Keep Them Satisfied

You know that clients’ feelings about money can have a dramatic effect on the financial plans you craft so carefully for them. Their attitudes on insurance providers can also play a role. Whether you handle their insurance needs yourself or work with another provider, it could pay to have some insight into which clients might be prone to coverage gaps, and why. The kind of effort you devote to this undertaking can enhance your whole practice.

A recent survey by Forrester Research, the North American Consumer Technology Adoption Study Q3 2006 Survey, and a February report based on the study’s results offer a look at the satisfaction of consumers with their insurance providers, among other financial entities. The report, authored by Bruce Temkin of Forrester, looks at the demographics of those who have relationships with insurance providers. The report, Do Financial Institutions Meet Customer Needs?, looked at the figures for seniors (born in 1941 or earlier), older boomers (1942-1953), younger boomers (1954-1965), Gen Xers (1966–1977), and Gen Yers (1978 and later), and at male and female respondents within all of those groups.

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed had relationships with a life insurance provider, while 88% did with home and auto insurance providers, because home and auto insurance are “typically mandatory; by either the state or by the providers of the mortgages or loans,” notes Temkin.

While only 68% of respondents were satisfied with their home and auto insurance providers, satisfaction with life insurance providers was lower still: 56%. Boomers were particularly unhappy with their life insurance providers.