It’s a tricky one, since their generation has little to compare digital technology against; those of us old enough to remember VHS are the last to say “I taped that programme to watch later”, today’s children watch whatever they like, whenever they like on whichever device they choose.
We are the last to keep a physical photo album, today’s generation stores millions of snaps up in the ether, to be accessed, augmented and shared whenever the whim takes them.
And we are the last to remember handwriting as anything other than an anachronism, it’s now as much a recognisable trait as one’s choice of snuff.
Our industry is among the last to make the irreversible switchover to digital, lagging behind retail, entertainment and even our close cousins in general insurance in doing so.
The move to a truly digital platform for protection will finally consign to history the need for advisers to second guess a quick quote, for advisers to hang on the phone to insurers for more accurate terms, for advisers to have to familiarise themselves with the idiosyncrasies of each insurer’s extranet and question set, and for advisers to face the shocks of unexpected price increases, or unpredictable delays.
It will give advisers and consumers an easy, fast and fair way to access the personal comparison information they need, at just the right moment, to make an informed decision, and to buy, regardless of device, or channel.
This is the start of a growth story, to address the protection famine of the last decade.
The existing technology is unsustainable. We cannot deliver the protection growth potential hanging onto the legacy systems and processes that created the famine. Digital has transformed other industries, and will do the same in protection, encouraging those who have given up on selling our products back into the market and opening our doors to third parties, keen to offer life insurance alongside their other lines.
Change can be challenging and even scary to those who have grown up with our existing methodologies but it IS necessary. Even the most fervent supporter of the present status quo must admit that it is, at best, mediocre compared to the buying experiences companies like Amazon, Apple and others offer. There’s no reason we can’t be as good – the technology exists.
We’ve reached a line in the sand, beyond which our industry will be irreversibly brought into the modern world.
