Springfield, VA (June 9, 2020) \u2013 The annual survey of U.S. independent insurance agents from Channel Harvest Research shows insurance at a crossroads when it comes to ease of doing business and a divergence between agents who value the personal touch and those who promote self-service.<\/p>\n
Nearly 2,000 agency staff \u2014 from principals to producers to CSRs \u2014 participated in the survey between February and April, answering over 100 questions about their carrier relationships and trends in the insurance marketplace. Analysis of their answers yielded Channel Harvest\u2019s exclusive carrier rankings and ratings, statistics on agency growth, and how agencies are preparing for a digital future dominated by younger generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat stands out is a divide between agents who are intentional about making insurance more like an Amazon purchase and those who prefer to offer a personal transaction,\u201d says John Campbell, principal of Channel Harvest Research. \u201cFor example, only half of agents reported having a mobile-friendly website and 20% aren\u2019t sure what kind of website they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being visible when a consumer is searching online for a product or service is almost an imperative, yet the survey revealed large numbers on both sides of the digital divide. Among the 88% of respondents whose agencies have a website, 42% say their firm uses search engine optimization (SEO), while nearly one-third do not implement SEO, and 17% are not sure.<\/p>\n
Self-service was another big differentiator, as over half of respondents said they do not offer customers the ability to purchase a policy, add a vehicle, change a deductible or change or add coverages.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarriers are also an important part of the self-service equation, as they will have to consider if they should push these solutions to agents or let agents decide what they want to do,\u201d said Campbell.<\/p>\n
Fewer than 10% of agents said they have their own technology allowing customers to purchase a policy, add a vehicle, change a deductible or change or add coverages. However, a larger number \u2014 nearly one-third \u2014 have their own technology for allowing prospective customers to get a quote online.<\/p>\n
\u201cA common refrain is insurance is behind other consumer services when it comes to convenience, and the survey data confirms that,\u201d says Campbell.<\/p>\n
This is the 13th annual Channel Harvest survey of independent agents. Most responses were collected before the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt.<\/p>\n
Channel Harvest also pulsed agents on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their firms \u2013 a summary is available here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Each year, Channel Harvest<\/a> pulses independent insurance agents in a syndicated, quantitative survey to ask 1) what they\u2019re looking for in a carrier relationship, 2) how their carriers are performing against those preferences, and 3) their views on important issues in the insurance marketplace. Thousands of agents across the U.S. are invited to complete the survey via email solicitations from Channel Harvest and from participating insurance carriers.<\/p>\n Channel Harvest is a joint venture of marketing and marketing research companies based in the Washington DC area: Aartrijk<\/a> and Campbell Communications<\/a>. Industry experts regard Channel Harvest data as some of the most reliable, insightful and actionable data available on independent agents\u2019 views of the insurance industry.<\/p>\n For information about the 2020 survey report, contact John Novaria, Channel Harvest\u2019s industry relations director, at [email protected]<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n SOURCE: Channel Harvest<\/i><\/p>\n Tags: coronavirus<\/a>, customer experience (CX)<\/a>, Digital Insurance<\/a>, epidemic<\/a>, independent agents<\/a>, survey<\/a>, United States (USA)<\/a> Channel Harvest survey yields fresh insights on a contemporary issue Springfield, VA (June 9, 2020) \u2013 The annual survey of U.S. independent insurance agents from Channel Harvest Research shows insurance at a crossroads when...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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\/18643"}],"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=18643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}About Channel Harvest Research<\/b><\/h4>\n
\nRead the original article at Insurance-Canada.ca <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"