How InsurTech companies should approach senior customers
Treat seniors with respect to allow this fruitful partnership to grow into the future.
In the world of InsurTech, seniors largely remain an untapped market, with many companies opting to target tech-savvy millennials and Generation Z.
This is a mistake: Studies show that senior smartphone use is climbing each year, with opportunities for companies to provide better services suited to older clients, who typically have much more available capital than younger generations.
Approaching seniors as potential clients can prove difficult for companies that don’t have experience dealing with them. More mature adults tend to think differently than younger groups of people. It takes a bit of tact and a sound strategy to get seniors on board with your InsurTech product.
As a rule of thumb, you should market your tech to seniors just as you would if you were helping your grandparents set up a new computer. And, if you can’t do that, it may be best to sell your product elsewhere.
Here are three tips that can help you cater to your InsurTech directly to seniors.
Make sure to minimize risk.
As people get older, it becomes increasingly difficult to recover from financial mistakes. A younger person can always work; a senior cannot. You need to prove that you’re reliable so that they will be able to trust that you won’t lose their money.
Seniors tend to be very risk-averse, so you need to show them that your plan is as safe as possible. To accomplish this, you need to work with carriers that have a general reputation as being trustworthy so that seniors know you have only their best intentions at heart. Think of well-known and respected incumbent carriers before you recommend a newer, flashier insurer. Seniors will research every possible avenue before deciding on insurance, so don’t assume that they will take whatever you give to them. If you partner with companies with a reputation for limiting risk and present themselves with clarity, then you can better gain the trust of your senior clients.
In addition to finding an established brand that avoids risks, recommend a specific insurance plan that isn’t filled with unnecessary additions that end up increasing the cost. While it may be tempting, simply avoid all the bells and whistles that many insurance companies try to push, and make sure the plans only include what is needed.
Be wary any time an insurance provider tries to talk up some new innovative plan — while they may seem amazing on paper, they are likely filled with things that seniors neither desire not need.
The best method is to choose products that are vanilla, obvious and clear about the policy’s benefits and exclusions. Vanilla plans have very low costs, and seniors will appreciate the fact that you’re not helping to line the pockets of traders who are trying to take advantage of the market.
Trust is key.
Trust is more important to seniors than to any other demographic. Seniors are going through the final phases of their lives and absolutely need to trust those with whom they partner — especially when it comes to their money.
In today’s world, the best way to gain the trust of your targeted audience is through building a social presence online. Companies gain trust with their customers through reputation and reviews. From a customer’s standpoint, positive reviews help limit the risk, meaning that seniors put more faith into these reviews than other demographics. How you serve customers and how they review you afterward is critical.
Using this foundation of trust is essential when it comes to working with seniors. They can see examples and how they can trust you. That power, that trust, is the pillar to working with seniors. Use it as a guiding principle for your entire strategy.
Provide a source of constant guidance.
Lastly, it’s important that you provide the best possible customer service during your entire relationship with senior customers. For the many seniors who aren’t well-versed in new technologies, InsurTech can seem like a foreign language.
As a company dealing with seniors, you need to have the underlying information presented in a usable format within your website. Let prospects discover your work on their own, but be ready to jump in whenever they may have questions.
From the beginning stages of your relationship to the last, remember to go the extra mile for your senior customers. No matter how innovative your product is, if you don’t care for the senior customer along the way, it’s probably not going to work out.
Approaching senior citizens as customers can be frustrating, especially when they don’t seem interested in your product. But you need to remember that a cookie-cutter approach simply won’t cut it. Seniors have different aspirations and life experiences than their younger counterparts. Treat them with respect, and allow this fruitful partnership to grow into the future.
Jonathan Breeze (CEO@AardvarkCompare.com) is CEO of AardvarkCompare.com, a travel insurance comparison site for seniors. These opinions are his own.
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