers found, Sharps said, is that the life insurance industry is prepared to serve high net worth individuals but not the middle market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not bringing consumers in from that middle market and growing with their needs,” he added. “Consumers still very much value advice and they want and need an advisor around the purchase process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The industry used to depend on its agent field force to educate consumers about life insurance, he said. But he foresees that field force being replaced by what he called a carrier\/advisor\/consumer partnership.<\/p>\n

He described it as \u201cbuilding the right kind of digital marketing capabilities that generate awareness and then routing the right consumer to the right advisor at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what should an advisor do in the new year?<\/p>\n

\u201cStay optimistic,\u201d Sharps said. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenging marketplace, but it\u2019s rewarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe industry overall is full of bright, creative people. When it finds the right idea, it tends to get behind it in a big way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents’ association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at <\/em>Susan.Rupe@innfeedback.com<\/em><\/a><\/span>. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.<\/span> <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Entire contents copyright 2018 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The post Deloitte\u2019s 2019 Insurance Agent Outlook: \u2018Stay Optimistic\u2019<\/a> appeared first on InsuranceNewsNet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Consumers may go online to get information about life insurance, but advice from an agent is still a big part of the insurance-buying process. That was the word from Deloitte\u2019s annual Insurance Industry Outlook...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13313"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13313\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}